How to Say No: An Ancient Guide to the Art of Cynicism

How to Say No (Princeton, 2022) is M. D. Usher's anthology of ancient Cynic writings, translated with the Greek and Latin texts on facing pages. It gathers sayings of Diogenes of Sinope, who lived in a storage jar and mocked convention, with Crates's letter to his wife and fellow Cynic Hipparchia, Lucian's Life of Demonax and passages from Seneca and the emperor Julian. Usher presents the Cynics' refusal of wealth, status and power, and their frank speech, as a model for simple, independent living.

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Ryan Holiday: “I would throw in Seneca's How to Keep Your Cool and this little collection of Diogenes the Cynic. How to Say No. Diogenes the Cynic manages to say no to Alexander the Great, the most powerful man in the world.”