I've never read the ancient philosophers, but do you think they just wrote things like:
We are all beans on the vine, that get rained on, swing in the breeze and get fatter and darker in the sun.
Then someone does a PHD on it?
@LydiaConwell Reminds me of the old Doonesbury cartoon, where a Chinese official is asked, “How do you know when Chairman Mao is saying a quotation, and when he’s just shooting off his mouth?”