@ The answer is water.

Thales of Miletus (640-546 B.C.), the earliest philosopher and considered to be one of the Seven Wise Men of Greece, called water the fundamental element of all things. As this thesis was only preserved for several hundred years by oral tradition before being written down by Aristotle, More than 2000 years later the poet Johann-Wolfgang v. Goethe (1749-1832) gave Thales a voice in his drama, Faust II:

Everything comes from water!!

Everything is maintained through water!

Ocean, give us your eternal power.

Extract from: “BACK TO WATER – CHEERS”, 1994

http://www.whatisclimate.com/1994-LOS-back-to-water-cheers.html