It is impossible to completely transfer eternity itself into the created world. Therefore, the creator makes a "moving likeness" that imitates eternity according to numbers, along with the movement of the heavens. That is time.

Timaios distinguishes between "was" and "will be," which represent the past and future, respectively, belonging to generated things, while only "is" is appropriate for eternal things.

Dialogue Text

Timaios (Continued) The creator, who is the father, rejoiced to see this world of movement and life that had been born as a living image of the eternal gods. And he thought about making it even more similar to the archetype. Therefore, just as the archetype is an eternal being, he tried to make the whole thing as close to such a being as possible.

Timaios (Continued) However, the true nature of living beings is eternal. It cannot be completely attributed to what comes into being. Therefore, God conceived of creating an eternally moving image and, while arranging the heavens, created an eternal image that progresses according to number within a single entity. This image is what we call time. Day and night, months and years did not exist before the creation of the heavens. However, when the heavens were formed, God simultaneously established their generation. These are all parts of time, and "what was" and "what will be" arise as forms within time. Yet, unknowingly, we mistakenly transfer these to eternal entities and speak of them.

Timaios (Continued) We say, "It was, it is, and it will be." However, if we speak truthfully about what truly exists, only "it is" is appropriate for things that are eternal. "It was" and "it will be" are suitable when speaking of generation as it progresses through time. This is because they involve movement. On the other hand, it is not appropriate to say that something which always remains in the same state becomes older or younger with time, nor that it once came into being, or that it currently exists, or that it will come into being in the future.

Timaios (Continued) It is entirely inappropriate to attribute the things that appear through sensation to eternal entities, because these things are forms belonging to time, which proceed in a cyclical manner according to the number that imitates eternity. Furthermore, there are expressions such as "what has come into being is what has come into being," "what is coming into being is what is coming into being," "what will come into being is what will come into being," and "what does not exist is what does not exist." However, we do not speak accurately about any of these. Nevertheless, it would not be appropriate to discuss these matters rigorously at this time.