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Diogenes Laërtius Quotes

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Diogenes Laërtius (fl. c. 3rd century AD), was a biographer of ancient Greek philosophers. His Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, in ten books, is still extant and is an important source of information on the development of Greek philosophy.

Greece
Philosophers

Also known as: Diogenes Laertius

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110 quotes

He said that men ought to remember those friends who were absent as well as those who were present.

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

Thales was asked what was very difficult; he said: "To know one's self."

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."

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

Epicurus laid down the doctrine that pleasure was the chief good.

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

Anarcharsis, on learning that the sides of a ship were four fingers thick, said that "the passengers were just that distance from death."

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

Thales said there was no difference between life and death. "Why, then," said some one to him, "do not you die?" "Because," said he, "it does make no difference."

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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."

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

Diogenes said once to a person who was showing him a dial, "It is a very useful thing to save a man from being too late for supper."

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

Among what he called his precepts were such as these: Do not stir the fire with a sword. Do not sit down on a bushel. Do not devour thy heart.

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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."

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

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.

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

Pittacus said that half was more than the whole.

The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers (200)

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Diogenes Laërtius (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.