Full Idea
We see the same thing to be both one and an unlimited number at the same time.
Gist of Idea
The same thing is both one and an unlimited number at the same time
Source
Plato (The Republic [c.371 BCE], 525a)
Book Reference
Plato: 'Complete Works', ed/tr. Cooper,John M. [Hackett 1997], p.1141
A Reaction
Frege makes the same point, that a pair of boots is both two and one. The point is at its strongest in opposition to empirical accounts of arithmetic. However, Mill observes that pebbles can be both 5 and 3+2, without contradiction.