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My parents weren't wrestlers. I'm a wrestler anyway.

Antisthenes, Diogenes Laertius 6.4

The source

"My parents weren't wrestlers. I'm a wrestler anyway." Antisthenes said it in Diogenes Laertius 6.4. Translated from the original Greek by Spartan Surfers.

"οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκ δύο, ἔφη, παλαιστικῶν, ἀλλὰ παλαιστικός εἰμι."

Original Greek, Diogenes Laertius 6.4. Greek: Hicks 1925 Loeb text via Perseus; Reply to a jibe that his parents were not both free-born Athenians.

Who said it

Antisthenes (c. 446–366 BC). Student of Socrates and forerunner of the Cynics.

Questions

Who said "My parents weren't wrestlers. I'm a wrestler anyway."?
Antisthenes (c. 446–366 BC). Source: Diogenes Laertius 6.4.
What is the original Greek?
οὐδὲ γὰρ ἐκ δύο, ἔφη, παλαιστικῶν, ἀλλὰ παλαιστικός εἰμι. Translated from the original Greek by Spartan Surfers.

Filed under Grit.

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