"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.""

"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.""

"Be of good cheer," said Diogenes; "I see land."

"All things are in common among friends."

"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."

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

"When asked what learning was the most necessary, he said, "Not to unlearn what you have learned.""

"When he was praised by some wicked men, he said, "I am sadly afraid that I must have done some wicked thing.""

"Antisthenes used to say that envious people were devoured by their own disposition, just as iron is by rust."

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

"He used to teach that God is incorporeal, as Plato also asserted, and that his providence extends over all the heavenly bodies."

"The chief good he has defined to be the exercise of virtue in a perfect life."

"Another of his sayings was, that education was the best viaticum of old age."

"He used to define justice as "a virtue of the soul distributing that which each person deserved.""

"The question was once put to him, how we ought to behave to our friends; and the answer he gave was, "As we should wish our friends to behave to us.""

"Asked what he gained from philosophy, he answered, "To do without being commanded what others do from fear of the laws.""

"He was once asked what a friend is, and his answer was, "One soul abiding in two bodies.""

"It was a saying of his that education was an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity."

"On one occasion Aristotle was asked how much educated men were superior to those uneducated: "As much," said he, "as the living are to the dead.""

"He used to say that personal beauty was a better introduction than any letter; 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"."

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

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

"Very late in life, when he was studying geometry, some one said to Lacydes, "Is it then a time for you to be learning now?" "If it is not," he replied, "when will it be?""

"He has not acquired a fortune; the fortune has acquired him."

"The road to Hades is the easiest to travel."

"Wealth is the sinews of affairs."

"Old age is the harbor of all ills."

"Bion insisted on the principle that "The property of friends is common.""

"Of a rich man who was niggardly he said, "That man does not own his estate, but his estate owns him.""

"Once when Bion was at sea in the company of some wicked men, he fell into the hands of pirates; and when the rest said, "We are undone if we are known,"—"But I," said he, "am undone if we are not known.""

"Bion used to say that the way to the shades below was easy; he could go there with his eyes shut."

"Arcesilaus had a peculiar habit while conversing of using the expression, "My opinion is," and "So and so will not agree to this.""

"Plato was continually saying to Xenocrates, "Sacrifice to the Graces.""

"There is a written and an unwritten law. The one by which we regulate our constitutions in our cities is the written law; that which arises from customs is the unwritten law."

"That the gods superintend all the affairs of men, and that there are such beings as dæmons."

"That virtue was sufficient of herself for happiness."

"Time is the image of eternity."

"Plato affirmed that the soul was immortal and clothed in many bodies successively."

"Like sending owls to Athens, as the proverb goes."

"Aristippus said that a wise man’s country was the world."

"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.""

"Aristippus being asked what were the most necessary things for well-born boys to learn, said, "Those things which they will put in practice when they become men.""

"Anaxagoras said to a man who was grieving because he was dying in a foreign land, "The descent to Hades is the same from every place.""

"Anaximander used to assert that the primary cause of all things was the Infinite,—not defining exactly whether he meant air or water or anything else."

"There are many marvellous stories told of Pherecydes. For it is said that he was walking along the seashore at Samos, and that seeing a ship sailing by with a fair wind, he said that it would soon sink; and presently it sank before his eyes. At another time he was drinking some water which had been drawn up out of a well, and he foretold that within three days there would be an earthquake; and there was one."