Diogenes Quotations

He has the most who is most content with the least.

The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.

I am called a dog because I fawn on those who give me anything, I yelp at those who refuse, and I set my teeth in rascals.

The sun too penetrates into privies, but is not polluted by them.

I do not know whether there are gods, but there ought to be.

The art of being a slave is to rule one's master.

Why not whip the teacher when the pupil misbehaves?

The vine bears three kinds of grapes: the first of pleasure, the second of intoxication, the third of disgust

Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get the fewest rewards.

In a rich man's house there is no place to spit but his face.

Most men are within a finger's breadth of being mad.

It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little.

Of what use is a philosopher who doesn't hurt anybody's feelings?

I have nothing to ask but that you would remove to the other side, that you may not, by intercepting the sunshine, take from me what you cannot give.

What I like to drink most is wine that belongs to others.

The sun, too, shines into cesspools and is not polluted.

A friend is one soul abiding in two bodies.

Wise kings generally have wise counselors; and he must be a wise man himself who is capable of distinguishing one.

There is only a finger's difference between a wise man and a fool.

As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task.

The great thieves lead away the little thief.

Stand a little less between me and the sun

It takes a wise man to discover a wise man.

Man is the most intelligent of the animals - and the most silly.

I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.

Those who have virtue always in their mouths, and neglect it in practice, are like a harp, which emits a sound pleasing to others, while itself is insensible of the music.

We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less.

It was a favorite expression of Theophrastus that time was the most valuable thing that a man could spend.

I threw my cup away when I saw a child drinking from his hands at the trough.

Wise leaders generally have wise counselors because it takes a wise person themselves to distinguish them.

One ought to seek out virtue for its own sake, without being influenced by fear or hope, or by any external influence. Moreover, that in that does happiness consist.

People who talk well but do nothing are like musical intruments; the sound is all they have to offer.

Ability in man is an apt good, if it be applied to good ends.

The mob is the mother of tyrants.

The noblest people are those despising wealth , learning , pleasure and life ; esteeming above them poverty , ignorance , hardship and death .

Solon used to say that speech was the image of actions; . . . that laws were like cobwebs, - for that if any trifling or powerless thing fell into them, they held it fast; while if it were something weightier, it broke through them and was off.

Boasting, like gilded armour, is very different inside from outside.

Once he saw the officials of a temple leading away some one who had stolen a bowl belonging to the treasurers, and said, "The great thieves are leading away the little thief.

Aristotle dines when it seems good to King Philip, but Diogenes when he himself pleases.

Being asked where in Greece he saw good men , he replied, "'Good men nowhere, but good boys at Sparta.

The health and vigor necessary for the practice of what is good, depend equally on both mind and body.

There is a false love that will make you something you are not.

Discourse on virtue and they pass by in droves. Whistle and dance the shimmy, and you've got an audience.

To arrive at perfection, a man should have very sincere friends or inveterate enemies; because he would be made sensible of his good or ill conduct, either by the censures of the one or the admonitions of the other.

Aristotle was once asked what those who tell lies gain by it. Said he - That when they speak truth they are not believed.

If your cloak was a gift, I appreciate it; if it was a loan, I'm not through with it yet.

When some one boasted that at the Pythian games he had vanquished men, Diogenes replied, "Nay, I defeat men, you defeat slaves .

The sacrifice of Diogenes to all the gods.

The chief good is the suspension of the judgment [especially negative judgement], which tranquillity of mind follows like its shadow.

I am looking for a human.

By worrying as little as possible about fame.

To become self-educated you should condemn yourself for all those things that you would criticize others.

All things are in common among friends.

Nothing can be produced out of nothing.

Antisthenes used to say that envious people were devoured by their own disposition, just as iron is by rust. Envy of others comes from comparing what they have with what the envious person has, rather than the envious person realising they have more than what they could have and certainly more than some others and being grateful. It is really just an inability to get a correct perspective on their lives.

One day, observing a child drinking out of his hands, he cast away the cup from his wallet with the words, "A child has beaten me in plainness of living.

Even if I am but a pretender to wisdom, that in itself is philosophy.

To the question what wine he found pleasant to drink, he replied, "That for which other people pay.

When some one reminded him that the people of Sinope had sentenced him to exile , he said, "And I sentenced them to stay at home .

We have complicated every simple gift of the gods.

We come into the world alone and we die alone. Why, in life, should we be any less alone?

I like best the wine drunk at the cost of others.

The most beautiful thing in the world is freedom of speech.

Protagoras asserted that there are two sides to every question, exactly opposite to each other.

Let us not unlearn what we have already learned

He once begged alms of a statue, and, when asked why he did so, replied, "To get practice in being refused.

No man is hurt but by himself.

To Xeniades, who had purchased Diogenes at the slave market, he said, "Come, see that you obey orders.

When two friends part they should lock up each other's secrets and exchange keys. The truly noble mind has no resentments.

Calumny is only the noise of madmen.

Lust is a strong tower of mischief, and hath in it many defenders, as neediness, anger, paleness, discord, love, and longing.

Chilo advised, "not to speak evil of the dead."

Democritus says, "But we know nothing really; for truth lies deep down."

The only way to gall and fret effectively is for yourself to be a good and honest man.

We are more curious about the meaning of dreams than about things we see when awake.

Asked where he came from, he said, "I am a citizen of the world .

Poverty is a virtue which one can teach oneself.

One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings

On being asked by someone how he could become famous, Diogenes responded: 'By worrying as little as possible about fame

As houses well stored with provisions are likely to be full of mice, so the bodies of those that eat much are full of diseases.

Perdiccas threatened to put him to death unless he came to him, "That's nothing wonderful," Diogenes said, "for a beetle or a tarantula would do the same.

If I lack awareness, then why should I care what happens to me when I am dead?

When asked what was the proper time for supper: If you are a rich man, whenever you please; and if you are a poor man, whenever you can.

Good men nowhere, but good boys at Sparta.

The question was put to him, what hope is; and his answer was, "The dream of a waking man."

He was seized and dragged off to King Philip, and being asked who he was, replied, "A spy upon your insatiable greed .

Love comes with hunger.

Virtue cannot dwell with wealth either in a city or in a house.

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

Self-taught poverty is a help toward philosophy , for the things which philosophy attempts to teach by reasoning , poverty forces us to practice .

Fools! You think of "god" as a sentient being. God is the word used to represent a force. This force created nothing, it just helps things along. It does not answer prayers, although it may make you think of a way to solve a problem. It has the power to influence you, but not decide for you.

I am looking for an honest man.

If you are to be kept right, you must possess either good friends or red-hot enemies. The one will warn you, the other will expose you.

The Sun visits cesspools without being defiled.

When Alexander the Great addressed him with greetings, and asked if he wanted anything, Diogenes replied "Yes, stand a little out of my sunshine .

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

Young men not ought to marry yet, and old men never ought to marry at all.

You will become a teacher of yourself when for the same things that you blame others, you also blame yourself.

He was breakfasting in the marketplace, and the bystanders gathered round him with cries of " dog ." "It is you who are dogs," cried he, "when you stand round and watch me at my breakfast.

If only it was as easy to banish hunger by rubbing the belly as it is to masturbate.