Quotes by Diogenes

On one of his journeys Diogenes was captured by pirates, who sold him as a slave to Xeniades of Corinth.  When his owner asked him what he could do, he answered, “Govern men.”

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.

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.

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

All things are in common among friends.

He said that there was one only good, namely, knowledge; and one only evil, namely, ignorance.

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

When Thales was asked what was difficult, he said, "To know one's self." And what was easy, "To advise another."

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.

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