Alexander the Great went in person to see Diogenes, and he found him lying in the sun. Diogenes raised himself up a little when he saw so many people coming towards him and fixed his eyes upon Alexander. When that monarch addressed him with greetings, asking if he wanted anything, Diogenes responded, "Yes, stand a little out of my sun."
It is said that Alexander was so struck by this, and admired so much the haughtiness and grandeur of the man who had nothing but scorn for him, that he said to his followers, who were laughing and jesting about the philosopher as they went away, "But truly, if I were not Alexander, I wish I were Diogenes." Diogenes replied, "If I wasn't Diogenes, I would be wishing to be Diogenes too."
As with all manners of historical recitation, there exist many interpretations and anecdotes of the preceding dialog, but the panoramic reality and its shadows are at worst an opportunity for modern comparisons.
I prefer the following version, while admittedly no less provable: "I have nothing to ask but that you would remove to the other side, that you may not, by intercepting the sunshine, take from me what you cannot give."
In many of my speeches, I quote Mary Jo Robinson, who said that "No one has the right to be an obstacle to a fellow human being getting well." If we stand or block the sunlight, the plant might wither or worse. It would seem to follow that a plant potted in a basement with but one window for light might also compromise the plant. The plant will likely grow at the degree of angle toward the sun as is its' genetic design prescribes. But once removed from the basement of life and placed in regular sunlight next to those plants which are designated 'normal' because they grew organically in earth's natural favor, the former plant would appear an aberration and might be shunned by the classically enamored pyscho-horticulturist. But left in organic soil and protected from acts of non-nature, the aberration will in time grow straight upward toward the sun and 'miraculously heal' of its purported aberration.
Many of us are like the plant in the basement, 'growing toward the light'. Once removed from the unnatural setting and placed back into 'society', the plant still looks like a problem and may act accordingly until it heals. The problem is oftentimes, society takes that same plant and incarcerates it to a new basement called jail or prison, where the sunlight is again only shining into the plant's environment at the same angle that made it appear sick in the first place.
This is why I endorse treatment over incarceration. This is also why I don't think people 'go to hell' after they die. Why would God punish someone for growing toward the Sunlight of the Spirit? We are ALWAYS growing toward the light, as our Spirit knows, even when our physical consciousness appears to contradict our ignorant premise and following conclusion.
Tomorrow when I post my Happy Monday alms on Facebook, perhaps I'll mirror Diogenes's posture before the statues of the gods, whereby he accepts humility and futility as equal teachers without pedestals.