#17: On Anger (De Ira)
Quotes that resonate, from ‘How to Keep Your Cool: An Ancient Guide to Anger Management’ by Seneca, selected, translated and introduced by James Romm.
[44]
A certain man, unwittingly, in the public bath collided with Marcus Cato (for who would have ever harmed that man knowingly?).
Afterward, when he apologized, Cato said, “I don’t remember being bumped.” He thought it better not to realize than to take revenge.
“But,” you ask, “did nothing bad happen to that man after such great insolence?” No indeed, something very good [instead]: he made the
acquaintance of Cato!
It is the mark of a great mind to disregard injuries; it’s the most insulting way to take revenge if the man from whom one seeks vengeance doesn’t even seem worth the trouble.
Many have raised small slights to a higher level by avenging them. By contrast, he is a great and noble person who, like a huge wild animal, listens without concern as the little hunting dogs yap.
[Cato: A Stoic practitioner and senator of the first century BC, often revered by Seneca as the most morally wise man since Socrates.]