# Did Diogenes really write 'I pissed on the man who called me a dog. Why was he so surprised?' **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 23, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diogenes-really-write-i-pissed-on-the-man-who-called-me-a-dog-why-was-he-so-surprised/933587 "2021-02-23T23:08:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2021, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diogenes-really-write-i-pissed-on-the-man-who-called-me-a-dog-why-was-he-so-surprised/933587/1 "2021-02-23T23:08:27Z")
The question is in the title. If he did write it, in what work is it written? That is, I know none of his writings survive, but what is the source where the quote is attributed to him? ---
**Author:** ![saucywench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/85e7bf/32.png) [@saucywench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saucywench)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diogenes-really-write-i-pissed-on-the-man-who-called-me-a-dog-why-was-he-so-surprised/933587/2 "2021-02-24T02:14:19Z")
I don’t know if that’s the exact quote. Here’s a start… > **[An Encounter to Remember - The Kosmos Society](https://kosmossociety.chs.harvard.edu/an-encounter-to-remember/)** > > For centuries of European art, one of the most frequently portrayed moments from classical antiquity was that of an apocryphal meeting of the young Alexander of Macedonia (later to be known as "the Great") and the much older Diogenes of Sinope (later... ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diogenes-really-write-i-pissed-on-the-man-who-called-me-a-dog-why-was-he-so-surprised/933587/3 "2021-02-24T06:43:30Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > If he did write it, in what work is it written? That is, I know none of his writings survive, but what is the source where the quote is attributed to him? It’s been my understanding that Diogenes didn’t write anything (and I think maybe it was a tenet of his entire school of philosophy that none of them should ever write anything). Everything that he ever allegedly said was written by others who claimed he had said all those things. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diogenes-really-write-i-pissed-on-the-man-who-called-me-a-dog-why-was-he-so-surprised/933587/4 "2021-02-24T06:46:01Z")
So, the Yogi Berra of his time? ---
**Author:** ![Tusculan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecd19e/32.png) [@Tusculan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tusculan)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diogenes-really-write-i-pissed-on-the-man-who-called-me-a-dog-why-was-he-so-surprised/933587/5 "2021-02-24T06:52:00Z")
My guess would be that you could find it (if it is indeed attributed to him) somewhere in Diogenes Laertius (this is someone else), Lives of the great philosophers. The text can be found here in translation: [The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius - Free Ebook](https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/57342) ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [February 24, 2021, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/did-diogenes-really-write-i-pissed-on-the-man-who-called-me-a-dog-why-was-he-so-surprised/933587/6 "2021-02-24T07:12:09Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > So, the Yogi Berra of his time?   Either that or the [Samuel Goldwyn](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Goldwyn#Goldwynisms) of his time, who also (supposedly) said lots of oddball things. But apparently, according to this Wiki, he didn’t exactly say “A verbal contract is worth the paper it’s written on”.