Diogenes | PHILOSOPHY

Diogenes (404–c. 323 BC)

Diogenes the Cynic, also known as Diogenes of Sinope, was an ancient Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynicism, a Greek philosophical sect that stressed stoic self-sufficiency and the rejection of luxury. He is credited by some with originating the Cynic way of life, but he himself acknowledges an indebtedness to Antisthenes, by whose numerous writings he was probably influenced. It was by personal example rather than any coherent system of thought that Diogenes conveyed the Cynic philosophy. His followers positioned themselves as watchdogs of morality.

Renowned for his ascetic lifestyle, biting wit, and radical critiques of social conventions, he became a legendary figure whose life and teachings have been recounted, often through anecdote, in both antiquity and later cultural traditions.

Born to a prosperous family in Sinope, his life took a dramatic turn following a scandal involving the defacement of coinage, an event that led to his exile and ultimately his radical rejection of conventional values. Embracing a life of poverty and self-sufficiency, he became famous for his unconventional behaviours that openly challenged societal norms, such as living in a jar or wandering public spaces with a lit lantern in daylight, claiming to be "looking for a man". Diogenes advocated for a return to nature, the renunciation of materialism, and introduced early ideas of cosmopolitanism by proclaiming himself a "citizen of the world".

His memorable encounters, including a legendary exchange with Alexander the Great, along with various accounts of his death, have made him a lasting symbol of philosophical defiance to established authorities and artificial values.

Alexander the Great found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave.” Once, while Diogenes was sunning himself, Alexander came up to him and offered to grant him any request. "Stand out of my light," he replied. Alexander the Great was reported to have said, "Had I not been Alexander, I should have liked to be Diogenes." (There are many other references to this incident, principally Plutarch, Life of Alexander, XIV.1–5.)

When asked why he went about with a lamp in broad daylight, Diogenes confessed, "I am looking for a [honest] man." Seeing a young man blush, he remarked that it was the complexion of virtue.

Seeing a child drinking from his hands, Diogenes threw away his cup and remarked, "A child has beaten me in plainness of living." When invited to the house of Plato, he trampled upon his carpet, saying that he thereby trampled on the vanity of Plato, to which Plato retorted "How much pride you expose to view, Diogenes, by seeming not to be proud." To Plato's definition of a man as an animal, bipedal and featherless, Diogenes plucked a chicken and declared, "Here is Plato's man."

Why do people give to beggars, he was asked, but not to philosophers? "Because they think they may one day be lame or blind, but never expect that they will turn to philosophy." To a young man who complained that he was ill suited to study philosophy, Diogenes said "Why then do you live, if you do not care to live well?" Of grammarians, he was astonished that they desire to learn everything about the misfortunes of Odysseus but nothing about their own. Of mathematicians, that they keep their eyes on the heavens and overlook what is at their feet. Of orators, that they speak of justice but never practice it. When asked why he alone praised an indifferent harp player, Diogenes replied "because he plays the harp and does not steal." 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."

When some people urged that it is impossible for man to live like the animals owing to the tenderness of his flesh and because he is naked and unprotected, [Diogenes] would say in reply that men are so very tender because of their mode of life. ... Man’s ingenuity and his discovering and contriving so many helps to life had not been altogether advantageous to later generations, since men do not employ their cleverness to promote courage or justice, but to procure pleasure.

When [Diogenes of Sinope] was sold as a slave, he endured it most nobly. For on a voyage to Aegina he was captured by pirates under the command of Scirpalus, conveyed to Crete and exposed for sale. When the auctioneer asked in what he was proficient, he replied, "In ruling men." Thereupon he pointed to a certain Corinthian with a fine purple border to his robe, the man named Xeniades above-mentioned, and said, “Sell me to this man; he needs a master.”

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

When [Diogenes] observed how other men were harassed throughout their whole lives, ever plotting against one another, ever encompassed by a thousand ills and never able to enjoy a moment’s rest, nay, not even during the great festivals nor when they proclaimed a truce; and when he beheld that they did or suffered all this simply in order to keep themselves alive, and that their greatest fear was lest their so-called necessities should fail them, and how, furthermore, they planned and strove to leave great riches to their children, he marvelled that he too did not do the like, but was the only independent man in the world.

Quotes by Diogenes:

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.
No man is hurt but by himself. ...Literally by how he interprets what happens to him. If he focusses on how it could have been better, he will be hurt. If he focusses on how it could have been worse, he will be happy. The same is true for women too.
We come into the world alone and we die alone. Why, in life, should we be any less alone?
Of what use is a philosopher who doesn't hurt anybody's feelings?
It takes a wise man to discover a wise man.
The most beautiful thing in the world is freedom of speech.
People who talk well but do nothing are like musical intruments; the sound is all they have to offer.
He has the most who is most content with the least.
We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less.
Wise kings generally have wise counselors; and he must be a wise man himself who is capable of distinguishing one.
The mob is the mother of tyrants.