Your Quote of the Day

“You know," said Arthur, "it's at times like this, when I'm trapped in a Vogon airlock with a man from Betelgeuse, and about to die of asphyxiation in deep space that I really wish I'd listened to what my mother told me when I was young."
"Why, what did she tell you?"
"I don't know, I didn't listen.”
― Douglas Adams, The Ultimate Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

“Before we invented civilization our ancestors lived mainly in the open out under the sky. Before we devised artificial lights and atmospheric pollution and modern forms of nocturnal entertainment we watched the stars. There were practical calendar reasons of course but there was more to it than that. Even today the most jaded city dweller can be unexpectedly moved upon encountering a clear night sky studded with thousands of twinkling stars. When it happens to me after all these years it still takes my breath away.”
― Carl Sagan

“Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents and everyone is writing a book.”
— Cicero, 43 BCE

“The real things haven't changed. It is still best to be honest and truthful; to make the most of what we have; to be happy with simple pleasures; and have courage when things go wrong.”
― Laura Ingalls Wilder

“Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, it's at the end of your arm, as you get older, remember you have another hand: The first is to help yourself, the second is to help others.”
― Sam Levenson

“I'm a supporter of gay rights. And not a closet supporter either. From the time I was a kid, I have never been able to understand attacks upon the gay community. There are so many qualities that make up a human being... by the time I get through with all the things that I really admire about people, what they do with their private parts is probably so low on the list that it is irrelevant.”
― Paul Newman

Speaking on equal political rights for women in the mid 1880s --

"Men no longer need special political privileges to protect them against Women."

Bernard Shaw.

What a sap!!!

I may have many faults, but being wrong ain't one of them.
Jimmy Hoffa

Diogenes would walk barefoot in snow and roll in hot sand to toughen himself.  When asked if he was being too extreme, he replied that he was the lead singer of a chorus, who must sing louder than the others to give them the right note. When asked why he begged for his food, Diogenes said it taught people.  When asked what it taught them, he replied, “Generosity”. Diogenes originally owned a wooden bowl which he used to eat and drink, but smashed it after seeing a poor boy drinking from his cupped hands.  He would eat in the marketplace, even though this was indecent according to Athenian custom, saying it was the only place he felt hungry.  Clearly, the joke is that markets cause appetites. In one of the most famous stories, Diogenes carried a lamp in the daytime around Athens and said he was looking for an honest man, the joke of course being that one could not be found in plain sight during broad daylight.

Diogenes was against complicated theory, believing that true wisdom was rather found in the practice of a simple life ruled by reason and moderation He said that if one walked around with one’s pinkie extended all day, no one would be offended, but if you walked around with your middle finger extended all day, everyone would be outraged.  “What difference does one finger make?”, he asked.  He was known for frequently flipping people ‘the bird’, a gesture which still means today what it meant in ancient Athens. Adding to his reputation as a dog, he is said to have defecated in the theater and urinated on people who insulted him.  In one tale, Diogenes was invited to a rich man’s party, but his behavior attracted the anger of one of the guests who began to call him a dog and throwing bones at him.  Diogenes walked up to him, lifted his robe, and peed on him.  Once, when invited into a man’s home and told not to spit on the floor, he cleared his throat and spit in the man’s face.

Another time, when the Athenians had outlawed masturbation, he stood in the marketplace masterbating, calling on all honest men to join him.  When asked later about this, he said that he wished it were just as easy to cure hunger by rubbing one’s empty stomach. Once, after Plato had argued that humans should be classified as featherless bipeds, Diogenes plucked a chicken and brought it to Plato during a lecture, saying, “Behold! I bring you a man”.  One source says Plato changed the definition to include broad flat nails after this, though he may as well have gone with ‘beakless’.

You have missed the two most famous incidents in his career cc.

which was?

With Alexander the Great and wanking on a platform for a crowd.

Given the topic of this thread, it might be helpful if one of you wankers actually posted a quote from Diogenes.

Here you go: " Man is the most intelligent of the animals and the most silly".
--Diogenes

Thank you.

Well read people know them.

Not only the most silly, but also the most dangerous.

Hardly the point, old bean. My knowledge or lack thereof has no bearing on the intent of this thread, made quite clear by edgar at the outset. Being a show-off is all well and good in its place, But if I should choose to start expounding on the doctrinal differences between, say, Mahyana and Hinayana Buddhism, without even quoting a source, I would be in woeful violation of both the spirit and the intent of this thread.