Diogenes Laërtius - Diogenes Quotes

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He used to say that personal beauty was a better introduction than any letter; 18 but others say that it was Diogenes who gave this description of it, while Aristotle called beauty "the gift of God"; that Socrates called it "a short-lived tyranny"; Theophrastus, "a silent deceit"; Theocritus, "an ivory mischief"; Carneades, "a sovereignty which stood in need of no guards".

Diogenes Laërtius
One of the sayings of Diogenes was that most men were within a finger's breadth of being mad; for if a man walked with his middle finger pointing out, folks would think him mad, but not so if it were his forefinger.

Diogenes Laërtius
"Bury me on my face," said Diogenes; and when he was asked why, he replied, "Because in a little while everything will be turned upside down."

Diogenes Laërtius
Plato having defined man to be a two-legged animal without feathers, Diogenes plucked a cock and brought it into the Academy, and said, "This is Plato's man." On which account this addition was made to the definition,—"With broad flat nails."

Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes would frequently praise those who were about to marry, and yet did not marry.

Diogenes Laërtius
A man once asked Diogenes what was the proper time for supper, and he made answer, "If you are a rich man, whenever you please; and if you are a poor man, whenever you can."

Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes lighted a candle in the daytime, and went round saying, "I am looking for a man."

Diogenes Laërtius
Diogenes said once to a person who was showing him a dial, "It is a very useful thing to save a man from being too late for supper."

Diogenes Laërtius
Once Diogenes, who was washing vegetables, ridiculed him as he passed by, and said, "If you had learnt to eat these vegetables, you would not have been a slave in the palace of a tyrant." But Aristippus replied, "And you, if you had known how to behave among men, would not have been washing vegetables."

Diogenes Laërtius