Xenophanes Quotes
The clear and perfect truth no man has seen, nor will there be anyone who knows about the gods and what I say about all things...; for, however perfect what he says may be, yet he does not know it; all things are matters of opinion.
Fairbanks, Arthur. The First Philosophers of Greece. Kegan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co., 1898, p. 75.
Although most listeners had to spend some time parsing this famous quote, it actually was not a new notion. See Copernicus in linked quotes.
3rd Earl Russell of Kingston
Xenophanes of Colophon (/zəˈnɒfəniːz/; Ancient Greek: Ξενοφάνης ὁ Κολοφώνιος [ksenopʰánɛːs ho kolopʰɔ̌ːnios]; c. 570 – c. 478 BC) was a Greek philosopher, theologian, poet, and critic of religious polytheism. Xenophanes is seen as one of the most important Pre-Socratic philosophers. Eusebius quoting Aristocles of Messene says that Xenophanes was the founder of a line of philosophy that culminated in Pyrrhonism. This line begins with Xenophanes and goes through Parmenides, Melissus of Samos, Zeno of Elea, Leucippus, Democritus, Protagoras, Nessas of Chios, Metrodorus of Chios, Diogenes of Smyrna, Anaxarchus, and finally Pyrrho. It had also been common since antiquity to see Xenophanes as the teacher of Zeno of Elea, the colleague of Parmenides, and generally associated with the Eleatic school, but common opinion today is likewise that this is false.
