Antisthenes Quotes

Once, when he was applauded by rascals, he remarked, "I am horribly afraid I have done something wrong."

As iron is eaten away by rust, so the envious are consumed by their own passion.

States are doomed when they are unable to distinguish good men from bad.

ἐρωτηθεὶς τί αὐτῷ περιγέγονεν ἐκ φιλοσοφίας, ἔφη, “τὸ δύνασθαι ἑαυτῷ ὁμιλεῖν.”

Antisthenes ... was asked on one occasion what learning was the most necessary, and he replied, "To unlearn one's bad habits."

It is better to fall in with crows than with flatterers; for in the one case you are devoured when dead, in the other case while alive.

πρός τε τὸ Ποντικὸν μειράκιον μέλλον φοιτᾶν αὐτῷ καὶ πυθόμενον τίνων αὐτῷ δεῖ, φησί, “βιβλιαρίου καινοῦ καὶ γραφείου καινοῦ καὶ πινακιδίου καινοῦ,” τὸν νοῦν παρεμφαίνων.

ἀκούσας ποτὲ ὅτι Πλάτων αὐτὸν κακῶς λέγει, “βασιλικόν,” ἔφη, “καλῶς ποιοῦντα κακῶς ἀκούειν.”

I'd rather be mad than feel pleasure.

ἔλεγέ τε συνεχές, “μανείην μᾶλλον ἢ ἡσθείην.”

The investigation of the meaning of words is the beginning of education.

ἀρχὴ παιδεύσεως ἡ τῶν ὀνομάτων ἐπίσκεψις