On Old Age and Death

Diogenes was not nearly so poor as he seemed, as he was the pet dog of all Athens and, later, all Corinth. Nonetheless, he insisted on living an utterly simple life, eschewing every luxury as unnecessary, saying that since the gods want nothing, that those whose wants were least were therefore most like them. He lived to a great age despite his asceticism, and as he was becoming old and infirm, some of his friends offered to take him in and asked him to live less strenuously. Diogenes answered them, "Would you have a sprinter ease up as he neared the finish line, too?"

"But Diogenes," they said, "you have no one to look after you. If you die, who will bury you?"

"I'm sure whoever wants my house will find a way to bury me."

As it turned out, though, he had returned to homelessness in his old age, and died in his sleep in a public park. So great was the respect he commanded that not only did the city pay for his burial, but they erected a marble statue—of a stray dog, of course—over his grave with state honors.