# Quote — John D. Barrow, The Book Of Nothing

> The Greek tradition was a complete contrast to that of the Far East. ...the Greeks placed logic at the pinnacle of human thinking. Their sceptical attitude towards the wielding of 'non-being' as some sort of 'something' that could be subject to logical development was exemplified by Parmenides' influential arguments against the concept of empty space. ...He maintained that you can only speak about what is: what is not cannot be thought of, and what cannot be thought of cannot be. ...more unexpected was the further conclusion that time, motion nor change could exist either.

- Author: [John D. Barrow](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-d-barrow.md)
- Book: [The Book Of Nothing](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-d-barrow/the-book-of-nothing.md)
- Page: 40
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/John_D._Barrow#The_Book_of_Nothing_(2009)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-d-barrow/the-book-of-nothing/the-greek-tradition

## More from this book

> The Indian religious traditions... accepted the concept of non-being on an equal footing with that of being. Like many other Eastern religions, the Indian culture regarded Nothing as a state from which one might have come and to which one might return.. Where Western religious traditions sought to flee from nothingness... a state of non-being was something to be actively sought by Buddhist and Hindus in order to achieve Nirvana: oneness with the Cosmos.

p. 39 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-d-barrow/the-book-of-nothing/the-indian-religious.md)

> There is a good deal more to nothing than meets the eye.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-d-barrow/the-book-of-nothing/there-is-a-good.md)

> The Indian system of counting is probably the most successful intellectual innovation ever devised by human beings. It has been universally adopted. ...It is the nearest thing we have to a universal language.

p. 42 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/john-d-barrow/the-book-of-nothing/the-indian-system.md)