Diogenes Quotes
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We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less.
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Wise kings generally have wise counselors; and he must be a wise man himself who is capable of distinguishing one.
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He lit a lamp in broad daylight and said, as he went about, "I am looking for a human."
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When Alexander the Great addressed him with greetings, and asked if he wanted anything, Diogenes replied 'Yes, stand a little out of my sunshine.'
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Blushing is the color of virtue.
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When the slave auctioneer asked in what he was proficient, he replied, "In ruling people."
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Stand a little less between me and the sun.
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Virtue cannot dwell with wealth either in a city or in a house.
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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.
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If your cloak was a gift, I appreciate it; if it was a loan, I'm not through with it yet.
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Other dogs bite only their enemies, whereas I bite also my friends in order to save them.
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There is only a finger's difference between a wise man and a fool.
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I am Diogenes the Dog. I nuzzle the kind, bark at the greedy and bite scoundrels.
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It was a favorite expression of Theophrastus that time was the most valuable thing that a man could spend.
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Young men not ought to marry yet, and old men never ought to marry at all.
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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.
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The noblest people are those despising wealth, learning, pleasure and life; esteeming above them poverty, ignorance, hardship and death.
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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.
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The only way to gall and fret effectively is for yourself to be a good and honest man.
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The foundation of every state is the education of its youth.
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Aristotle was once asked what those who tell lies gain by it. Said he - That when they speak truth they are not believed.
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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?
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He once begged alms of a statue, and, when asked why he did so, replied, "To get practice in being refused."
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Self-taught poverty is a help toward philosophy, for the things which philosophy attempts to teach by reasoning, poverty forces us to practice.