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
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.
In practice
In a motivational speech about minimalist living, one could use this quote to emphasize the importance of reducing material desires.
Of what use is a philosopher who doesn't hurt anybody's feelings?
The art of being a slave is to rule one's master.
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.
I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.
We come into the world alone and we die alone. Why, in life, should we be any less alone?
All things are in common among friends.
This idea of the transcendent power of the Supreme Being is essentially connected with that by which the whole duty of man is summed up: obedience to His will.
In every man and in every animal, however weak or wicked, great or small, resides the same omnipresent, omniscient soul. The difference is not in the soul, but in the manifestation. Between me and the smallest animal, the difference is only in manifestation, but as a principle he is the same as I am, he is my brother, he has the same soul as I have. This is the greatest principle that India has preached.
A man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite.
No theory changes what it is a theory about; man remains what he has always been.
The medical argument for animal testing doesn't stand up. Even if it did, I don't think we should kill other species. We think we're so much better; I'm not sure we are. I tell people, We've beaten into submission every animal on the face of the Earth, so we are the clear winners of whatever battle is going on between the species. Couldn't we be generous? I really do think it's time to get nice. No need to keep beating up on them. I think we've got to show that we're kind.
Suicide is the means of men whose resilience has been eaten away by rust, the rust of the daily round. They were born for action, but they have delayed their action; so action turns back on them with the swing of a pendulum. Suicide is an act, the act of those who have not been able to accomplish others. It is an act of faith, like all acts. Faith in oneβs neighbor, in the existence of oneβs neighbor, in the reality of the self and the other selves.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.