Diogenes: sayings, quotes, parables and jokes. Diogenes: sayings, quotes, parables and jokes The sensuality of people who are not busy with anything
Diogenes: sayings, quotes, parables and jokes of the philosopher
Alexander the Great wanted to give Diogenes a royal gift and allowed him to ask for anything.
Then Diogenes asked:
- Step aside, you block the sun for me.
When Alexander asked Diogenes why he was not afraid of him in the least, he said:
What kind of person are you, good or bad?
- Of course, good, - the king answered.
- So what are you afraid of? - the philosopher was surprised.
One rich man invited Diogenes to his luxurious house, where everything shone with purity,
Diogenes looked around and ... spat right in the face of the owner.
- Are you crazy? - exclaimed the rich man in a rage.
- It's just the only dirty place in the house,” answered the philosopher modestly.
When Diogenes was asked why people willingly give alms to the poor,
but they are in no hurry to help the poor philosophers, he answered this way:
When Diogenes was asked which animal bites the most, he replied:
- Of the wild - a slanderer, of the domestic - a flatterer.
DIOGENES OF SINOP (CA. 412 BC - 323 BC)
featherless bird
As I have already said, Plato and Diogenes did not like each other and did not miss the opportunity to exchange barbs. Plato called man a "featherless bird". On hearing this definition, Diogenes showed the public a plucked rooster, stating:
Here is a man in the representation of Plato.
A free man is self-sufficient
Once Diogenes was washing greens in a stream before eating them. Aristippus passed by, the same one who enjoyed the special favor of the tyrant Dionysius. Seeing what the cynic was doing, he remarked sympathetically:
Hey Diogenes! You would humble your pride and make friends with Dionysius, you see, and you would not have to wash the greens for your dinner.
Diogenes replied:
Look at it another way: if you knew how to wash greens, you would not have to seek the friendship of Dionysius.
foggy predictions
The Greeks, as you remember, were obsessed with predicting the future and crowded into temples to find out their fate from the soothsayers. As a rule, the predictions came out so vague that they could be interpreted as your heart desires. When Diogenes of Sinop, along with his father, were declared counterfeiters and called to trial, the cynic declared that he could not disobey the god Apollo, who told him through the oracle: "You were born to change the life of your country." So Diogenes decided that the new money would be a good start for change.
Oddly enough, the court was not impressed by such excuses, and the philosopher was sentenced to exile. At parting, he said to his compatriots:
You are driving me away. Well, I sentence you to remain in our country until the end of your days.
unyielding
A few years later, when someone reminded Diogenes of his criminal past, he calmly replied:
At that time, I was exactly like you are now: the only difference between us is that you will never become like me now.
Against the stream
Diogenes had a habit of arriving at the theater towards the end of a performance, pushing his way through the crowd of citizens walking away. When the philosopher was asked why he wanted to move against the current, Diogenes replied:
In fact, that's all I've been doing all my life.
The dead don't hurt
When Diogenes was asked whether one should be afraid of death, he answered, anticipating the famous saying of Epicurus:
Why be afraid of her? The dead do not feel anything and, most importantly, cannot die again.
When Alexander asked why everyone called him a dog, the philosopher replied:
I serve the good, bark at the indifferent, and bite the evil.
Reliable protection
One day, Diogenes went to see how the archers were training. One shooter could not hit the target. Noticing this, the philosopher positioned himself directly in front of the target.
What, I can kill you! - the archer was frightened.
Not likely, Diogenes replied. - Judging by the way you shoot, where I'm sitting, the arrow definitely won't hit.
Bold self-criticism
One man, who had a very bad reputation in Athens, hung a sign on the door of his house: "Let no bad man enter here." After reading it, Diogenes was horrified:
Does the owner of the house have to spend the night on the street?
Time for lunch
Diogenes was asked when is the best time to eat. He replied:
If you are rich when you want; if poor - when you can.
Honor your father
Seeing that the son of a hetaera was throwing stones at passers-by, Diogenes shouted:
Boy, beware of throwing yourself at strangers, because any of them could be your father.
in the middle of the square
Diogenes ate, drank and relieved himself where he saw fit. When asked why he chews his lunch right in the middle of the square, the philosopher replied:
Because hunger overtook me right in the middle of the square.
mud baths
Once Diogenes came to the bathhouse and was about to start washing, but the tub turned out to be so dirty that the philosopher asked the attendant:
And where do they wash after your bath?
Cape Thief
Meeting in the bath a man who was suspected of stealing clothes, Diogenes asked:
Are you here to undress or get dressed?
name curse
Upon learning that someone named Didymus (which means "testicle" in translation) was convicted of adultery, Diogenes chuckled:
This Didymus deserves to be hanged for his own name.
kind statues
Once Diogenes was caught doing a strange thing: he begged for alms from a statue.
What are you doing? - asked onlookers.
I'm trying to get used to the fact that the people from whom I beg turn into statues, - the philosopher explained.
Put yourself in their shoes
When Diogenes was asked why people willingly give alms to the poor, but are in no hurry to help poor philosophers with money, he answered this way:
Any of us is afraid one day to be a beggar, but few are able to imagine themselves a philosopher.
belated warning
Once a passer-by touched Diogenes with a log that he was carrying on his shoulder, and shouted:
Watch out!
Cynic was surprised:
Now why? Or are you going to hit me again?
Diogenes Market
Once Diogenes was captured by foreigners and ended up in a slave market. When the overseer asked the philosopher what he could do, Diogenes replied:
I can command. Let's see if anyone wants to buy a master.
Barrel of Diogenes
Diogenes, as we know, lived in a barrel. When the army of Philip of Macedon was advancing on Corinth and panic arose in the city, the philosopher began to roll his barrel through the streets with a roar. When asked what he was doing, Diogenes replied:
Yes, you all rush about like mad, so it became embarrassing for me to just sit like that.
Gravediggers will be found
You have no family, no servants, someone sympathized with Diogenes. - Who will follow your coffin?
Anyone who wants to pocket my belongings, Diogenes replied.
dog devotion
Different things are said about the death of Diogenes. According to one version, he died from the bite of a bumblebee, according to another, dogs tore him apart. Some argue that the philosopher died of his own free will, having stopped breathing. Legend has it that before he died, he said:
Throw my body to the dogs, we are used to each other.
Diogenes
(c. 410 - c. 320 BC)
cynic philosopher, follower of Antisthenes, from Sinope
sayings and quotes in another translation:
When he [Diogenes] was basking in the sun, Alexander [the Great], standing over him, said: "Ask me for whatever you want"; Diogenes replied: "Don't block the sun for me."
When asked where he came from, Diogenes said: "I am a citizen of the world."
To a man who asked what time breakfast should be, he [Diogenes] replied: "If you are rich, then when you want, if you are poor, then when you can."
In broad daylight, Diogenes wandered around with a lantern in his hands, explaining: "I am looking for a man."
[Diogenes] begged for alms from the statue; when asked why he does this, he said: "To accustom himself to failure."
When asked at what age one should marry, Diogenes replied: "It's too early for the young, it's too late for the old."
Returning from Olympia, when asked whether there were many people there, he [Diogenes] replied: "There are many people, but few people."
To the one who shamed him for being in unclean places, he said: "The sun also looks into the garbage pits, but this does not defile."
There are many people, but few people.
Asked by someone why people give to beggars, but never to philosophers, Diogenes replied: "Because they assume that they can still become lame and blind, but never philosophers."
Looking for a person
Diogenes said that he takes an example from singing teachers who purposely take a higher tone so that the students understand what tone they themselves need to sing.
Diogenes said that when he sees rulers, doctors or philosophers, it seems to him that a person is the most intelligent of living beings, but when he meets dream interpreters, soothsayers or people who believe them, it seems to him that nothing could be more stupid person.
Don't block my sun
Diogenes said that when you extend your hand to your friends, you should not clench your fingers into a fist.
When someone was reading a long essay and an unwritten place at the end of the scroll already appeared, Diogenes exclaimed: "Be of good cheer, friends: the shore is visible!"
Diogenes, seeing how the Olympionist Dioxippus, riding a chariot, turned his head more and more back, looking at beautiful woman, looking at the procession, and unable to take his eyes off her, he exclaimed: "Look, no matter how the girl breaks the young man's neck!"
When Plato gave a definition that had great success: "Man is an animal with two legs, devoid of feathers," Diogenes plucked a rooster and brought it to school, declaring: "Here is the Platonic man!" After that, the definition was added: "And with wide nails."
Teaching an old man is like treating a dead man.
If you give to others, then give to me; if not, then start with me.
The flatterer is the most dangerous of the tame animals.
When someone hit him with a log, and then shouted: "Watch out!" he [Diogenes] asked: "Do you want to hit me again?"
To those who were afraid of bad dreams, he [Diogenes] said that they do not care about what they do during the day, but worry about what comes to their mind at night.
When someone, envious of Callisthenes, told what a luxurious life he shared with Alexander [Macedonian], Diogenes remarked: "That's unhappy is the one who both breakfasts and dine when it pleases Alexander!"
About one dirty bath, he asked: "Where do those who washed here bathe?"
When a slave ran away from him, he was advised to go on a search. "It's ridiculous," Diogenes said, "if Manet can live without Diogenes, and Diogenes can't live without Manet."
Seeing the preening old woman, Diogenes said: "If for the living - you are late, if for the dead - hurry up."
Once Diogenes, having breakfast in a tavern, called Demosthenes, who was passing by, to his place. He refused. “Are you ashamed, Demosthenes, to go into the tavern?” Diogenes asked, “yet your master comes here every day!” - meaning the whole people and each citizen separately.
Once Diogenes, arriving in Olympia and noticing richly dressed Rhodes youths in the festive crowd, exclaimed with a laugh: "This is arrogance." The philosopher then encountered Lacedaemonians in shabby and untidy clothes. "This is also arrogance, but of a different kind," he said.
When the rumor spread that Philip [Macedonian] was approaching, terror fell upon the Corinthians, and everyone set to work: who prepared weapons, who carried stones, who repaired the wall (...). Diogenes, seeing this (...), began to diligently roll back and forth (...) the large pot in which he then lived. To the question of one of the acquaintances: "What are you doing, Diogenes?" - he answered: "I roll my potty so that it does not seem as if I am the only one messing around when so many people are working."
A certain sophist asked Diogenes: "I am not you, right?" "That's right," said Diogenes. "I am human". "And that's true," said Diogenes. "Therefore, you are not human." “But this,” said Diogenes, “is a lie, and if you want the truth to be born, start reasoning with me.”
Once an Athenian laughed at him [Diogenes] in these words: "Why do you, when you praise the Lacedaemonians and blame the Athenians, do not go to Sparta?" "Doctors usually visit the sick, not the healthy."
Diogenes ordered that he be abandoned without burial. "How, to be devoured by beasts and vultures?" - "Not at all!" Diogenes answered. "Put a stick next to me, and I will drive them away." - "How? Can you feel it?" - "And if I do not feel, then what do I care about the most gnawing animals?"
One must live with the truth, as if on fire: neither get too close, so as not to burn, nor move far away, so that it is not cold.
Triumph over oneself is the crown of philosophy.
In order to live properly, one must have either reason or a noose.
Everything is in the power of the gods; wise men are friends of the gods; but friends have everything in common; therefore, everything in the world belongs to the sages.
Fathers and children should not wait for a request from each other, but should preemptively give what is needed to each other, and the primacy belongs to the father.
Those are more reckless than cattle, who quench their thirst not with water, but with wine.
To torment your envious people is to be in a good mood.
It is good to leave this life, as from a feast: not thirsty, but not drunk either.
* * *
You have read quotes, parables and jokes from the life of the philosopher Diogenes.
..................................................................................................
Diogenes of Sinop. Aphorisms and sayings
Diogenes of Sinop (c. 412 BC, Sinop - June 10, 323 BC, Corinth), ancient Greek philosopher, a student of Antisthenes, the founder of the Cynic school
Because of a large number Contradictory descriptions and doxographies, the figure of Diogenes today appears too ambiguous. Information has also been preserved about the existence of at least five Diogenes in one period.
John Waterhouse, Diogenes
The whole history of the life and work of this thinker appears as a myth created by many historians and philosophers.
It is difficult to find unambiguous information even of a biographical nature.
Due to his originality, Diogenes is one of the most prominent representatives of antiquity, and the cynical paradigm set by him later had a serious impact on a wide variety of philosophical concepts.
Gerome-Diogenes
He died, according to Diogenes Laertes, on the same day as Alexander the Great. A marble monument in the form of a dog was erected on his grave, with the epitaph:
Let copper grow old under the power of time - yet
Your glory will survive the ages, Diogenes:
You taught us how to live, being content with what you have,
You have shown us a path that is easier than ever.
Artist E. Landseer. Alexander and Diogenes. 1848
Cases from the life of Diogenes
Once, already an old man, Diogenes saw the boy drinking water from a handful, and in frustration threw his cup out of the bag, saying: "The boy surpassed me in the simplicity of life."
He also threw away the bowl when he saw another boy who, having broken his bowl, was eating lentil stew from a piece of eaten bread.
Diogenes and the boy. 1867, Repin Ilya Efimovich
Diogenes begged for alms from the statues, "to accustom himself to failure."
***
When Diogenes asked someone for a loan of money, he did not say “give me money”, but “give me money”
They say that when Alexander the Great came to Attica, he, of course, wanted to get acquainted with the famous "marginal" like many others.
Diogenes and Alexander the Great. Copy by an unknown artist from a painting by Tiepolo. State Hermitage
Plutarch says that Alexander waited a long time for Diogenes himself to come to him to pay his respects, but the philosopher calmly spent time at his place.
Then Alexander himself decided to visit him. He found Diogenes in Crania (in a gymnasium near Corinth) while he was basking in the sun.
Alexander approached him and said: "I am the great Tsar Alexander." “And I,” answered Diogenes, “the dog Diogenes.” "And why are you called a dog?"
“Whoever throws a piece - I wag, who doesn’t throw - I bark, who evil person- I bite.
Ivan Filippovich Tupylev Alexander the Great before Diogenes. 1787
"Are you afraid of me?" Alexander asked. “And what are you,” Diogenes asked, “evil or good?”
"Good," he said. "And who is afraid of good?" Finally, Alexander said: "Ask me for whatever you want." “Step back, you are blocking the sun for me,” Diogenes said and continued to warm himself.
On the way back, in response to the jokes of his friends who made fun of the philosopher, Alexander allegedly even remarked: “If I were not Alexander, I would like to become Diogenes.”
Ironically, Alexander died on the same day as Diogenes on June 10, 323 BC. uh
Artist Gaspard de Crayer. Alexander and Diogenes. 17th century
When the Athenians were preparing for war with Philip of Macedon and the city was in turmoil and excitement, Diogenes began to roll his barrel in which he lived through the streets.
When asked why he was doing this, Diogenes replied: "Everyone is busy with business, me too."
***
Diogenes said that grammarians study the disasters of Odysseus and do not know their own; musicians harmonize the strings on the lyre and cannot cope with their own temper; mathematicians follow the sun and moon, but do not see what is under their feet; orators teach to speak correctly and do not teach to act correctly; finally, misers scold money, but they themselves love it most of all.
***
The lantern of Diogenes, with which he wandered in broad daylight through crowded places with the words “I am looking for a Man,” became a textbook example even in antiquity.
Everdingen Caesar. Diogenes Seeks a True Man 1652, The Hague, Mauritshuis
Once, having washed, Diogenes left the bathhouse, and acquaintances who were just about to wash were walking towards him. "Diogenes," they asked in passing, "what's it like there, full of people?"
"Enough," Diogenes nodded. Immediately he met other acquaintances who were also going to wash and also asked: “Hi, Diogenes, what, do many people wash?”
"People - almost no one," Diogenes shook his head.
***
Returning once from Olympia, when asked if there were many people there, he replied: “There are a lot of people, but very few people.”
***
And once he went to the square and shouted: “Hey, people, people!”; but when the people came running, he attacked him with a stick, saying: "I called people, not scoundrels."
***
Diogenes now and then engaged in masturbation in front of everyone; when the Athenians remarked about this, they say, “Diogenes, everything is clear, we have democracy and you can do whatever you want, but aren’t you going too far?”, he answered: “If only hunger could be appeased by rubbing the stomach.”
***
When Plato gave a definition that had great success: “Man is an animal with two legs, devoid of feathers,” Diogenes plucked a rooster and brought it to school, declaring: “Here is the Platonic man!”
To which Plato was forced to add to his definition "... and with flat nails."
Mattia Preti Diogenes and Plato
Once Diogenes came to a lecture to Anaximenes of Lampsacus, sat down in the back rows, took a fish out of a bag and raised it over his head. First, one listener turned around and began to look at the fish, then another, then almost all of them.
Anaximenes was indignant: “You ruined my lecture!” “But what is a lecture worth,” said Diogenes, “if some salty fish overturned your reasoning?”
***
When asked what kind of wine he would like to drink, he replied: "Alien."
One day, someone brought him to a luxurious dwelling and remarked: “You see how clean it is here, don’t spit somewhere, you’ll be fine.”
Diogenes looked around and spat in his face, declaring: "But where to spit if there is no worse place."
***
When someone was reading a long essay and an unwritten place at the end of the scroll already appeared, Diogenes exclaimed: “Be of good cheer, friends: the shore is visible!”
***
To the inscription of one newlywed who wrote on his house: “Zeus’s son, victorious Hercules, dwells here, so that evil does not enter!” Diogenes wrote: "First war, then alliance"
Nicolas Poussin Landscape with Diogenes, 1648
Aphorisms
Treat the nobles like fire; don't stand too close or too far away from them.
***
Those who keep animals must admit that they serve the animals rather than the animals.
***
Death is not evil, for there is no dishonor in it.
***
Philosophy gives readiness for any turn of fate.
***
I am a citizen of the world.
***
If there is no pleasure in life, then there must be at least some meaning.
***
The ultimate goal is the prudent choice of what is in accordance with nature.
***
Once Diogenes was asked:
- Why do people willingly give alms to the crippled and the poor, but refuse the wise?
The philosopher replied:
- These people are afraid of becoming crippled and beggars, but they know very well that they will never become wise men.
Puchinov M. I. "Conversation of Alexander the Great with Diogenes"
Diogenes was asked why he does not like people - neither bad nor good. The philosopher replied:
- Bad - for doing evil, good - for allowing them to do it.
***
Once an Athenian laughed at him in these words: “Why do you, when you praise the Lacedaemonians and blame the Athenians, do not go to Sparta?” “Doctors usually visit the sick, not the healthy.”
***
Seeing the gossiping women, Diogenes said: “One viper borrows poison from another.”
***
Diogenes, in order to show that he did not consider the Athenians worthy of being called people, lit a lantern in broad daylight and began to walk along the most crowded streets of the city.
“What are you doing?” they asked him.
“I am looking for a man,” answered Diogenes.
Stretching out your hand to friends, do not clench your fingers into a fist.
***
To teach an old man - what to treat a dead man
***
Seeing the preening old woman, Diogenes said: “If for the living, you are late, if for the dead, hurry up.”
***
Poverty itself paves the way to philosophy. What philosophy tries to convince in words, poverty forces to carry out in practice.
The slanderer is the fiercest of wild animals, and the flatterer is the most dangerous of tame animals.
***
When the philosopher Diogenes needed money, he did not say that he would borrow it from friends; he said that he would ask his friends to return the debt to him.
***
Philosophy and medicine have made man the most intelligent of animals, divination and astrology the most insane, superstition and despotism the most unfortunate.
A sophist asked Diogenes, "I'm not you, am I?" "Yes," said Diogenes. "I am human". “And that is true,” said Diogenes. “Therefore, you are not human.” -
“But this,” Diogenes said, “is a lie, and if you want the truth to be born, start reasoning with me.”
***
Once, at one dinner, everyone got bored with his bad playing of a harpist. But Diogenes praised him:
- Well done, that, being a bad musician, he still continues to play, and does not go to steal.
***
One day, Diogenes began to give a philosophical lecture in the town square.
Nobody listened to him. Then Diogenes squealed like a bird, and a hundred onlookers gathered around.
Diogenes, Detail of Rafaello Santi's "The School of Athens" (1510), Vatican collection, Vatican City
Here, Athenians, is the price of your mind, - Diogenes told them. - When I told you smart things, no one paid attention to me, and when I chirped like a foolish bird, you listen to me with your mouth open.
(c. - c. BC) Cynic philosopher, follower of Antisthenes, from Sinope (Asia Minor)
Diogenes said that when he sees rulers, doctors or philosophers, it seems to him that a person is the most intelligent of living beings, but when he meets dream interpreters, soothsayers or people who believe them, (...) it seems to him that nothing maybe smarter than a human.
[Diogenes] said that when extending a hand to friends, one should not clench one's fingers into a fist.
[Diogenes] said that he was following the example of singing teachers who purposely take a higher tone so that the students understand what tone they themselves should sing in.
Seeing one day a woman prostrating herself obscenely before the statues of the gods, and wanting to rid her of superstition, he [Diogenes] came up and said: “But you are not afraid, woman, that perhaps the god is behind you, for everything is full of his presence, and you're being obscene towards him?"
When he [Diogenes] was basking in the sun (...), Alexander [the Great], stopping over him, said: “Ask me for whatever you want”; He replied: "Don't block the sun for me."
When someone was reading a long essay and an unwritten place at the end of the scroll already appeared, Diogenes exclaimed: “Be of good cheer, friends: the shore is visible!”
When Plato gave a definition that had great success: “Man is an animal with two legs, devoid of feathers,” Diogenes plucked a rooster and brought it to school, declaring: “Here is the Platonic man!” After that, the definition was added: "And with wide nails."
To a man who asked what time breakfast should be, he [Diogenes] replied: "If you are rich, then when you want, if you are poor, then when you can."
When someone hit him with a log, and then shouted: "Watch out!" he [Diogenes] asked: “Do you want to hit me again?”
In broad daylight, he [Diogenes] wandered around with a lantern in his hands, explaining: "I'm looking for a man."
To those who were afraid of bad dreams, he [Diogenes] said that they do not care about what they do during the day, but worry about what comes to their mind at night.
When someone, envious of Callisthenes, told what a luxurious life he shared with Alexander [Macedonian], Diogenes remarked: “That’s unhappy is the one who both breakfasts and dines when it pleases Alexander!”
About one dirty bathhouse, he asked: “Where do those who washed here bathe?”
[Diogenes] begged for alms from the statue; when asked why he does this, he said: "To accustom himself to failure."
When asked at what age one should marry, Diogenes replied: "It's too early for the young, it's too late for the old."
When a slave ran away from him, he was advised to go on a search. “It is ridiculous,” said Diogenes, “if Manet can live without Diogenes, and Diogenes cannot live without Manet.”
Asked by someone why people give to beggars, but never to philosophers, Diogenes replied: “Because they assume that they can still become lame and blind, but never philosophers.”
Returning from Olympia, when asked if there were many people there, he [Diogenes] replied: "There are many people, but few people."
When asked where he came from, Diogenes said: "I am a citizen of the world."
To the one who shamed him for being in unclean places, he said: "The sun also looks into the garbage pits, but this does not defile."
From the spendthrift he [Diogenes] asked for a whole mine; he asked why he begged for an obol from others, and he had a whole mine. “Because,” answered Diogenes, “I hope to ask others again, and whether I will ever ask you again, only the gods know.”
Seeing the preening old woman, Diogenes said: "If for the living - you are late, if for the dead - hurry up."
Seeing the gossiping women, Diogenes said: "One viper borrows poison from another."
Teaching an old man is like treating a dead man.
Once Diogenes, having breakfast in a tavern, called Demosthenes, who was passing by, to his place. He refused. “Are you ashamed, Demosthenes, to go into a tavern? Diogenes asked, “yet your master comes here every day!” - meaning the whole people and each citizen separately.
Once Diogenes, arriving in Olympia and noticing richly dressed Rhodes youths in the festive crowd, exclaimed with a laugh: "This is arrogance." The philosopher then encountered Lacedaemonians in shabby and untidy clothes. “This is also arrogance, but of a different kind,” he said.
When the rumor spread that Philip [Macedonian] was approaching, terror fell upon the Corinthians, and everyone set to work: who prepared weapons, who carried stones, who repaired the wall (...). Diogenes, seeing this (...), began to diligently roll back and forth (...) the large pot in which he then lived. To the question of one of the acquaintances: “What are you doing, Diogenes?” - he answered: "I roll my potty so that it does not seem like I'm the only one messing around when so many people are working."
A sophist asked Diogenes, "I'm not you, am I?" "Yes," said Diogenes. "I am human". “And that is true,” said Diogenes. “Therefore, you are not human.” “But this,” Diogenes said, “is a lie, and if you want the truth to be born, start reasoning with me.”
Diogenes, seeing how the Olympionist Dioxippus, riding in a chariot, turned his head more and more back, looking at a beautiful woman who was looking at the procession, and unable to take his eyes off her, exclaimed: “Look, so that the girl does not turn the young man’s neck!”
Once an Athenian laughed at him [Diogenes] in these words: “Why do you, when you praise the Lacedaemonians and blame the Athenians, do not go to Sparta?” (...) - "Doctors usually visit the sick, not the healthy."
Diogenes (...) ordered to abandon himself without burial. "How, to be devoured by beasts and vultures?" – “Not at all! Diogenes replied. “Put a stick next to me and I will drive them away.” – “How? Will you feel? “And if I don’t feel it, then what do I care about the most gnawing animals?”
Looking for a person!
One must live with the truth, as if on fire: neither get too close, so as not to burn, nor move far away, so that it is not cold.
Triumph over oneself is the crown of philosophy.
In order to live properly, one must have either reason or a noose.
Everything is in the power of the gods; wise men are friends of the gods; but friends have everything in common; therefore, everything in the world belongs to the sages.
If you give to others, then give to me; if not, then start with me.
There are many people, but few people.
Fathers and children should not wait for a request from each other, but should preemptively give what is needed to each other, and the primacy belongs to the father.
Those are more reckless than cattle, who quench their thirst not with water, but with wine.
To torment your envious people is to be in a good mood.
The flatterer is the most dangerous of the tame animals.
It is good to leave this life, as from a feast: not thirsty, but not drunk either.
Diogenes and his followers - wandering mentors of truth - preached contentment with little. Seeing once how the boy drank water from a handful, the philosopher threw his cup out of the bag, saying: "The boy surpassed me in the simplicity of life."
Confirming by personal example the need to throw off the shackles of civilization that disfigures people and return to the bosom of nature, Diogenes settled in a barrel, or rather, in a large clay amphora for storing liquids, wine or grain - a pithos. Believing that virtue consists in abstinence, in the absence of needs, and in a life in accordance with nature, he brought his asceticism to extreme limits.
His sermons, usually structured in the form of casual conversation with listeners, were most popular among the lower classes of the city, and most of the townspeople loved the eccentric. So, for example, when some boy broke his amphora barrel, they flogged the attacker, and Diogenes was given a new barrel.
Diogenes begged for alms from the statue; when asked why he does this, the philosopher replied: "To accustom himself to failures."
He begged for alms from a miser, he hesitated. “Venerable,” said Diogenes, “I ask you for bread, and not for a crypt!”
When asked why people give alms to the poor and do not give to philosophers, he replied: "Because they know that they may become lame and blind, but they will never become wise."
To a man who asked what time you should have breakfast, he replied: “If you are rich, then when you want, if you are poor, then when you can.”
When the philosopher was having breakfast in the square, onlookers crowded around him, shouting: "Dog!" - "It's you dogs," said Diogenes, "because you crowd around my breakfast."
Someone took pity on Diogenes for his exile. “Unfortunate,” he replied, “because of my exile I became a philosopher.”
When asked what philosophy gave him, the eccentric replied: "At least, readiness for any turn of fate."
To the man who said: “I don’t care about philosophy!”, he objected: “Why do you live if you don’t care to live well?”
For those who were afraid of bad dreams, Diogenes said that they do not care about what they do during the day, but worry about what comes to their mind at night.
Seeing that in Megara the sheep walk in leather blankets, and the children run around naked, Diogenes said: “It is better to be a ram with a Megarian than a son.”
When someone hit him with a log, and then shouted: "Watch out!" he asked, “Do you want to hit me again?” According to another version, the man who pushed him with a log and then shouted: “Beware!” Diogenes first hit him with a stick and then also shouted: “Beware!”
When asked where it is better to receive blows, he replied: "On the helmet."
They say that an eccentric wandered in broad daylight with a lantern in his hands, explaining his actions with the words: “I am looking for a person.”
And once he stood naked in the rain, and those around him pitied him; who witnessed this Plato said to them, "If you want to pity him, step aside," referring to his vanity.
According to unconfirmed reports, Diogenes had a wife, Pamphila, and a daughter, Milena. And this despite the fact that the eccentric denied, along with wealth and honors, also science, and private property, and marriage.
Seeing how someone performed the rite of purification, Diogenes said: “Unfortunate! You do not understand that cleansing does not correct the sins of life as well as grammatical errors.
Once he begged for alms from a man with a bad temper. “Ladies, if you convince me,” he said. “If I could convince you,” said Diogenes, “I would convince you to hang yourself.”
Once he was returning from Lacedaemon to Athens and to the question: “From where and where?” - answered: "From the male half of the house to the female."
When asked where he came from, the eccentric said: "I am a citizen of the world."
Someone made sacrifices, praying to the gods for a son. "And for a son to be a good man, for this you do not make sacrifices? Diogenes asked.
Seeing an inept archer, he sat down near the target itself and explained: “This is so that they don’t hit me.”
"When is the world prosperous?" Diogenes was once asked. “When its kings philosophize and philosophers reign,” the sage replied.
If Diogenes needed money, he did not say that he would borrow it from friends; he said that he would ask his friends to return the debt to him. The philosopher preached: "The love of money is the measure of every vice."
He was surprised that historians study the disasters of Odysseus, but do not know their own; musicians harmonize the strings on the lyre, but cannot cope with their own temper; astronomers follow the Sun and the Moon, but do not see what is under their feet ...
The philosopher, who returned from Olympia, was asked if there were many people there, to which he replied: “There are many people, but few people.”
A certain jumper said to Diogenes:
- What a pity, Diogenes, that you have never participated in the Olympic competitions with such hardening. Surely you would be the first!
- But I participate in competitions more important than the Olympics.
- What is it? - did not understand the "jumper".
And, shaking his head reproachfully, Diogenes answered:
- You know: I compete in the fight against vices.
Sklyarenko V. M., Evminova S. P., Iovleva T. V., Miroshnikova V. V., 50 famous eccentrics, Kharkov, Folio, 2007, pp. 168-172.
