Get out of my sun.
Diogenes, Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6
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Diogenes
c. 412–323 BC. The Cynic who lived in a jar in Athens and told Alexander the Great to get out of his sun.
On a shirt
Every line we've sourced
Get out of my sun.
"Alexander ... said to him: Ask any favor you choose of me. And he replied: Cease to shade me from the sun"
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6, C. D. Yonge, 1853
Lamp in daylight. Still looking for a real human.
"Having lighted a candle in the daytime, he said: I am looking for a man"
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6, C. D. Yonge, 1853
A kid drinking from his hands just beat me at simple living.
"he saw a child drinking out of its hands, and so he threw away the cup ... saying: That child has beaten me in simplicity"
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6, C. D. Yonge, 1853
Where am I from? The world.
"The question was put to him what countryman he was, and he replied: A Citizen of the world"
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6, C. D. Yonge, 1853
Near the finish? Then push harder.
"suppose I had run a long distance, ought I to stop when I was near the end, and not rather press on?"
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6, C. D. Yonge, 1853
Begging from a statue. Practicing rejection.
"He once asked for a statue; and being questioned as to his reason ... he said: I am practising disappointment"
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6, C. D. Yonge, 1853
Ready for any fortune. That's what philosophy gave me.
"what advantage he had derived from philosophy, he replied: If no other, at least this, that I am prepared for every kind of fortune"
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6, C. D. Yonge, 1853
Blushing? Courage. That's the color of virtue.
"Once he saw a youth blushing, and addressed him: Courage, my boy, that is the complexion of virtue"
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6, C. D. Yonge, 1853
End of a long, dull reading: "Cheer up, friends. I see land."
"when he came to the end of the book ... Be of good cheer, my friends ... I see land"
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6, C. D. Yonge, 1853
I'm Alexander the Great. And I'm Diogenes the Dog.
"I am Alexander, the great king. And I, said he, am Diogenes the dog"
Diogenes Laertius, Lives 6, C. D. Yonge, 1853
Summer: roll in hot sand. Winter: hug frozen statues.
"καὶ θέρους μὲν ἐπὶ ψάμμου ζεστῆς ἐκυλινδεῖτο, χειμῶνος δʼ ἀνδριάντας κεχιονισμένους περιελάμβανε, πανταχόθεν ἑαυτὸν συνασκῶν."
Diogenes Laertius 6.23, our translation from the Greek
Good men in Greece? Nowhere. Good boys? In Sparta.
"ἄνδρας μέν, εἶπεν, οὐδαμοῦ, παῖδας δʼ ἐν Λακεδαίμονι."
Diogenes Laertius 6.27, our translation from the Greek
They tune the lyre and leave the soul out of tune.
"τοὺς μουσικοὺς τὰς μὲν ἐν τῇ λύρᾳ χορδὰς ἁρμόττεσθαι, ἀνάρμοστα δʼ ἔχειν τῆς ψυχῆς τὰ ἤθη·"
Diogenes Laertius 6.27, our translation from the Greek
Featherless biped? Here's Plato's man.
"τίλας ἀλεκτρυόνα εἰσήνεγκεν αὐτὸν εἰς τὴν σχολὴν καί φησιν, οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ Πλάτωνος ἄνθρωπος."
Diogenes Laertius 6.40, our translation from the Greek
They sentenced me to exile. I sentenced them to stay home.
"Σινωπεῖς σου φυγὴν κατέγνωσαν, ἐγὼ δέ γε, εἶπεν, ἐκείνων μονήν."
Diogenes Laertius 6.49, our translation from the Greek
Greed is the capital city of every evil.
"τὴν φιλαργυρίαν εἶπε μητρόπολιν πάντων τῶν κακῶν."
Diogenes Laertius 6.50, our translation from the Greek
They laugh at me. I don't get laughed down.
"πρὸς τὸν εἰπόντα, πολλοί σου καταγελῶσιν, ἀλλʼ ἐγώ, ἔφη, οὐ καταγελῶμαι."
Diogenes Laertius 6.54, our translation from the Greek
Favorite wine? Someone else's.
"ἐρωτηθεὶς ποῖον οἶνον ἡδέως πίνει, ἔφη, τὸν ἀλλότριον."
Diogenes Laertius 6.54, our translation from the Greek
Big crowd. Few people.
"πολὺς μέν, εἶπεν, ὁ ὄχλος, ὀλίγοι δʼ οἱ ἄνθρωποι."
Diogenes Laertius 6.60, our translation from the Greek
Why Dog? I wag for givers, bark at refusers, bite the wicked.
"τοὺς μὲν διδόντας σαίνων, τοὺς δὲ μὴ διδόντας ὑλακτῶν, τοὺς δὲ πονηροὺς δάκνων."
Diogenes Laertius 6.60, our translation from the Greek
The sun shines into sewers and stays clean.
"καὶ γὰρ ὁ ἥλιος, ἔφη, εἰς τοὺς ἀποπάτους, ἀλλʼ οὐ μιαίνεται."
Diogenes Laertius 6.63, our translation from the Greek
Afraid of you? Are you good? Then who fears the good?
"τί γάρ, εἶπεν, εἶ; ἀγαθὸν ἢ κακόν; τοῦ δὲ εἰπόντος, ἀγαθόν, τίς οὖν, εἶπε, τὸ ἀγαθὸν φοβεῖται;"
Diogenes Laertius 6.68, our translation from the Greek
The finest thing in people: speaking freely.
"Ἐρωτηθεὶς τί κάλλιστον ἐν ἀνθρώποις, ἔφη, παρρησία."
Diogenes Laertius 6.69, our translation from the Greek
Nothing works without training. Training beats everything.
"Οὐδέν γε μὴν ἔλεγε τὸ παράπαν ἐν τῷ βίῳ χωρὶς ἀσκήσεως κατορθοῦσθαι, δυνατὴν δὲ ταύτην πᾶν ἐκνικῆσαι."
Diogenes Laertius 6.71, our translation from the Greek