1 Was he a cosmologist in the Milesian mould, for whom fire was the basic element?

2 To the Milesians, however, the opposites were not abstract qualities, on a par with numbers, but concrete stuffs.

3 Milesian courts drew poets from all over the world; its leaders founded libraries and supported every movement in art and science.

4 Let us assume that you, the Milesian standing in the square listening to Thales, know perfectly well what the word everything means.

5 Together they formed what we call the Milesian School of Pre-Socratic philosophy.

6 Really try to put yourself in the shoes of our ancient Milesian who has just heard these words for the first time.