Seneca · c. 4 BCE – 65 CE
On Anger 3.38 — Seneca
Translation by Aubrey Stewart (1889)
Seneca, On Anger 3.38
Someone has offered you an insult? Not a greater one, probably, than was offered to the Stoic philosopher Diogenes, in whose face an insolent young man spat just when he was lecturing upon anger. He bore it mildly and wisely. “I am not angry,” said he, “but I am not sure that I ought not to be angry.” Yet how much better did our Cato behave? When he was pleading, one Lentulus, whom our fathers remember as a demagogue and passionate man, spat all the phlegm he could muster upon his forehead. Cato wiped his face, and said, “Lentulus, I shall declare to all the world that men are mistaken when they say that you are wanting in cheek.”
Cite this passage
Seneca, On Anger 3.38, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1889)
https://whatwouldstoicsdo.com/passage/on-anger/3.38
Seneca, Dialogues, tr. Aubrey Stewart (1887–1889). Text: Standard Ebooks (CC0). Sources and licences
In plain English
AI-written notesEven a deliberate insult like being spat on can be met with calm and a witty reply: one philosopher stayed unmoved while lecturing on anger, and another simply wiped his face and answered with a joke. Your composure under disrespect shows that the insult did not touch you.
Older wording
- “demagogue”
- — a leader who stirs up the crowd with emotion
- “phlegm”
- — spit and mucus
Themes and situations
- Insult and criticism
- Anger
- Courage
- Being criticised or insulted
- Being angry with someone
- Being treated unfairly
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