thus proof against criticism--if his
statements were said to be false--well, they were intended to be so;
while, if they raised a laugh, there was an admission that they
contained some seeds of truth. The following are examples of his
disguised wisdom:--

On being asked when a man should marry, "A young man not yet; an old man
not at all," he replied. "Why men gave money to beggars and not to
philosophers?" "Because they think they may themselves become blind and
lame, but never philosophers." When Perdiccas threatened that unless he
came to him he would kill him, "You would do no great thing," he
replied, "even a beetle or a spider could do that."

We can scarcely suppose that all the sayings attributed to Diogenes are
genuine. There has always been a tendency to attribute to great men
observations made in accordance with their manner.

Philosophers have generally been to a certain extent destructive, and
seldom spared the religion of their times. Diogenes, who was called
"Socrates gone mad," was no exception to this rule. Humour, which is
seasoned with profanity, is most telling when there is not too large an
amount either of faith or scepticism; very few could find any amusement
in the sneers of an utter infidel. Diogenes was almost as deficient in
ordinary religious belief as in most other kinds of veneration.
Sometimes he may have had the good effect of checking the abuse of
sacerdotal power, as when he observed to some who were admiring the
thank offerings at Samothracia, "There would have been many more, had
those made them, who had not been cured." He also said that the
Dionysian festival was a great sight for fools, and that when he heard
prophets and interpreters of dreams, he thought nothing was so silly as
man. His blaming men for making prayers, because they asked not that
which was good, but only what seemed desirable to them, may be taken in
a favourable sense.

Before the end of Diogenes' life fanciful conceits became so much
appreciated in Greece, that a regular "Court of Humour" was held at
Heracleum, a village near Athens, and it is to be feared that many of
the racy sayings attributed to eminent men, originated in the sessions
of this jocund assembly. It was composed of sixty members, and their
sayings came forth with the stamp of "The Sixty" upon them. Their
reputation became so great, that Philip of Macedon gave them a talent to
write out their jokes, and send them to him. He was himself fond o