Heraclitus (535-475 BCE): A Pre-Socratic Philosopher
Heraclitus is such a strange fellow. He was born and raised in Ephesus, and, ironically, is known for how little we know him. Not much of his records are left, but what we do have speaks volumes. For example, we studied in class his famous saying about how you cannot step in the same river twice. I still find this thought-provoking in the fact that the river is always changing, but it also implies that we might be constantly changing as well. He thinks that many people in his lifetime are not questioning their surroundings enough, and are simply going through life seemingly brainwashed and only focused on the small world present in their everyday lives. He also believes that no certain entity created the Earth - that it has always existed (however this doesn’t mean he doesn’t believe in there being a sort of heaven(s)). Although, for someone of deep intellectual wit, you would think he would have known that covering himself in cow dung and lying in the sun for an entire day wouldn’t cure himself of dropsy. He died the next day :(
Sources:
http://www.iep.utm.edu/heraclit/
http://listverse.com/2012/06/26/top-10-pre-socratic-philosophers/