[10,5] καὶ πότερον οἴει πλείους ὑπὸ κυνῶν βλαβῆναι πονηρῶν ἢ ὑπ´ ἀνθρώπων; ὑπὸ μέν γε κυνῶν φαύλων ἕνα τὸν Ἀκταίωνά φασιν ἀπολέσθαι, καὶ τούτων μανέντων· ὑπὸ δὲ ἀνθρώπων φαύλων οὐδὲ εἰπεῖν ἔστιν ὅσοι ἀπολώλασι καὶ ἰδιῶται καὶ βασιλεῖς καὶ πόλεις ὅλαι, οἱ μὲν ὑπὸ οἰκετῶν, οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ στρατιωτῶν καὶ δορυφόρων, οἱ δὲ ὑπὸ φίλων τινῶν καλουμένων, οἱ δέ τινες καὶ ὑπὸ υἱέων καὶ ἀδελφῶν καὶ γυναικῶν.

[10,5] Now do you believe that more have been hurt by bad dogs than by bad men? To be sure we hear that one man, Actaeon, was slain by worthless dogs, and mad ones at that ; but it is not even possible to say how many private individuals, kings, and whole cities have been destroyed by bad men, some by servants, some by soldiers and bodyguards, others by so-called friends, and yet others by sons and brothers and wives.

[10,6] ἆρα οὖν οὐ μέγα κέρδος, ὅτῳ ἂν συμβῇ ἀπαλλαγῆναι κακοῦ ἀνδρός, ἀλλὰ δεῖ τοῦτον ζητεῖν τε καὶ ἐπιδιώκειν; ὥσπερ εἴ τις ἀπαλλαγὲν νόσημα ἐζήτει καὶ ἐβούλετο ἀναλαβεῖν εἰς τὸ σῶμα; καὶ ὁ ἄνθρωπος εἶπεν, Ταῦτα μὲν ὀρθῶς εἶπας, ὦ Διόγενες· ἀλλὰ χαλεπόν ἐστιν ἀδικηθέντα μὴ τιμωρήσασθαι. ἐκεῖνος γὰρ οὐδὲν ὑπ´ ἐμοῦ παθών, ὡς ὁρᾷς, ἐτόλμησεν ἀπολιπεῖν με· ὃς ἔργον μὲν παρ´ ἐμοὶ οὐδὲν ἔπραττεν ὅσα δοῦλοι ἐργάζονται, ἀργὸς δὲ ὢν ἔνδον ἐτρέφετο, οὐδὲν ποιῶν ἢ ἐμοὶ ἀκολουθῶν.

[10,6] Is it not, therefore, a great gain when one happens to be rid of a bad man? Should one hunt and chase after him ? That would be like hunting after a disease one had got rid of and trying to get it back into one's system again." The man replied, " What you say is right enough, Diogenes, but it is hard for a man who has been wronged not to seek redress. That renegade suffered no wrong at my hands, as you see, and yet he dared to desert me. At my house he did none of the work that slaves perform, but was kept inside in idleness with nothing else to do but to accompany me."