Full Idea
Democritus thinks that the substances hold on to one another and remain together for a length of time until some stronger necessity arising from their surroundings shakes and disperses them.
Gist of Idea
Atoms cling together, until a stronger necessity disperses them
Source
report of Democritus (fragments/reports [c.431 BCE], A037) by Aristotle - On Democritus (frag)
A Reaction
[quoted in Simplicius, Commentary on Aristotle's On the Heavens] He's not wrong. This seems to provide a mechanism for the Heracltean flux. Ancient critics wanted to know where the 'stronger necessity' came from.
Book Reference
Democritus: 'Early Greek Phil VII: Democritus', ed/tr. Laks,A/Most,G [Harvard Loeb 2016], p.89
Related Idea
Idea 15149 Properties cluster together, either because of intrinsic relations, or because of an underlying process [Boyd, by Chakravartty]