Crates

Every line we carry

Each one links to its source, what it means, and the shirt in any of our looks.

1. Do philosophy until generals look like donkey drivers.

   Crates the Cynic said you should keep at philosophy until generals seem like mule drivers to you. Status loses its spell once you see clearly. Study until rank stops impressing you.

   Diogenes Laertius 6.92, our translation from the Greek

2. My homeland: obscurity and poverty, which fortune can't capture.

   When Alexander offered to rebuild his home city, Crates asked why, since another Alexander might knock it down again. His country, he said, was obscurity and poverty, which no fortune can take. Own nothing that can be seized, and you cannot be robbed.

   Diogenes Laertius 6.93, our translation from the Greek

3. No single tower is my country. Every land is my city and home.

   Lines from one of Crates' tragedies: not one tower, not one roof is my homeland; every city and house on earth is ready for me to live in. The Cynics were the first citizens of the world. Home is wherever you bring yourself.

   Diogenes Laertius 6.98, our translation from the Greek

4. A bag, a cloak, and a whole life spent laughing.

   Plutarch sets Crates beside Alexander: the king wept because he had not conquered even one of infinite worlds, while Crates, with only a wallet and a cloak, joked and laughed through life as though it were a holiday. Joy is not a function of possessions.

   Plutarch, On Tranquility of Mind 466e, our translation from the Greek