Diogenes, also known as Diogenes the Cynic, was a Greek philosopher and one of the founders of Cynic philosophy. Profoundly inspirational Diogenes quotes will encourage you to think a little deeper than you usually would and broaden your perspective.
If you’re searching for meaningful philosopher quotes that perfectly capture what you’d like to say or just want to feel inspired yourself, browse through an amazing collection of profound Epictetus quotes, amazing Epicurus quotes and top Friedrich Nietzsche quotes.
Famous Diogenes Quotes
People who talk well but do nothing are like musical instruments; the sound is all they have to offer. Diogenes
It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours. Diogenes
I pissed on the man who called me a dog. Why was he so surprised? Diogenes
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. Diogenes
If only it was as easy to banish hunger by rubbing the belly as it is to masturbate. Diogenes
Of what use is a philosopher who doesn’t hurt anybody’s feelings? Diogenes
One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings. Diogenes
It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little. Diogenes
He has the most who is most content with the least. Diogenes
In a rich man’s house there is no place to spit but his face. Diogenes
It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours. Diogenes
I am a citizen of the world. Diogenes
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. Diogenes
The foundation of every state is the education of its youth. Diogenes
In a rich man’s house there is no place to spit but his face. Diogenes
It takes a wise man to discover a wise man. 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. Diogenes
I have nothing to ask but that you would remove to the other side, that you may not, by intercepting the sunshine, take from me what you cannot give. Diogenes
We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less. Diogenes
When some one reminded him that the people of Sinope had sentenced him to exile, he said, And I sentenced them to stay at home. Diogenes
We come into the world alone and we die alone. Why, in life, should we be any less alone? Diogenes
Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get the fewest rewards. Diogenes
The mob is the mother of tyrants. Diogenes
Of what use is a philosopher who doesn’t hurt anybody’s feelings? Diogenes
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. Diogenes
He lit a lamp in broad daylight and said, as he went about, I am looking for a human. Diogenes
To one who asked what was the proper time for lunch, he said, If a rich man, when you will; if a poor man, when you can. Diogenes
I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world. Diogenes
When people laughed at him because he walked backward beneath the portico, he said to them 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? Diogenes
You will become a teacher of yourself when for the same things that you blame others, you also blame yourself. Diogenes
What I like to drink most is wine that belongs to others. Diogenes
Education gives sobriety to the young, comfort to the old, riches to the poor and is an ornament to the rich. Diogenes
The only way to gall and fret effectively is for yourself to be a good and honest man. Diogenes
I am Diogenes the Dog. I nuzzle the kind, bark at the greedy and bite scoundrels. Diogenes
And at last, becoming a complete misanthrope, he used to live, spending his time in walking about the mountains; feeding on grasses and plants, and in consequence of these habits, he was attacked by the dropsy, and so then he returned to the city, and asked the physicians, in a riddle, whether they were able to produce a drought after wet weather. And as they did not understand him, he shut himself up in a stable for oxen, and covered himself with cow dung, hoping to cause the wet to evaporate from him, by the warmth that this produced. And as he did himself no go good in this way, he died, having lived seventy years. Diogenes
Aristotle was once asked what those who tell lies gain by it. Said he That when they speak truth they are not believed. Diogenes
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. Diogenes
Self taught poverty is a help toward philosophy, for the things which philosophy attempts to teach by reasoning, poverty forces us to practice. Diogenes
I am Diogenes the Dog. I nuzzle the kind, bark at the greedy and bite scoundrels. Diogenes
Why not whip the teacher when the pupil misbehaves? Diogenes
If I gained one thing from philosophy is that at the very least, I am well prepared to confront any change in fortune. Diogenes
He once begged alms of a statue, and, when asked why he did so, replied, To get practice in being refused. Diogenes
You are a simpleton, Hegesias; you do not choose painted figs, but real ones; and yet you pass over the true training and would apply yourself to written rules. Diogenes
Discourse on virtue and they pass by in droves. Whistle and dance the shimmy, and you’ve got an audience. Diogenes
The insult dishonors the one who infers it, not the one who receives it. Diogenes
I am looking for an honest man. Diogenes
I pissed on the man who called me a dog. Why was he so surprised? Diogenes
When Alexander the Great addressed him with greetings, and asked if he wanted anything, Diogenes replied Yes, stand a little out of my sunshine. Diogenes
He has the most who is most content with the least. Diogenes
The most beautiful thing in the world is freedom of speech. Diogenes
Of what use is a philosopher who doesn’t hurt anybody’s feelings? Diogenes
When I look upon seamen, men of science and philosophers, man is the wisest of all beings; when I look upon priests and prophets nothing is as contemptible as man. Diogenes
If only it was as easy to banish hunger by rubbing the belly as it is to masturbate. Diogenes
We have complicated every simple gift of the gods. Diogenes
In a rich man’s house there is no place to spit but his face. Diogenes
If I lack awareness, then why should I care what happens to me when I am dead? Diogenes
We have two ears and one tongue so that we would listen more and talk less. Diogenes
To become self educated you should condemn yourself for all those things that you would criticize others. Diogenes
It is not that I am mad, it is only that my head is different from yours. Diogenes
One day, observing a child drinking out of his hands, he cast away the cup from his wallet with the words, A child has beaten me in plainness of living. 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. Diogenes
The art of being a slave is to rule one’s master. Diogenes
One original thought is worth a thousand mindless quotings. Diogenes
A friend is one soul abiding in two bodies. Diogenes
People who talk well but do nothing are like musical intruments; the sound is all they have to offer. Diogenes
Even if I am but a pretender to wisdom, that in itself is philosophy. Diogenes
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. Diogenes
He was breakfasting in the marketplace, and the bystanders gathered round him with cries of dog. It is you who are dogs, cried he, when you stand round and watch me at my breakfast. Diogenes
The most beautiful thing in the world is freedom of speech. Diogenes
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. Diogenes
You will become a teacher of yourself when for the same things that you blame others, you also blame yourself. Diogenes
Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get the fewest rewards. Diogenes
Why not whip the teacher when the pupil misbehaves? Diogenes
There is only a finger’s difference between a wise man and a fool. Diogenes
He lit a lamp in broad daylight and said, as he went about, I am looking for a human. Diogenes
Plato had defined Man as an animal, biped and featherless, and was applauded. Diogenes plucked a fowl and brought it into the lecture room with the words, Behold Plato’s man! Diogenes
To become self educated you should condemn yourself for all those things that you would criticize others. Diogenes
To the question what wine he found pleasant to drink, he replied, That for which other people pay. Diogenes
Even if I am but a pretender to wisdom, that in itself is philosophy. Diogenes
Other dogs bite only their enemies, whereas I bite also my friends in order to save them. Diogenes
When I look upon seamen, men of science and philosophers, man is the wisest of all beings; when I look upon priests and prophets nothing is as contemptible as man. Diogenes
Antisthenes used to say that envious people were devoured by their own disposition, just as iron is by rust. Envy of others comes from comparing what they have with what the envious person has, rather than the envious person realising they have more than what they could have and certainly more than some others and being grateful. It is really just an inability to get a correct perspective on their lives. Diogenes
There is only a finger’s difference between a wise man and a fool. Diogenes
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. Diogenes
Aristotle was once asked what those who tell lies gain by it. Said he That when they speak truth they are not believed. Diogenes
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. Diogenes
