Fragment 12
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On those who enter the same rivers, ever different waters flow (Barnes).
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Commentary
[ Hide commentary ]Three versions of this fragment exist: fragment 12, fragment 49a (see below), and fragment 91. Because of this fact, there is much debate on which version is authentic (if any) and what it means.
Fragment 12 is a fragment about the unity/diversity inherit in reality: reality is continually changing and in flux (like the individual drops of water in a river), yet it is all stable and unified (like the river as a whole). Fragment 49a assigns this change and stability to the river and to the one stepping into the river. Fragment 91 mentions only the diversity, not the unity.
I think that B49a above is authentic (at least the first half). Fragment 12 may also be authentic, giving the reason for fragment 49a, but it seems to me more likely that this explanation was written by a later editor and not by Heraclitus (see commentary to fragment 61).