Full Idea
Early thinkers made the mistake of claiming that nothing comes to be or ceases to be, on the grounds that for anything to come to be it would have to come either from what is or from what is not, but that neither of these is possible.
Gist of Idea
Do things come to be from what is, or from what is not? Both seem problematical.
Source
Aristotle (Physics [c.337 BCE], 191a27)
Book Reference
Aristotle: 'Physics', ed/tr. Waterfield,Robin [OUP 1996], p.28
A Reaction
Nothing in modern physics has (I think) solved this problem. On the one hand we have the conservation of energy, and on the other the Big Bang. Some talk of 'quantum fluctuations' triggering coming-to-be. Hm.