Hit me with your rhythm stick...
From Milan to Yucatan, ev'ry woman, ev'ry man
...
In the wilds of Borneo and the vineyards of Bordeaux
Eskimo, Arapaho, move their body to and fro
...
In the dock of Tiger Bay, on the road to Mandalay
From Bombay to Santa Fé, o'er the hills and far away
...
Hit me with your rhythm stick...
And from elsewhere on the Interweb...
Diogenes wanted to study under Antisthenes, who was the leader of the Cynics. But Antisthenes at first refused to admit him into his house and even struck him with a stick.
Diogenes calmly bore the rebuke and said, "hit me with your rhythm stick, hit me, hit me, Antisthenes, but you will never find a stick sufficiently hard to remove me from your presence, while you speak anything worth hearing."
The philosopher was so delighted with this reply that he at once admitted Diogenes into his group of scholars. [Source]
Ahhh... they don't make 'em like they used to...
2 Comments:
The Wikipedia article on Diogenes questions (twice) whether Diogenes and Antisthenes ever actually met. In any event, don't you think, in the story you quoted, Diogenes comes across as a little sycophantic?
I prefer this one (from Wikipedia): " From "Life of Diogenes": "Someone took him [Diogenes] into a magnificent house and warned him not to spit, whereupon, having cleared his throat, he spat into the man's face, being unable, he said, to find a meaner receptacle." "
That sounds more like the famous curmudgeon.
Finally, also from Wikipedia, here is a wonderful painting:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Bastein-Lepage_Diogenes.jpg
Pity about the nineteenth century carriage lamp (we can assume Diogenes actually used a classic Greek oil lamp), but the portrayal of Diogenes as thoughtful and troubled is quite moving.
Nah, I didn't see it as sycophantic. I saw it as Diogenes saying "F*ck you, mate!"
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