Does Cynicism as a philosophy of action make it possible to develop a theory of action? The absence of a system and the abundance of anecdotes a priori thwart any description of moral action. Yet Diogenes Laertius’s testimony about asceticism provides some answers about dispositions which are necessary for action: developing strength of body and soul, acquiring health and self-sufficiency, shaping endurance against the blows of fate through habit and making use of one’s representations. However, ascetic gestures are often associated (...) with a display of endurance and therefore with a show, so that cynical communities are astrayed into simple reproduction of anecdotes. This study therefore seeks to compare action with anecdotes, and offers the hypothesis that Diogenes Laertius’s text may be inspired by warnings addressed to exuberant Cynics. (shrink)