“When some one reminded him that the people of Sinope had sentenced him to exile, he said, "And I sentenced them to stay at home.”

“When people laughed at him because he walked backward beneath the portico, he said to them: "Aren't you ashamed, you who walk backward along the whole path of existence, and blame me for walking backward along the path of the promenade?”

“Once he saw the officials of a temple leading away some one who had stolen a bowl belonging to the treasurers, and said, "The great thieves are leading away the little thief.”

“To one who asked what was the proper time for lunch, he said, "If a rich man, when you will; if a poor man, when you can.”

“Alexander the Great found the philosopher looking attentively at a pile of human bones. Diogenes explained, "I am searching for the bones of your father but cannot distinguish them from those of a slave.”

“Why not whip the teacher when the student misbehaves?”

“The art of being a slave is to rule one's master.”