ἱστορίαι Historiai
D.L. 7.21-23 Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Volume II (Books VI-X), Diogenes Laertius; served verbatim
than you fair youths ? " He used to say that even of philosophers the greater number were in most things unwise, while about small and casual things they were quite ignorant. And he used to cite the saying of Caphisius, who, when one of his pupils was endeavouring to blow the flute lustily, gave him a slap and told him that to play well does not depend on loudness, though playing loudly may follow upon playing well. a And to a youth who was talking somewhat saucily his rejoinder was, " I would rather not tell you what I am thinking, my lad." A Rhodian, who was handsome and rich, but nothing more, insisted on joining his class; but so unwelcome was this pupil, that first of all Zeno made him sit on the benches that were dusty, that he might soil his cloak, and then he consigned him to the place where the beggars sat, that he might rub shoulders with their rags ; so at last the young man went away. Nothing, he declared, was more unbecoming than arrogance, especially in the young. He used also to say that it was not the words and expressions that we ought to remember, but we should exercise our mind in disposing to advantage of what we hear, instead of, as it were, tasting a well-cooked dish or well-dressed meal. The young, he thought, should behave with perfect propriety in walk, gait and dress, and he used continually to quote the lines of Euripides about Capaneus : Large means had he, yet not the haughtiness That springs from wealth, nor cherished prouder thoughts Of vain ambition than the poorest man. 6 Again he would say that if we want to master the sciences there is nothing so fatal as conceit, and

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

← D.L. 7.19-21 contents D.L. 7.23-24 →

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

Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Volume II (Books VI-X), Diogenes Laertius — translated by R. D. Hicks, 1925
Apparatus shelf — Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, vol. II (R. D. Hicks translation, Loeb L185) · 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 from the scan itself; only the English rectos are served, Hicks's translation)