The collection reports Diogenes declaring a talent for ruling people and compares lions with their keepers. These anecdotes support the thought, but do not directly supply this compact English sentence.
“The art of being a slave is to rule one's master” — Diogenes of Sinope
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Provenance
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Documented trail
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers 6.74–75, English text at Wikisource.
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In ruling men.
A short excerpt from the cited source; it may differ from the popular wording above.
Read the source ↗ — The collection reports Diogenes declaring a talent for ruling people and compares lions with their keepers. These anecdotes support the thought, but do not directly supply this compact English sentence.
The exact compact English version has not been tied to an inspected translation; no public-domain status is asserted.
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Diogenes of Sinope is identified in the cited material as the ancient cynic philosopher. This page distinguishes the documented source trail from a claim of verbatim personal testimony.
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The primary source (Chicago)
Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers 6.74–75, English text at Wikisource.
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Quotle.info. “Who really said ‘The art of being a slave is to rule one's master’?” Last verified 9 Nov 2026. https://quotle.info/who-said/the-art-of-being-a-slave-is-to-rule-ones-master/