Diogenes Laertius, Vitae philosophorum, R. D. Hicks (Translator), 6.2.69

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

View: By Chapter

← Previous Next →

[69] Being asked what was the most beautiful thing in the world, he replied, Freedom of speech. On entering a boys’ school, he found there many statues of the Muses, but few pupils. By the help of the gods, said he, schoolmaster, you have plenty of pupils. It was his habit to do everything in public, the works of Demeter and of Aphrodite alike. He used to draw out the following arguments. If to breakfast be not absurd, neither is it absurd in the market-place; but to breakfast is not absurd, therefore it is not absurd to breakfast in the marketplace. Behaving indecently in public, he wished it were as easy to banish hunger by rubbing the belly. Many other sayings are attributed to him, which it would take long to enumerate.¹

Vitae philosophorum. Diogenes Laertius. R. D. Hicks (Translator). Cambridge, MA. 1925.

Funding provided by National Endowment for the Humanities Division of Preservation and Access.

Current edition Perseus

Lives of Eminent Philosophers (English) (Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.)

Editions (1)

Βίοι καὶ γνῶμαι τῶν ἐν φιλοσοφίᾳ εὐδοκιμησάντων Perseus (Diogenes Laertius. Hicks, R. D., editor. Cambridge, MA.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann Ltd., 1925.) — 6.2.69 focus

[69] Ἐρωτηθεὶς τί κάλλιστον ἐν ἀνθρώποις, ἔφη, παρρησία. εἰσελθὼν εἰς διδασκάλου καὶ Μούσας μὲν ἰδὼν πολλάς, μαθητὰς δὲ ὀλίγους, σὺν θεοῖς, ἔφη, διδάσκαλε, πολλοὺς μαθητὰς ἔχεις. εἰώθει δὲ πάντα ποιεῖν ἐν τῷ μέσῳ, καὶ τὰ Δήμητρος καὶ τὰ Ἀφροδίτης. καὶ τοιούτους τινὰς ἠρώτα λόγους· εἰ τὸ ἀριστᾶν μηδέν ἐστιν ἄτοπον, οὐδʼ ἐν ἀγορᾷ ἐστιν ἄτοπον· οὐκ ἔστι δʼ ἄτοπον τὸ ἀριστᾶν· οὐδʼ ἐν ἀγορᾷ ἄρα ἐστὶν ἄτοπον. χειρουργῶν τʼ ἐν τῷ μέσῳ συνεχές, εἴθε ἦν, ἔλεγε, καὶ τὴν κοιλίαν παρατριψάμενον τοῦ λιμοῦ παύσασθαι· ἀναφέρεται δὲ καὶ ἄλλα εἰς αὐτόν, ἃ μακρὸν ἂν εἴη καταλέγειν πολλὰ ὄντα.

Notes on the current edition

Lives of Eminent Philosophers

1. §§ 70-73. As § 74 joins on well to § 69, the intermediate specimens of Cynic maxims( cf.note on § 10) are clearly an insertion, probably from a different source.

Diogenes Laertius Vitae philosophorum 6.2.69

R. D. Hicks (Translator)

Search the Perseus Catalog for:

Current edition Perseus

Notes on the current edition

Stable identifiers