Diogenes Laërtius · fl. 3rd century CE
Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.20 — Diogenes Laërtius on Zeno
Translation by R. D. Hicks (1925)
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.20
Reported speech · Diogenes Laërtius on Zeno
Some one having said that he thought the chainarguments of the philosophers seemed brief and curt, Zeno replied, “You are quite right; indeed, the very syllables ought, if possible, to be clipped.” Some one remarked to him about Polemo, that his discourse was different from the subject he announced. He replied with a frown, “Well, what value would you have set upon what was given out?” He said that when conversing we ought to be earnest and, like actors, we should have a loud voice and great strength; but we ought not to open the mouth too wide, which is what your senseless chatterbox does. “Telling periods,” he said, “unlike the works of good craftsmen, should need no pause for the contemplation of their excellences; on the contrary, the hearer should be so absorbed in the discourse itself as to have no leisure even to take notes.”
Cite this passage
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers 7.20 (on Zeno), tr. R. D. Hicks (1925)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/lives-of-the-stoics/7.20
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of Eminent Philosophers, Book VII, tr. R. D. Hicks (Loeb, 1925). Text: Perseus Digital Library (CC BY-SA 4.0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesAdvice on speaking: be brief, stay on the subject you announced, speak with energy and conviction but do not gape your mouth like a windbag, and make your point so absorbing that listeners forget to take notes. A style guide from a teacher who valued brevity.
Older wording
- “chainarguments”
- — chains of linked logical steps, such as the sorites
- “periods”
- — well-rounded rhetorical sentences
Themes and situations
- Speech and silence
- Learning and progress
- Nerves before a big moment
Quote cards
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