Lucius Annaeus Seneca. On the firmness of the Wise Man
All other sages, except the Stoics, address people much like household physicians-slaves to their masters: their words are soft and flattering, and they treat not with the best and fastest remedy, but with the one to which the patient will agree.
The Stoics approach the matter manfully and do not care whether the path they point out seems appealing to newcomers. They seek the shortest path that forces one to climb to the summit. The road is extremely difficult and precipitous, but you didn't think the road to the top would be easy, did you?
Untried power is doubtful, but the one that has withstood all blows can rightfully be considered indomitable. So it is with the nature of the wise man: you can rightfully acknowledge it as superior to ours if insults do not harm it, not if it has simply never been insulted.
To cause harm, one must be stronger than their victim, but baseness is never stronger than virtue; therefore, the wise man cannot be harmed. It is only the wicked who attempt to harm good people. Among the wise, there is always peace, while the wicked are as dangerous to each other as they are to the good. If harm can only be inflicted on the weak, and a wicked person is weaker than a wise one, and if thus danger to the wise can only come from an equal, then the wise man has nothing to fear from insult.
The feeling of offense arises in a low soul. This affliction affects only the fortunate and the pampered; those with more serious troubles will have no time to notice such trifles.
It is usually the arrogant, the haughty, and those who poorly endure their good fortune who insult others, but the wise man is endowed with a greatness of spirit—the finest of virtues—and meets all such puffed-up pride with scornful indifference. He passes by such things without dignifying them with attention, as if they were empty dreams.
Just as we treat children, so does the wise man treat ordinary people.
If someone's disdain particularly distresses us, it means we care especially about that person's attention and respect.
An insult should be despised. Despise the "shadows of offenses" and insults. If you were deservedly insulted, then it was warranted; if undeservedly—let the one who insulted you blush. The whole point of an insult is for it to be heard, understood, and provoke indignation.
The wise man's method of defense is entirely different, for you are in the heat of battle, while he has long since achieved victory.