ἱστορίαι Historiai
D.L. 5.19-21 Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Volume I (Books I-V), Diogenes Laertius; served verbatim
Plato as natural superiority, Theophrastus as a mute deception, Theocritus as an evil in an ivory setting, Carneades as a monarchy that needs no bodyguard. Being asked how the educated differ from the uneducated, ‘‘ As much,” he said, “ as the living from the dead.” * He used to declare education to be an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity. Teachers who educated children deserved, he said, more honour than parents who merely gave them birth; for bare life is furnished by the one, the other ensures a good life. ‘To one who boasted that he belonged to a great city his reply was, “ That is not the point to consider, but who it is that is worthy of a great country.” To the query, “ What is a friend ?”’ his reply was, “‘ A single soul dwelling in two bodies.’’ Mankind, he used to say, were divided into those who were as thrifty as if they would live for ever, and those who were as extravagant as if they were going to die the next day. When some one inquired why we spend much time with the beautiful, ‘“‘ That,” he said, “ is a blind man’s question.”” When asked what advantage he had ever gained from philosophy, he replied, “ This, that I do without being ordered what some are constrained to do by their fear of the law.” ® The question being put, how can students make progress, he replied, “ By pressing hard on those in front and not waiting for those behind.”’ To the chatterbox who poured out a flood of talk upon him and then inquired, ‘‘ Have I bored you to death with my chatter ? ” he replied, “No, indeed; for I was not attending to you.” When some one accused him of having given a subscription to a dishonest man—for the story is also

The Greek stands ready in the workroom; the English is served. Both faces will read together.

← D.L. 5.17-19 contents D.L. 5.21-22 →

Filed here — the addresses this episode attests; counted by the house’s first pass
Carneades — a candidate entry

Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Volume I (Books I-V), Diogenes Laertius — translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925
Apparatus shelf — Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, vol. I (R. D. Hicks translation, Loeb L184) · R. D. Hicks, Loeb Classical Library, London: William Heinemann / New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, MCMXXV (1925)
license: public-domain (US: published 1925, pre-1930 — the MCMXXV title page verified by the 2026-07-08 acquisition lane, pin in ops/sources/MANIFEST.md; only the English rectos are served, Hicks's translation)