Greek Stoic and Cynic Philosophers: My Favorite Maxims: Heraclitus, Antisthenes, Diogenes, and Zeno

Today we will reflect on my favorite sayings of the
Greek Cynic and Stoic philosophers.
We found some additional maxims from another
collection of fragments. Many of these sayings were
previously included in other reflections, but we
wanted to gather our favorites together in one place.

Please, we welcome interesting questions in the
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Most of the many works penned by the Greek Cynic
and Greek Stoic Philosophers have been lost in the
sands of history, their sayings are preserved in
surviving fragments, mostly preserved by the ancient
compiler, Diogenes of Laertius, in his Lives of Eminent
Philosophers. And he lists the dozen or more lost
works that many of the philosophers each penned.

Heraclitus, Pre-Socratic Philosopher
Crying Heraclitus and laughing Democritus, by Donato Bustamante, 1477

We will first examine some sayings from the pre-
Socratic philosopher Heraclitus, who inspired not
only the Greek Cynic and Stoic Philosophers, but also
the early Church Fathers.

Many of Heraclitus’ sayings are
short and pithy:
“Asses prefer straw to gold.
All things are in a state of flux.
Man’s character is his fate.”
Heraclitus is best known for his
saying that, “You cannot step
twice in the same river, for fresh
waters are ever flowing.”
“The people should defend the
law as they would their city wall.”
Democritus and Heraclitus, by Hendrick Terbrugghen, 1600's

Some quick sayings by Heraclitus:
“You should extinguish pride more
quickly than a fire,” which some
translators render as: “You should
extinguish violence more quickly
than arson.”
“Men fail to notice what they do
when they are awake, just as they
forget what they do when asleep.”
“It is better to hide folly than to
make it public.”
Heraclitus, the weeping philosopher, by
Hendrik ter Brugghen, 1628

More sayings by Heraclitus:
“It is not good for men to get all
they want.”
“To be temperate is the
greatest excellence. And
wisdom is speaking the truth
and acting with knowledge in
accordance with nature.”
“All men can know themselves
and be temperate.”
Heraclitus and Democritus, by Jacob Jordaens, 1649

Diogenes of Laertius also included more sayings by
Heraclitus, and many of the quotes from the early
Church Fathers compared Scripture to his maxims.

Antisthenes: First Cynic Philosopher
Acropolis, by Leo von Klenze, circa 1846

Antisthenes, the first Cynic philosopher, walked five
miles a day to listen to Socrates, finding inspiration in
his simplicity and his hardiness, adopting his ascetic
practices. He emulated the impassivity of Socrates,
he refused to allow base passions to rule his life.

Antisthenes counsels: “Pay
attention to your enemies, for they
are the first to notice your faults.”
Virtue is all that is needed for
happiness, “since it needs nothing
but the strength of Socrates. Virtue
is a matter of deeds, and deeds
need no abundance of words or
learning.”
When asked: What is man’s greatest
blessing? He replied, “To die happy.”

Herodotus, in his Histories, tells the apocryphal story
of when the wise Solon visited the court of King
Croesus, the richest man in the ancient world.
Croesus asked Solon who was the happiest man in
the world, thinking he would answer that his vast
riches made him the happiest man. Solon answered
otherwise, adding that you will only know on the day
of your death whether you will be ultimately happy.

One saying of Antisthenes
reminds us of what Jesus once
said. “Reproached one day for
associating with worthless men,
he said, ‘Doctors associate with
patients without falling into a
fever themselves.’”
He also said: “I would rather go
mad than feel pleasure.”

We found some new maxims of
Antisthenes in a collection of his
fragments.
“Only be intimate with a woman
who will thank you for it.”
When he was told Plato maligned
him, he said, “It is the fate of great
men to do good works and have
bad things said about them.”
Antisthenes in fresco, 1888

When a student said he lost his notes,
Antisthenes responded, “You should have them
inscribed on your brain instead of on scraps of
paper.”
When a student asked what supplies he should
bring, he responded, “A brain, a brain, and a
brain.”
“People are consumed by their own jealousy the
way iron is eroded by rust.”
“Whoever wishes to be immortal should live
purely and honestly.”
“States begin to fail when they cannot tell the
bad citizens from the good.”

Antisthenes was one of the guests in Xenophon’s
Symposium, where he boasted of the riches of his
poverty.

Diogenes of Sinope: Living in a Tub
Diogenes Sitting in His Tub, by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1860

Diogenes was an exile in Athens who wanted to study
under Antisthenes. Although Antisthenes threatened
him with his staff, Diogenes was obstinate, he wanted
to be his student, he shouted, “Strike, for you’ll not
find wood hard enough to keep me away from you,
as long as I think you have something to say.”

Diogenes
Searching
for an
Honest
Man, by
Jacob
Jordaens,
1642
Diogenes shouted to Antisthenes, “Strike,
for you’ll not find wood hard enough to
keep me away from you, as long as I think
you have something to say.”

Diogenes noticed a mouse scurrying about in Athens,
and he decided that, like the mouse, he would not be
concerned about where he lived, so he lived in a tub,
a large earthenware pot in the marketplace. When
he saw a boy drinking water with his hands, he threw
away the cup he owned, and later he threw away his
bowl. He went barefoot even in the winter, his
possessions consisted of a cloak and what he could
carry in a knapsack.

Diogenes
Searching
for an
Honest
Man, by
Jacob
Jordaens,
1642

Once, when traveling, he was captured
by pirates, and sold to a man who
employed him to raise his sons to follow
Cynic Philosophy. When his friends
offered to ransom him from slavery, he
refused, saying that “lions are not the
slaves of those who feed them; it is the
feeders, rather, who are the lions’ slaves.
For fear is the mark of a slave, and wild
beasts make men fearful.”
Diogenes, by John William Waterhouse, 1882

When Alexander
the Great sought
him out in
Corinth, he told
Diogenes, “Ask
for whatever you
desire.”
Diogenes
replied, “Stand
out of my light.”
Alexander and Diogenes, by Gaetano Gandolfi, 1792

Diogenes Laertius records
many sayings of Diogenes
of Sinope.
“People exert themselves
when exercising at the
gymnasium but make no
effort at strengthening
their character.”
“Musicians take the
trouble to tune their lyres
while their souls are
disordered.”
“Living itself is not an evil,
the evil is living badly.”
Diogenes Searching for an Honest Man, by JHW Tischbein, 1780

We found some additional sayings of Diogenes:
“In the full light of day, a lighted lamp in hand,
Diogenes used to go about saying, ‘I am looking for a
man.’”
What Alexander the Great offered to enrich him,
Diogenes said that “poverty does not consist in the
want of money, nor is begging to be deplored.
Poverty consists of the desire to have everything, and
through violent means if necessary.”
When Plato defined Man as a featherless biped,
Diogenes plucked a chicken, proclaiming: “There’s
Plato’s man for you!”
When asked what sort of man Diogenes was, Plato
answered: “Socrates with a screw loose.”
Diogenes, by John Waterhouse, 1882

Diogenes of Laertius devotes a chapter to the Greek
Cynic philosophers. A later Cynic Philosopher Crates,
who was the teacher of Zeno, tried to dissuade
Hipparchia from pursuing him, thrust open his cloak,
showing his naked body, and proclaiming that was all
he owned, that she would have to live with him in the
market square were they to marry.

Zeno: The Founder of Greek Stoicism

Zeno came to Athens after he was shipwrecked, where he studied
philosophy under the Cynic Philosopher Crates. He gave his
philosophical lectures while walking in the Painted Stoa, a covered
walkway in the agora of Athens. Most of his works have been lost,
other than the few preserved by Diogenes of Laertius, and also a
few preserved by Seneca, and other fragments.

Zeno may have been the first
philosopher to remind us that “the
reason we have two ears and one mouth
is so we may hear more and talk less.”
As a young student, Zeno consulted an
oracle on what “he should do to live the
best life, and the oracle replied that he
should have intercourse with the dead
Grasping the oracle’s meaning, he read
the works of the ancients.”
Modern bust of Zeno of Citium in Athens

Zeno said, “Virtue is a harmonious
disposition, and should be chosen for
its own sake, not out of fear or hope of
anything external. Happiness lies in
virtue, since virtue is the state of mind
that makes the whole of life
harmonious.”
“The good aim genuinely and vigilantly
for their own improvement by making a
practice of concealing base things and
bringing to light whatever is good. They
are unpretentious.”
Zeno as medieval scholar in Nuremburg Chronicles

We also reflect on favorite sayings of the Roman
Stoic Philosophers.

We highly recommend this version of Diogenes Laertius’ Lives
of Eminent Philosophers; it includes extensive footnotes and
many interesting scholarly essays in the appendix. Scholars are
frustrated by the terseness of his compilations and the
occasional errors, but many of these philosophers would be
unknown if his work did not survive. Sadly, another book of his
documenting more Greek Cynic and Stoic Philosophers has
been lost to history. We also drew from a collection of
fragments, The Cynic Philosophers: From Diogenes to Julian.
My blog includes footnotes for these quotations, you can also
search for a phrase using the WordPress search function.

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Greek Stoic and Cynic Philosophers: My Favorite Maxims: Heraclitus, Antisthenes, Diogenes, and Zeno

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Greek Stoic and Cynic Philosophers: My Favorite Maxims: Heraclitus, Antisthenes, Diogenes, and Zeno