Diogenes Laertius was a historian who wrote about all the ancient philosophers. He is one of our best sources in the lives of these wise men. Since most of the texts are now lost, these books provide a wealth of information and knowledge.
In ten books, bundled in the ‘Lives of Eminent Philosophers’, we can read about the lives of the ancient thinkers from Plato to Antisthenes and Epicurus. Book seven is entirely devoted to the Stoics, starting with Zeno.
“To the query, “What is a friend?” his reply was, “A single soul dwelling in two bodies.”
Aristotle, according to Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 5, Chapter 1. p.20
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“The reason why we have two ears and only one mouth is that we may listen the more and talk the less.”
Zeno of Citium, Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 7. p.23
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“And virtue, he holds, is a harmonious disposition, choice-worthy for its own sake and not from hope or fear or any external motive. Moreover, it is in virtue that happiness consists; for virtue is the state of the mind which tends to make the whole of life harmonious.”
Chrysippus, Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, book 7. p.89
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“Virtue is the same for women as for men.”
Antisthenes, Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, book 7. p.12
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“By pleasure we mean the absence of pain in the boy and of trouble in the soul.”
Epicurus, Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 10. p.657
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“It is sober reasoning, searching out the ground of every choice and avoidance, and banishing those beliefs through which the greatest tumults take possession of the soul.”
Epicurus, Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 10. p.657
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“Nor, again, will the wise man marry and rear a family.”
Epicurus, Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 10. p.645
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“Nor will he take part in politics.”
Epicurus, Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 10. p.645
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“The end may be defined as life in accordance with nature or, in other words, in accordance with our own human nature as well as that of the universe.”
Diogenes Laërtius, in Lives of Eminent Philosophers: ‘Zeno of Citium’, 7.87
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“Freedom from precipitancy is a knowledge when to give or withhold the mind’s assent to impressions.”
Diogenes Laertius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book 7.46
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