Peregrinus Proteus Quotes

Peregrinus Proteus was a Greek Cynic philosopher of the second century AD, born in Parium on the Hellespont, who, according to the often hostile life by Lucian of Samosata, passed through phases of Christianity, Cynic asceticism, and self-styled imitation of Heracles before publicly burning himself to death on a pyre at the Olympic Games of 165 AD. Whether or not we accept Lucian's portrait, Peregrinus stands at the boundary of Cynic philosophical practice and the early Christian and Roman religious imagination, and his death exerted a lasting influence on later debates about voluntary martyrdom, self-mortification, and the line between philosophical witness and theatrical excess. The quotes below are attributed to Peregrinus Proteus, organized by topic.