Part VII.

DIOGENES.
if JUttU
K Laertt c (jell.
ft Laert.
grave when you die ? Diogenes replied, he that tHants a Mouje ?
CHAP. III.
Hov) he. lived at Corinth;
a 'I'N his old age he took a Voyage to Mgina^ JL but was by the way taken by fome Pi¬ rates, the name of whofe Captain was Scirpa- lus. They carried him to Creet.^ and thefe ex- pofed him to Sale ^ they asked him whdt he could do ^ he anfwered, he could command Alen and to the Cryer, he faid, If any Man wants a Majier., let hm buy me. Offering to fit down, they would not Puffer him, (it being the Cuftona of fuch as were to be fold tor Slaves, to leap up and down) "Xis no matter for that.^ faith he, ftfhes are fold 'which way foever they he ^ adding, he wondred that Men, being to buy a Pot or Veffel, examine it curioutly on the infide^ but if a Man, they are fadsfied with his look, and outfide. Pointing to a Corinthian richly attifd that pafl'ed by,named Xeniades.^ Sell me.^ faith he, to that Man.^ for he wants a Majter. To Xenia' tks as foonas he had bought him, he laid. Be fure you do as I command you.^ he anfwered in the common Proverbial Verfe.
Xhe Springs of Rivers upwards run.
e Plut. Alex,
vtt.
Diogenes if being fick you had bought a Phyfician, would you obey his advice, or would you fay as before. The Springs of Rivers upwards run.
, His Friends, according to Qleomenes.^ offered to redeem him-, but He told them they were fools, forLyons were not Slaves to their Keepers, but the Keepers to the Lyons, for the property of Servitude is to fear, and Men fear Beads.
b having bought him, carried him
to Corinth.^ c asked him what he would do •, he anfwered, he knew how to command free per- fons. Xeniades wondring at his anfwer, fet him at Liberty, and delivered his Sons to his Charge, frying, ta/ce then my Children.^ and cojnmand them, d He put the Government of his Family alfo in¬ to his hands, which he acquitted liimfelf of ex* cellently well in every thing, in fo much that Xe¬ niades faid, he had brought a good Genius into his Houfe.
He did not Puffer the young men that were un¬ der his charge, to exetcife themfelves as Wreft- lets, but only till they were warm, and for their health fake. He taught them many Payings of Poets by heart, and fome of his own-, and that they might more eafily remember the full fum of Learning, he made a brief Colleflion thereof He taught them at home to Minifter, ufing thin Diet, and drinking Water, to go negligently in Habit, ^haven, without Coats, without Shooes, and filent, looking upon themfelves as they went. He brought them up likewife to Hunting. On the other fide, they took great care of Diogenes.^ and recommended him to their Parents.
e When Alexander was upon expedition a- gainfttheP^r7/rf;zx, many Philofophcrs came to lalute him*, the fame duty he expefled from Dio- genes., who was at that time at xh^Craneum, a Gymnafium in Corinth, where he lived idly, not
rhinding Alexander. Alexander therefore went and found Him out, fitting in theSun*, he rofe a little to look upon the great Crowd of People that came along with Alexander, who fainting him ^ asked Diogenes what he would defire of him, he anfwered, that you would fl and afide a lit¬ tle from betwixt me and the Sun. Flereat Alexan¬ der was fo furprifed, and fo much admired his high Mind, that his Attendants in returning laughing thereat*, but I, faid he, were I not Alex¬ ander, would choofe to be Diogenes.
CHAP. IV.
His Philofopljy.
5 A N D concerning Opinions, he faid, there ^ is a twofold Exercitation, one Spiriual, the other Corporeal if in the firff of thefe we employ our Pelves conftantly, frequent phantafies will occur, which faciliate the performance of Vertue *, the one cannot be without the other, a good habit and ffrength being neceflary both in refpefl of the Soul and the Body.
That Virtue is eafily acquired by exercifatiOn, he argued, in as much as in the Mechanick Arts and others,that Artifts by praffice quickly arrive at an extraordinary readinefs therein, and Wreff- lers and Muficians excel one another according to the continual pains they take therein Oiii^ more than aiiother ^ and if they fhould have ta¬ ken the fame pains about their Souls, it would not have been unprofitably and Imperfedtly em¬ ployed.
He Paid, .Nothing in Life can be rightly done without exercitatioig and that exercitation could mafter any thing-, for whereas men fhould chufe Natural Labours, whereby they might live happily -, they on the contrary make choice of the unprofitable, and through their own Folly are in continual mifery. For even the contempt ofPleafure, if we accuftom our Pelves thereto, will be moll pleafant-, and as they, who inure themfelves to a voluptuous life cannot be taken off it without much trouble and grief j lb they who exercife themfelves in a contrary manner, with as great eafe contemn even the pleafures themfelves.
He aferibed not fo much to Law as to Nature-, he affirmed that he followed the fame courfe of Life with Hercules, preferring nothing before Liberty.
He afferted that all things belong to the Wife; arguing thus; All things belong to the Gods, the Gods are Friends to Wife Perfons -, all things are common amongji Friends* therefore long the Wife.
As concerning Law, he held that without it a Commonwealth could nor be ordered ; for, faith he. Without a€ity there ca?inot be any pro¬ fit of Civil things ; a City is a Civil thing ; of Law without a City there is no profit, therefore Law is Civil.
He derided Nobility, Glory, and the like, fay¬ ing, they were the Ornaments or Veils pf vVick ednefs, and that only a right Commo.'. wt: ; 1,= ought to be honoured.
He held that there ought to be a l .'omuirmity of Women, conceivinglMarriage to be aotniai^
N n 2
Lmi,
284
DIOGENES.
and that every Man and Woman might enjoy one another as they plealed themfelves, and Snf^uently that il Children fliould he in
common. . r 1 1
He held that it was not unlawml to take any
thing out of a Temple, or to feed upon living Creatures •, neither was it impious to eat Man’s Flefli, as appeared by the Pra£lice_of other Na¬ tions •, adding that all things are in all and by y all : In Bread there is Flelh, in Flefc Bread ^ the remainders of Flelh and Bread being innnu- atedby occult palTages into other Bodies,ande- vaporating in like manner .ThisL^^’r/m cites out of a Tragedy of his named Uyefies., it faith he, that Tragedy belong to him, and not rather to Fhi/ifeus or Pajipho/i. ' . ■
■ Miijtck.^ Geometry, A ftronomy, and the like, he rejeQed as unprofitable and unnecelTary.
CHAP. V.
His Apothegms.
4 Lmt. a T TE was very acute, laith Laertius in deri-
XX ding others. He faid Euclid's School was not 5C0AW, but not a School, but Anger, for the Dialefficks affected Litigious difpute. He faid Plato's School was not but x^dja,-
'ietfw, not an Exercitation, but Confumption.
He faid, when, he look’d upon Pilots, Phyji^ cians and Philofophers, Man was rite wileft of all Creatures 4 but when he looked upon Inter¬ preters oLDstdcem, Prophets, or Perfons puffed up with Wealth or honours, nothing is more fool- ilh than Man.
He faid, that he often found it convenient in Life to have ready an Anfwer, or a Rope.
At a great Feaft, feeing Plato eat Olives ^ Why, faith he, you being a Wife Man, and go¬ ing to Sicily for fuch Entertainments, did you not enjoy them ? He anfwer’d,by the Gods,Diogenes, I ted upon Olives there likewife as well as up¬ on other xhmgs.Diogenes replied, why then need¬ ed you to have gone to Syracufe, were there no Olives at that time'in Attica,} PhisPhavorinus alcribes to Arifiippus, 2iddim^, that as tie was eating Figs, he met him, and faid, Tafte j the other taking and eating ^ I bade you, faith he, tafte, and not devour.
In the Prefence of fome Friends of Plato, fent to him by LOionyfius, Diogenes trod under foot Plato’s Robe, faying I tread under foot Platon's Pride : But Diogenes, anfwered Plato,\\o\si proud are you your felf,when you think you contemn Pride ? Sotion relates this as faid to the Cynick hj Plato.
b stoh. Scr. b Diogenes fent to Plato for Wine and ■ FigSj *33- he fent him a large Velfel of Wine and- Figs 5
whereupon Diogenes, As you, faith he, being demanded how much two and two are, anfwer ' Twenty, fo you neither grant what I requeft,
nor anfwer what I demand •, thus cenfuring his Verbofity.
Being demanded in what part of Greece he had feen good Men : Men, faith he, no where, but good Boys at Lacedaemon.
Making a ferious Difeourfe, and ' perceiving that no Man came to hear him, he began to Sing, whereat a great many gathered together, whom