The Cynic Philosophers: From Diogenes to Julian by Diogenes Of Sinope & Julian & Lucian

Author:Diogenes Of Sinope & Julian & Lucian
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Philosophy, History & Surveys, Ancient & Classical, Ethics & Moral Philosophy
Publisher: Penguin UK
Published: 2012-12-06T05:29:53+00:00

126 On Self-Sufficiency

[5] Just as a good actor should perform well any role the playwright assigns him, so a good man should play well whatever role fortune assigns him. As Bion says, fortune, like a playwright, sometimes casts us in a leading role, sometimes a supporting one; sometimes makes us king, other times a beggar. So if you are a supporting player, you should not aspire to play the lead part or you will only create confusion.

[6] One person says: ‘You are a good ruler, while I make a fit subject. You rule over many, as a tutor I only have charge of this one boy here. You are rich and give generously of your wealth, and I am glad to accept a share of it – not in the spirit of a slave or an inferior, nor bitter that fate has put me in the position of having to depend on other people’s charity. You have many possessions, I have few, but we both can make equally wise use of them. For it is not expensive articles that sustain us (he continues), nor do they work to our advantage. A few, inexpensive things are sufficient, provided we exercise sense and self-control in making use of them.’

Bion goes on to say that if inanimate things had our own capacity for reason and speech, they well might address us the way a slave seeking asylum at an altar customarily defends himself to his master: [7] ‘What can you accuse me of? Have I stolen from you? Don’t I do everything you tell me to do, and regularly give you a share of my earnings?’ And Poverty with as much right could say to someone who complains of being poor: ‘What do you have against me? Do I deny you goods such as justice, courage or self-discipline? Or deprive you of life’s essentials? Aren’t there plenty of vegetables alongside any road, and plenty of water from natural springs? Do I bar you from access to the whole Earth with its abundance of grass and leaves for bedding? Is it really impossible to find happiness with me? Don’t you see old women gossiping happily away as they gnaw on a fragment of barley cake? Don’t I give you a simple, inexpensive relish – namely, a healthy appetite? Doesn’t a hungry man enjoy his food the most and suffer least from the lack of expensive spices? And whoever is thirsty – don’t they derive the most pleasure from drink and express satisfaction with whatever is available? [8] Do they hunger for pastries or thirst for Chian wine? It is only self-indulgence that inspires a taste for luxury goods. Don’t I also give you free shelter – the baths in winter, in summer the temples? As Diogenes said, “What house can compare with my corner of the Parthenon, so elegant and airy?” ’

If Poverty were to speak to you that way, what answer could you make? Personally, I wouldn’t know what to say. But we

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