Impermanence first appears in
Greek philosophy in the writings of
Heraclitus and his doctrine of
panta rhei (everything flows). Heraclitus was famous for his insistence on ever-present change as being the fundamental essence of the universe, as stated in the famous saying, "No man ever steps in the same river twice". This is commonly considered to be a key contribution in the development of the philosophical concept of
becoming, as contrasted with "being", and has sometimes been seen in a dialectical relationship with
Parmenides' statement that "whatever is, is, and what is not cannot be", the latter being understood as a key contribution in the development of the philosophical concept of
being. For this reason, Parmenides and Heraclitus are commonly considered to be two of the founders of
ontology. Scholars have generally believed that either Parmenides was responding to Heraclitus, or Heraclitus to Parmenides, though opinion on who was responding to whom has varied over the course of the 20th and 21st centuries. Heraclitus' position was complemented by his stark commitment to a
unity of opposites in the world, stating that "the path up and down are one and the same". Through these doctrines Heraclitus characterized all existing entities by pairs of contrary properties, whereby no entity may ever occupy a single state at a single time. This, along with his cryptic utterance that "all entities come to be in accordance with this
Logos" (literally, "word", "reason", or "account") has been the subject of numerous interpretations. Impermanence was widely but not universally accepted among subsequent Greek philosophers.
Democritus' theory of atoms entailed that assemblages of atoms were impermanent.
Pyrrho declared that everything was
astathmēta (unstable), and
anepikrita (unfixed).
Plutarch commented on impermanence saying "And if the nature which is measured is subject to the same conditions as the time which measures it, this nature itself has no permanence, nor "being," but is becoming and perishing according to its relation to time. The
Stoic philosopher,
Marcus Aurelius'
Meditations contains many comments about impermanence, such as “Bear in mind that everything that exists is already fraying at the edges, and in transition, subject to fragmentation and to rot.” (10.18)
Plato rejected impermanence, arguing against Heraclitus:How can that be a real thing which is never in the same state? ... for at the moment that the observer approaches, then they become other ... so that you cannot get any further in knowing their nature or state .... but if that which knows and that which is known exist ever ... then I do not think they can resemble a process or flux .... Several famous Roman Latin sayings are about impermanence, including
Omnia mutantur,
Sic transit gloria mundi, and
Tempora mutantur. ==In arts and culture==