This world… ever was, and is, and shall be, ever-living Fire, in measures being kindled and in measures going out.

Heraclitus of Ephesus (fl. c. 500 BCE) is known only through fragments preserved by later authors. This sentence belongs to his cosmological remarks, where he describes the ordered, law-like process of change in the cosmos. In the ancient doxographical tradition, Heraclitus is associated with fire as a primary element and with a world governed by logos (a rational principle) rather than by caprice. The fragment is transmitted in later Greek sources rather than in Heraclitus’ own book (now lost), and it became central to later interpretations of Heraclitus as a philosopher of perpetual flux and cyclical transformation.

The quote presents the cosmos as an eternal process rather than a created, static object: it “ever was, and is, and shall be.” Fire functions less as literal flame than as an image for transformation—an active, self-renewing energy. The phrase “in measures” stresses that change is not chaotic; it occurs according to proportion, limit, or law. The world’s coming-to-be and passing-away are thus rhythmic and regulated, like a fire that flares and subsides in due quantity. Read alongside Heraclitus’ idea of logos, the line suggests a universe whose stability lies precisely in its structured change.

1) "This cosmos, the same for all, no god nor man made, but it always was and is and will be: an ever-living fire, kindling in measures and going out in measures." 2) "The world-order, the same for all, no god or man has made; but it always was and is and shall be: ever-living fire, kindled in measure and quenched in measure." 3) "This universe, which is the same for all, was not made by gods or men, but always was, is, and will be an ever-living fire, being kindled in measures and being extinguished in measures."