Question

Reflect upon the meaning of the following quote by Diogenes of Sinope: “Happy is the man who thinks to marry but changes his mind, who plans a trip that he does not take, who seeks public office but withdraws his name, who wants to join the circle of an influential man but is excluded.”

Answer 1

It seems as though the author of this paragraph thinks that all mankind would be happy if they gave a second thought to what they are about to do. In a sense this is true, but yet, we would all be cavemen if we followed that philosophy. Thomas Edison would say, "Should I make an electric light bulb..... naaaah!" As you can see, we would not get very far in life if we did that. We would stick to normality. Some radical ideas are good, though some are bad. And in the branch of 'bad' would be necessary... necessary for the good of man.