Diogenes

When he saw that the gates of Myndos were large but the city small, he said: "Close the gates so that the city doesn't run away".

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 57

How peculiar? In order to buy a pot or a plate we tap them with our fingers to check if they are sturdy by the sound they make. But if it concerns a person, their external appearance is enough.

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 30

Those who speak rightly and neglect practicing it are like harps. They emit pleasing sounds to others while being insensible to music.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΚΓ, 10

Plato had defined human as an animal without feathers. Diogenes plucked a rooster and said: ""Here is Plato's Man"".

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 40

Houses which are stacked with groceries are likely to be full of mice. Similarly, the bodies of those that eat too much are full of diseases.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΣΤ, 4

People tend to pay for their living, but not for their well-being.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Δ, 86

Observing a child drinking out of his hands, he threw away his cup and said "A child has beaten me in simplicity".

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 37

When asked what was the proper time for eating, he replied: ""If you are rich, whenever you please. If you are poor, whenever you can"".

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 40

Looking at sheep in the city of Megara being covered in skins, while the children were naked, he said: "It is preferable to be the ram of a Megarite, than his child".

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 41

Diogenes was asking a prodigal for a large amount of money. "Why do you ask everyone else for less, but more from me"? He replied, "I believe I will receive again from others, but never again from you".

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΙΕ, 9

The noblest people are those despising wealth, glory, pleasure and life while are not concerned about poverty, insignificance, hardship and death.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΠΘ, 4

Virtue cannot exist in a wealthy city or house.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Γ, 35

When should someone get married? Young men should not marry yet, and old men must not marry at all.

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 54

When he saw women hanging from olive trees, he said: "I wish all trees had fruits like those"

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 52

All evils exist in order to terrify those dreading them than dishearten the ones they strike.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: H, 15

To those who told him "You are old now, why don’t you rest?" He replied: "If I was in the stadium approaching the finish line, should I not try harder instead of relaxing my pace?"

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 34

When he was asked how he wanted to be buried, "Face down", he said, "because soon enough everything is going to turn upside down".

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 32

Everything belongs to the gods. Wise men are friends to the gods and friends hold all things in common. Therefore, everything belongs to wise men.

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 72

To practice self-mastery, you should reprove yourself for all those things that you would criticize others.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Α, 32

Poverty helps with philosophy, for the things which philosophy attempts to teach by reasoning, poverty forces us to practice.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Ε’, 11

When someone told him that he pretends to be a philosopher without knowing anything, he replied, "To seek wisdom, that in itself is philosophy."

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 64

To the one who told him: "I am unsuitable for philosophy", he replied: "Then why are you still alive, since you don’t care about a good living?"

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 65

If I gained one thing from philosophy is that at the very least, I am well prepared to confront any change in fortune.

_____

DIOGENES

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων, Διογένης Λαέρτιος: ΣΤ, 63

Most people wear themselves during their lifetime, either by getting drenched in baths or sexual pleasures. When they die, they demand their bodies be flooded with incense and honey so they don’t rot quickly!

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΣΤ, 3

They ask the gods for good health, while most are doing the exact opposite of a healthy life.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΣΤ, 38

People eat because it brings them contentment, but they don’t want to stop eating because of pleasure.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΣΤ, 53

No labor, according to Diogenes, is good but that which aims at producing courage and strength of soul rather than of body.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Ζ, 18

Aren't you ashamed, you who walk backwards along the whole path of existence, and blame me for walking backwards along the path of the walkway?

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Δ, 84

Diogenes was observing plenty of people competing and running back and forth, but no one competing in virtue.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Δ, 112

Fear is so harmful that many are already suffering from evil before it arrives.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Η, 15

After his servant escaped, he did not seek him and mentioned how terrible it would be if he couldn’t live without his servant, but the servant could live without him.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΞΒ, 47

When asked what is the last thing in life, he replied "hope".

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΡΙ, 20

When love gets hold of us, it is strangers that we please more than our closest relatives.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΞΔ, 1

We support that this is true bliss: for serenity and joy to be the constant condition of mind and soul.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΡΓ, 21

When someone said, "life is cruel", Diogenes replied, "not at all, a bad life is cruel".

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΡΚΑ, 26

Diogenes would call all pretty prostitutes queens. Because plenty of people "obey" them.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΞΕ, 15

Other dogs bite their enemies, whereas I bite my friends in order to save them.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΙΓ, 27

Diogenes would compare misers to those suffering from ascites. Even though they were full of money they would desire more. The more someone achieves, his passions get more intense.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Ι, 46

Seeing someone pretending to be in love with a wealthy elderly lady, he said: "He didn’t set his eyes on her, but his teeth".

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Ι, 61

Diogenes would call those who were getting excessive amounts of money "magnificently poor".

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Ι, 63

Diogenes compared the ignorant rich to vines growing over precipices, for their fruit was devoured by crows and beasts, not by men. Meaning they spend their money not on a good cause but on prostitutes flatterers and vain desires.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ϟΒ, 13

Α father and his children shouldn’t wait for one to ask something from the other but offer it to one another before being asked.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΠΓ, 23

Who can fear less, and have great courage, than the one whose conscience is not weighed down with evil?

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΚΔ, 14

It is terrible that athletes and singers avoid feasts and pleasures to protect their body and their voice respectively. No one else denies these for the sake of prudence.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Ε, 41

In the case of arrogance, as in the case of gold plated weapons, the inside never resembles the outside.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΚΒ, 40

Arrogance, like the shepherd, leads the crowds wherever it likes.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΚΒ, 41

For every misfortune, he would say "Well done fortune, you rule me bravely" and kept talking.

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: ΡΗ, 71

When someone once called him an idiot he said: "I am not an idiot but indeed I don’t have the same mind as you".

_____

DIOGENES

Ιωάννου Στοβαίου Ανθολόγιον: Γ, 62