Conversions to the Cynic life could be sudden – it was known as the ‘short path to virtue’. People would suddenly look at their complicated and stressful lives and think, ‘What the hell am I doing?’ We hear of Monimus, the slave of a money-lender, who one day decided he’d had enough of his job. Rather like the hero of Chuck Palahniuk’s novel Fight Club, Monimus faked insanity to get out of his employment, throwing money around until his owner granted him his freedom, and he happily went to live in the streets with his fellow Cynics.
