Before heading for Asia, Alexander found himself
in Corinth, where the great thinker Diogenes lived. Diogenes was sitting
in a barrel, enjoying the sun paying no attention to Alexander. Alexander
was very surprised at this lack of interest and asked if he could do something
for Diogenes. "Yes, could you move over a bit, you're blocking my sun"
answered Diogenes. "If I wasn't Alexander I'd be Diogenes" replied Alexander.
One of the most famous statements by Alexander: "I
would rather live a short life of glory than a long one of obscurity"….or
"Its better to burn out than fade away" .
"Persian women are painful to my eyes"
"I do not separate people, as do the narrow-minded,
into Greeks and barbarians. I am not interested in the origin or race of
citizens. I only distinguish them on the basis of their virtue. For me
each good foreigner is a Greek and each bad Greek is worse than a barbarian.
"
"I am paying my mother extraordinarily high rent
for nine months of dwelling" - when he was bombarded by complaints and
accusations about Antipater and his associates in Pella. Perhaps, he should
have listened more carefully after all....
