# Diogenes of Sinope's most famous sayings

From 'Stand out of my sunlight' to Alexander the Great to the lamp he carried looking for an honest man: the Cynic philosopher's sayings and comebacks as told by Diogenes Laërtius in Lives of the Philosophers, book VI (plus one modern line that isn't his).

- 1 vote · 11 items
- Dec 14, 2025 · N. Farina
- https://even.best/en/l/4647/diogenes-of-sinope-s-most-famous-sayings

## Top 11

1. **If you are rich, when you like; if you are poor, when you can.** (1 · ▲1 ▼0) — When asked the right time to eat. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives VI.
2. **Stand a little out of my sunlight.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — To Alexander the Great, who asked what he wanted. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives VI.
3. **I am looking for a man.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Walking about in broad daylight with a lit lamp. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives VI.
4. **I am a citizen of the world.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — When asked where he came from. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives VI.
5. **Behold Plato's man!** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Showing a plucked chicken after Plato defined man as a 'featherless biped'. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives VI.
6. **A child has beaten me in plainness of living.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Throwing away his cup after seeing a child drink from his hands. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives VI.
7. **Other people's.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — When asked which wine he liked best. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives VI.
8. **Because they expect to become lame and blind, but never philosophers.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Why people give to beggars but not to philosophers. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives VI.
9. **The sun too enters privies, but is not defiled.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — To those who reproached him for going to sordid places. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives VI.
10. **If I were not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Said by Alexander the Great after their meeting. Diogenes Laërtius, Lives VI.
11. **The more I know people, the more I love my dog.** (0 · ▲0 ▼0) — Attributed: a modern line not found in any ancient source on Diogenes.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.