"It is considered to be the oldest saying of Western thinking. (..)

Whence things have their coming into being there they must also perish according to necessity; for they must pay a penalty and he judged for their injustice, according to the ordinance of time."

Modernākā tulkojumā, ar aliterāciju: "Whence things have their origin,
Thence also their destruction happens,
As is the order of things;
For they execute the sentence upon one another
- The condemnation for the crime -
In conformity with the ordinance of Time."