241 definitions
Asceticism (n.) proves the very thing it denies: by fleeing the good things of life, the Cynics showed those things were worth craving.
Cynic (n.) must seem to the crowd as unfeeling as a stone, for whom abuse, blows and insults are nothing.
Distraction (n.) is what our culture supplies in an endless stream so that nobody ever has to ask what their life is for.
An Enemy (n.) deserves close attention, because enemies are the first to spot your mistakes.
A Flatterer (n.) is worse company than a crow: crows devour you when you are dead, flatterers while you are still alive.
Grief (n.) is an irrational contraction of the soul, which is why the sage never feels it.
Hunger (n.) is the best appetizer: Diogenes waited for it and enjoyed a barley cake more than others enjoyed the costliest dishes.
Philosophy (n.) was called down from the heavens by Socrates and made to live in the cities and homes of men, asking about good and evil.
Philosophy (n.) is a fertile field: logic is the fence around it, physics the soil, ethics the crop it exists to grow.
A Philosophy of life (n.) is what stands between you and misliving: without a grand goal and a plan for reaching it, you can stay busy for decades and still waste your one chance at living.
Religion (n.) tells believers how to be good and how to get into heaven, then leaves them to decide what in life is worth wanting, which is why Baptists, Jews and Catholics end up lusting after the same consumer goods.