Influences

For many of his fellow citizens, his questions were riddles and his explanations beyond their comprehension; he was Heracleitus the Obscure. Rejected by his fellow citizens, Heracleitus was much admired by others, including Darius of Persia, who invited him to his court - an offer Heracleitus refused. He formed no cult following like Pythagoras, no school like Plato or Aristotle, and had no devoted disciple like Parmenides or Plotinus. Yet, his ideas continued to inspire and challenge. After his death, a Heracleitian school formed. The early Stoics revived some of his ideas. Many centuries later Bacon quotes his: "War is the father of all things" with approval and Hegel claims that: "There is no proposition in Heracleitus that I do not agree with in my logic."