3:3
Τὸν γὰρ Ἡράκλειτον οὐκ ἄν ἀποδεξαίμην, ἐμαυτὸν ἐδιζησάμην εἰπόντα, διὰ τὸ αὐτοδίδακτον εἶναι καὶ ὑπερήφανον. Οὔτ ἂν ἐπαινέσαιμι κατακρύψαντα τὴν ποίησιν ἐν τῷ τῆς Ἀρτέμιδος ναῷ, μυστηριωδῶς ὅπως ὕστερον ἡ ταύτης ἔκδοσις γένηται· καὶ γὰρ οἷς μέλον ἐστὶ περὶ τούτων φασὶν Εὐριπίδην τὸν τραγῳδοποιόν, κατιόντα καὶ ἀναγινώσκοντα, διὰ μνήμης κατ ὀλίγον τὸ Ἡρακλείτου σκότος σπουδαίως παραδεδωκέναι. Τούτου μὲν οὖν τὴν ἀμαθίαν ὁ θάνατος διήλεγξεν· ὕδρωπι γὰρ συσχεθείς, καὶ τὴν ἰατρικὴν ὡς φιλοσοφίαν ἐπιτηδεύσας, βολβίτοις τε περιπλάσας ἑαυτόν, τῆς κόπρου κρατυνθείσης, συνολκάς τε τοῦ παντὸς ἀπεργασαμένης σώματος, σπασθεὶς ἐτελεύτησε.Τὸν γὰρ Ζήνωνα, διὰ τῆς ἐκπυρώσεως ἀποφαινόμενον ἀνίστασθαι πάλιν τοὺς αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τοῖς αὐτοῖς, λέγω δὲ Ἄνυτον καὶ Μέλητον ἐπὶ τῷ κατηγορεῖν, Βούσιριν δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ ξενοκτονεῖν, καὶ Ἡρακλέα πάλιν ἐπὶ τῷ ἀθλεῖν, παραιτητέον· ὅστις ἐν τῷ κατὰ τὴν ἐκπύρωσιν λόγῳ πλείονας τοὺς μοχθηροὺς τῶν δικαίων εἰσηγεῖται, Σωκράτους ἑνὸς καὶ Ἡρακλέους, καί τινων ἄλλων τοιούτων γεγονότων ὀλίγων καὶ οὐ κολλῶν. Οἱ γὰρ κακοὶ πάνυ πλείους εὑρεθήσονται τῶν ἀγαθῶν. Καὶ ὁ θεὸς κακῶν ἀποδειχθήσεται κατ αὐτὸν ποιητής, ἐν ἀμάραις τε καὶ σκώληξι καὶ ἀῤῥητουργοῖς καταγινόμενος. Ἐμπεδοκλέους γὰρ τὸ ἀλαζονικὸν αἱ κατὰ τὴν Σικελίαν τοῦ πυρὸς ἀναφυσήσεις ἀπέδειξαν, ὅτι μὴ θεὸς ὤν τοῦτο παρ ὀλίγον εἶναι κατεψεύδετο. Γελῶ καὶ τὴν Φερεκύδους γραολογίαν, καὶ τοῦ Πυθαγόρου τὴν περὶ τὸ δόγμα κληρονομίαν, καὶ τὴν τοῦ Πλάτωνος, κἄν τινες μὴ θέλωσι, τὴν περὶ τούτου μίμησιν. Τίς γὰρ ἂν ἐπιμαρτυρήσαι τῇ Κράτητος κυνογαμίᾳ, καὶ οὐ μᾶλλον παραιτησάμενος τὴν ἔντυφον τῶν ὁμοίων αὐτῷ γλωττομανίαν ἐπὶ τὸ ζητεῖν τὸ κατ ἀλήθειαν σπουδαῖον τρέψεται; Διόπερ μὴ παρασυρέτωσαν ὑμᾶς αἱ τῶν φιλοσόφων καὶ οὐ φιλοσόφων πανηγύρεις, οἵτινες ἐναντία μὲν ἑαυτοῖς δογματίζουσιν· κατὰ δὲ τὸ ἐπελθὸν ἕκαστος ἐκπεφώνηκε.Πολλὰ δὲ καὶ παρ αὐτοῖς ἐστι προσκρούματα· μισεῖ μὲν γὰρ ἕτερος τὸν ἕτερον· ἀντιδοξοῦσιν δὲ ἑαυτοῖς, διὰ τὴν ἀλαζονείαν τόπους ἐπιλεγόμενοι τοὺς προὔχοντας. Ἐχρῆν δὲ μήτε βασιλέας προλήμματι θεραπεύειν ἢ κολακεύειν τοὺς ἡγουμένους, περιμένειν δὲ μέχρις ἂν πρὸς αὐτοὺς οἱ μεγιστᾶνες ἀφίκωνται
我也不能贊許赫拉克利特，他說「我探究了我自己」，因為他自學成才又狂傲自大。我也不會稱許他把自己的著作藏在亞底米的廟裡，好叫它日後神祕地問世；因為留意此事的人說，悲劇詩人歐里庇得斯下到廟裡誦讀，逐漸熟記，並認真地把赫拉克利特的晦澀傳了下來。然而死亡揭穿了他的無知；他患了水腫，又像研習哲學一樣去自行醫治，用牛糞塗滿全身，糞便硬結引起全身抽搐，他便在痙攣中斷氣。至於芝諾，他憑其「宇宙焚毀」之說斷言同樣的人會再起來做同樣的事——我是說阿尼圖斯和墨勒圖斯再來控告，布西里斯再來殺害賓客，赫拉克勒斯再來建功立業——這也當予以摒棄；在他論宇宙焚毀的學說裡，他引出的惡人多過義人，因為像蘇格拉底、赫拉克勒斯這等人連同少數幾位，本就為數不多。原來惡人遠比善人為多。如此，照他所說，神便要被證為惡的製造者，住在陰溝、蛆蟲與不可言說之物中。恩培多克勒的自誇被西西里噴火所揭穿，因他並非神，卻謊稱自己幾乎就是神。我也要嗤笑斐瑞庫德斯的婆婆媽媽之談，嗤笑畢達哥拉斯承襲此教，以及柏拉圖對它的效法——縱然有人不願承認。誰會為克拉特斯的「犬式婚配」作證，而不寧可摒棄這等人那自負的饒舌，轉去尋求那真正嚴肅之事呢？所以，不要讓那些哲學家與冒充哲學家者的喧鬧群眾把你們捲走，他們的學說自相矛盾，各人隨意脫口而出。他們彼此之間也多有衝突：這個恨那個；他們意見相左，又出於虛榮為自己爭占首位。他們本不該存著偏見奉承君王，或諂媚當權者，倒該等候那些顯貴自來就教。
Nor could I approve of Heraclitus, who said "I searched out myself," because he was self-taught and arrogant. Nor would I praise him for hiding his poem in the temple of Artemis, so that mysteriously its publication might come about later; for those who concern themselves with these matters say that the tragic poet Euripides, going down and reading it, gradually committed to memory and diligently handed down the obscurity of Heraclitus. But death exposed his ignorance; for, seized with dropsy and practicing medicine as he had philosophy, he smeared himself with cow-dung, and when the dung had hardened and produced convulsions of the whole body, he died in spasms. As for Zeno, who declares through his doctrine of conflagration that the same persons rise again to do the same things—I mean Anytus and Meletus to accuse, Busiris to murder his guests, and Heracles again to perform his labors—he must be rejected; in his account of the conflagration he introduces more wicked men than righteous, since there have been but few such as Socrates and Heracles and certain others, and not many. For the bad will be found far more numerous than the good. And on his view God will be shown to be a maker of evils, dwelling in drains and worms and unspeakable things. The boastfulness of Empedocles the eruptions of fire in Sicily exposed, since, not being a god, he falsely claimed all but to be one. I laugh too at the old-wives' tales of Pherecydes, and at the inheritance of doctrine in Pythagoras, and at Plato's imitation of it, even though some are unwilling to admit it. For who would testify in favor of the dog-marriage of Crates, and would not rather, renouncing such men's conceited verbosity, turn toward seeking what is truly earnest? Therefore let not the festive throngs of philosophers and non-philosophers sweep you away, who lay down doctrines contradictory to themselves, each blurting out whatever comes into his head. There are many clashes even among themselves: one hates the other; they hold opposing opinions and, out of vainglory, claim for themselves the foremost places. It would have been fitting neither to fawn upon kings with prejudice nor to flatter rulers, but to wait until the great men come to them.