Earth, air, fire, and water combine to form complex changing substances

Evidence

It was he, as already mentioned, who established earth, air, fire, and water as the four elements (though the word ‘element’ was not used by him). Each of these was everlasting, but they could be mixed in different proportions and thus produce the changing complex substances that we find in the world. — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 311

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 311
• XREF: connects to: Things appear to be composed of whatever element predominates within them — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 345; Soil composition emerges from relationships among elemental differences — Rebecca A. Martusewicz, Jeff Edmundson, and John Lupinacci, EcoJustice Education: Toward Diverse,…, 468