Fragment 61
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The sea is the purest and the impurest water. Fish can drink it, and it is good for them; to men it is undrinkable and destructive.
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Commentary
[ Hide commentary ]Most editors accept this whole fragment as authentic, but I disagree. Heraclitus typically observes a contradiction without explaining it. (See fragments 59 and 60, along with the commentary to fragment 12.) I think that Hippolytus added the last sentence to explain how sea water is both pure and impure.