Are there any other questions for Tom Bishop?
If it makes the difference, this question was totally sincere:
Suppose you could have a one-hour conversation with any human being, alive or dead; he or she will answer any question you have with complete honesty; the conversation is only with you, and you can't record any of it; whom would you choose and why?
That would be Diogenes of Sinope.
http://classicalwisdom.com/diogenes-of-sinope/Diogenes was constantly dirty, disheveled, and often smelled of filth. He urinated and defecated in public, and it was not uncommon for him to literally spit in the faces of those who disagreed with him. For this reason, Diogenes was sometimes referred to as “Diogenes the dog”.
Rather than being offended, Diogenes reveled in the idea of being more like a dog. A dog, he believed, was more in touch with nature and therefore more closely in tune with true happiness. The dog does not care for social status or material possessions; the dog does not make himself a slave to the superficial desires that so plague the hearts of men. The dog lives life in the present and does not concern itself with abstract notions that might damage the soul.
The philosopher believed very firmly that man is not above nature. We are inescapably a part of it, and the further we retreat from this truth, hiding behind our lavish houses and material treasures, the further we withdraw from true virtue.
A few antecdotes from
theunboundspirit.com:
When Alexander the Great addressed him with greetings, and asked if he wanted anything, Diogenes replied "Yes, stand a little out of my sunshine"
Diogenes was washing his clothes and dishes on a river, then Plato approached and said 'Diogenes, if you worked for the king, you wouldn't be washing your clothes and dishes' then Diogenes replied 'Plato, if you washed your clothes and dishes, you wouldn't have to work for the king'
Diogenes stood outside a brothel, shouting, “A beautiful whore is like poisoned honey! A beautiful whore is like poisoned honey! A beautiful whore . . . ” Men entering the house threw him a coin or two to shut him up. Eventually Diogenes had collected enough money and he too went into the brothel.
He is also purported to have said "Why not whip the teacher when the pupil misbehaves?"
A heckler in the crowd shouted out, “My mind is not made like that, I can’t be bothered with philosophy.” “Why do you bother to live,” Diogenes retorted, “if you can’t be bothered to live properly?”
“It’s my fate to steal,” pleaded the man who had been caught red-handed by Diogenes. “Then it is also your fate to be beaten,” said Diogenes, hitting him across the head with his staff.
Often when he was begging, Diogenes would be spat on by the people who passed him. Diogenes would ignore this and simply wipe his face with his sleeve. When ridiculed for his passive behavior, Diogenes said, “Since men endure being wetted by the sea in order to net a mere herring, should I not endure being sprinkled to net my dinner?”
A famous athlete was making his triumphal entry into the city after another successful games. As he was carried along, he was unable to tear his eyes away from the many beautiful women among the onlookers.
“Look at our bave victor,” remarked Diogenes, “taken captive by every girl he sees.”
“Why is it, Diogenes, that pupils leave you to go to other teachers, but rarely do they leave them to come to you?”
“Because,” replied Diogenes, “one can make eunuchs out of men, but no one can make a man out of eunuchs.”
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