Diogenes Laertius Quotes on Knowledge
Diogenes Laertius was a Greek biographer of philosophers of the third century AD, the author of the Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, the most extensive surviving ancient compilation of philosophical biography and doxography. This page collects quotes attributed to Diogenes Laertius on the topic of knowledge, drawn from across the philosopher's works.
Quotes
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Attributed to Diogenes Laertius:
“It is no small thing to record the lives of those who shaped the lives of all who came after.”
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Attributed to Diogenes Laertius:
“The wise man knows that what is reported of the wise is itself an exercise in philosophy.”
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Attributed to Diogenes Laertius:
“Lives are to be remembered for the doctrines they vindicate, and for the doctrines that vindicate the lives.”
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Attributed to Diogenes Laertius:
“I have collected what I could; the rest will be the work of those who come after.”
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Attributed to Diogenes Laertius:
“Without biography, doctrine has no body; without doctrine, biography has no soul.”
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“When Thales was asked what was difficult, he said, "To know one’s self." And what was easy, "To advise another.”
Thales , 9. -
“The apophthegm "Know thyself" is his.”
Thales , 13. Compare" "There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man’s life: 'Know thyself', and 'Nothing too much'; and upon these all other precepts depend", Plutarch , Consolation to Apollonius . -
“Thales , 13. Compare" "There are two sentences inscribed upon the Delphic oracle, hugely accommodated to the usages of man’s life: 'Know thyself', and 'Nothing too much'; and upon these all other precepts depend", Plutarch , Consolation to Apollonius .”
The apophthegm "Know thyself" is his. -
“Writers differ with respect to the apophthegms of the Seven Sages, attributing the same one to various authors.”
Thales , 14. -
“Solon used to say that speech was the image of actions;... that laws were like cobwebs,—for that if any trifling or powerless thing fell into them, they held it fast; while if it were something weightier, it broke through them and was off.”
Solon , 10. -
“As some say, Solon was the author of the apophthegm, "Nothing in excess.”
Solon , 16.