Book 6
2.29
He would praise those who were about to marry and refrained, those who intending to go a voyage never set sail, those who thinking to engage in politics do no such thing, those also who purposing to rear a family do not do so, and those who make ready to live with potentates, yet never come near them after all. He used to say, moreover, that we ought to stretch out our hands to our friends with the fingers open and not closed.Cf. Ecclus. iv. 31 (36) μὴ ἔστω ἡ χείρ σου ἐκτετα μένη εἰς τὸ λαβεῖν καὶ ἐν τῷ ἀποδιδό ναι συνεστ αλμένη, let not thine hand be stretched out to receive, and shut when thou shouldest repay. MenippusMenagius, followed by Hübner, on the authority of Ambrosius, reads Hermippus; for among the works of Menippus enumerated by Laertius below (§ 101) there is no mention of a Sale of Diogenes. in his Sale of Diogenes tells how, when he was captured and put up for sale, he was asked what he could do. He replied, Govern men. And he told the crier to give notice in case anybody wanted to purchase a master for himself. Having been forbidden to sit down, It makes no difference, said he, for in whatever position fishes lie, they still find purchasers.
2.30
And he said he marvelled that before we buy a jar or dish we try whether it rings true, but if it is a man are content merely to look at him. To Xeniades who purchased him he said, You must obey me, although I am a slave; for, if a physician or a steersman were in slavery, he would be obeyed. Eubulus in his book entitled The Sale of Diogenes tells us that this was how he trained the sons of Xeniades. After their other studies he taught them to ride, to shoot with the bow, to sling stones and to hurl javelins. Later, when they reached the wrestling-school, he would not permit the master to give them full athletic training, but only so much as to heighten their colour and keep them in good condition.
