Of what use is a philosopher who doesn't hurt anybody's feelings?
DiogenesRead
It is the privilege of the gods to want nothing, and of godlike men to want little.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Desiring little is a mark of greatness and divine nature.
This quote by Diogenes reflects the idea that true fulfillment comes from minimizing one's desires. It implies that those who possess divine qualities or godlike traits are able to find contentment with less, suggesting that the fewer possessions or desires one has, the closer one is to a transcendent state of being.
Themes
DesiresContentmentSimplicityGreatnessFulfillment
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about minimalist living, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of reducing material desires.
More from Diogenes
All quotes βThe art of being a slave is to rule one's master.
DiogenesRead
As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task.
DiogenesRead
I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
DiogenesRead
We come into the world alone and we die alone. Why, in life, should we be any less alone?
DiogenesRead
All things are in common among friends.
DiogenesRead
Similar quotes
There is only the moment. The now. Only what you are experiencing at this second is real.
Leo BuscagliaRead
Charity is the cement that unites communities to God and individuals to each other_x000D_ so that he who contributes to the union of hearts in a community_x000D_ binds it indissolubly to God.
St. VincentRead
The Buddha resides as comfortably in the circuits of a digital computer or the gears of a cycle transmission as he does at the top of a mountain.
Robert M. PirsigRead
Childhood is measured out by sounds and smells and sights, before the dark hour of reason grows.
John BetjemanRead
As a social concept, 'white' is profound in its meaning. It means people who either come from or appear to come from Europe, but it's necessarily a construct of oppression.
Robin DiangeloRead
To consider persons and events and situations only in the light of their effect upon myself is to live on the doorstep of hell.
Thomas MertonRead