Book 5
1.18
The roots of education, he said, are bitter, but the fruit is sweet. Being asked, What is it that soon grows old? he answered, Gratitude. He was asked to define hope, and he replied, It is a waking dream. When Diogenes offered him dried figs, he saw that he had prepared something caustic to say if he did not take them; so he took them and said Diogenes had lost his figs and his jest into the bargain. And on another occasion he took them when they were offered, lifted them up aloft, as you do babies, and returned them with the exclamation, Great is Diogenes. Three things he declared to be indispensable for education: natural endowment, study, and constant practice. On hearing that some one abused him, he rejoined, He may even scourge me so it be in my absence. Beauty he declared to be a greater recommendation than any letter of introduction.
