Diogenesunit6大学英语复习.doc

Diogenes Alexander Lesson Six Diogenes Alexander Diogenes (412?-323B.C) Greek Cynic philosopher, holding the beliefs (Cynicism) that virtue was the only good and self-control, the only means of achieving virtue. He was also known as an ascetic, giving up the pleasures of the society and leading a life of austere self-discipline. Diogenes carried the principles of the sect to an extreme of asceticism. (OED.) It was said of Diogenes that throughout his life he searched with a lantern in the daylight for an honest man. And though Diogenes apparently did not find an honest man, he had, in the process, exposed the vanity and selfishness of man. (Chambers.) The sect, known as the cynics, was founded by Antisthenes (444-370 BC), a pupil of Socrates; it was marked by an ostentatious contempt for ease, wealth, and the enjoyments of life. Diogenes was a pupil of Antisthenes. Diogenes, on coming to Athens from his native lands, Sinope, came as a rake and spendthrift. After following under the spell of Antisthenes, Diogenes became at once an austere ascetic, his clothing of the coarsest, his food the plainest, and his bed the bare ground. At length he found himself a permanent residence in a tub. cynicism A person disposed to rail or find fault; now usually: One who shows a disposition to disbelieve in the sincerity or goodness of human motives and actions, and is wont to express this by sneers and sarcasms; a sneering fault-finder. (OED) The image of a cynic is that of a dog. Diogenes Quotes A friend is one soul abiding in two bodies. As a matter of self-preservation, a man needs good friends or ardent enemies, for the former instruct him and the latter take him to task. Blushing is the color of virtue. Dogs and philosophers do the greatest good and get the fewest rewards.  He has the most who is most content with the least. The foundation of every state is the education of its youth. Man is the most intelligent of the animals - and the most silly. Most men are w