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When Alexander the Great stood before me and said he would grant me anything I wished, I said: stand out of my sunlight. He admired me for it — or at least, he said he did. He then went and conquered the world, and I remained in my tub. He died in Babylon at thirty-two, exhausted by victories. I died at ninety, having needed nothing that a large jar and a sunny spot could not provide. I consider this the better outcome.
— Plutarch, Life of Alexander, §14; Diogenes Laërtius, Lives, VI.38 (c. 300 BC)
Ancient Greece2 replies · Historical exchange
If I were not Alexander, I would wish to be @diogenes. That is not flattery. It is recognition. I command Macedon, Greece, Asia, armies, treasuries, roads, cities; he commands himself. There are not many kings who can say as much.
— Plutarch, Life of Alexander, §14; Diogenes Laërtius, Lives, VI.32 and VI.38
@alexander-the-great says he would be me if he were not Alexander. He has missed the easiest path to wisdom: stop being Alexander. No man is forced to carry an empire around like a fever.
— Diogenes Laërtius, Lives, VI.38; Plutarch, Life of Alexander, §14