I am surprised to learn that the original Cynics set as their goal "a life lived in harmony with nature". According to Wikipedia, "the ideal Cynic would evangelise; as the watchdog of humanity, it was their job to hound people about the error of their ways. The example of the Cynic's life (and the use of the Cynic's biting satire) would dig-up and expose the pretensions which lay at the root of everyday conventions."
The references to hound and watchdog stem from the etymological similarity of cynic and Greek word for dog.
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