The Laughing Philosopher

According to Diogenes Laertius, Democritus (?460-357 BCE), though originally from Thrace, was "a pupil of certain Magians and Chaldeans" at the court of Xerxes. He traveled to "Egypt to learn geometry from the priests, and he also went into Persia to visit the Chaldeans as well as to the Red Sea." He created a small study for himself in his garden and used to "shut himself up there" for hours on end. He also visited Athens during the lifetime of Socrates (?470-399 BCE) but, "because he despised fame," avoided contact with the gadfly. He said, "I came to Athens, but no one knew me."

Among his views were these:

The first principles of the universe are atoms and empty space; everything else is merely thought to exist. The worlds are unlimited; they come into being and perish. Nothing can come into being from that which is not nor pass away into that which is not.

The end of action is tranquility, which is not identical with pleasure...but a state in which the soul continues calm and strong, undisturbed by any fear or superstition or any other emotion.

He was a father of Perso-Hellenic humanism.