Dēmocritus, of Abdera,
b. 460–457 bc,40 years after Anaxagoras acc. to his own statement quoted by Diogenes (4) Laertius. He travelled widely, acc. to various later accounts, and lived to a great age. In time he became known as ‘the laughing philosopher’, probably because he held that ‘cheerfulness’ was a goal to be pursued in life. There is a story that he visited Athens—‘but no one knew me’; this may be a reflection of the undoubted fact that ... ...
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