From Marcus Aurelius' "Meditations":
“When any shall either impeach you with false accusations, or hatefully reproach you, or shall use any such carriage towards you, get yourself presently to their minds and understandings, and look in them, and behold what manner of men they be. You shalt see, that there is no such occasion why it should trouble you, what such as they are think of you.”
This is some of the best advice ever. I often find myself giving similar advice to my students (teenagers), who tend to be pre-occupied with what other people think of them. I always say, "Think about what those people are like... Then consider carefully whether their opinion is valid, correct, and even worth taking into account. The answer is usually no." Not to be mean, but the reality is that most people form un-informed or un-educated opinions about things and other people.
Really, when you get down to it, who can really know the true you? Who can understand your aspirations, dreams, and demons? You past, present, and future? Your hopes, ambitions, and obstacles? There is so much that goes into making you uniquely who you are, that no one can really know you fully (except God, of course). And thus, no one is really truly fit to judge you. When people do, you should feel confident in dismissing their judgements.
“When any shall either impeach you with false accusations, or hatefully reproach you, or shall use any such carriage towards you, get yourself presently to their minds and understandings, and look in them, and behold what manner of men they be. You shalt see, that there is no such occasion why it should trouble you, what such as they are think of you.”
This is some of the best advice ever. I often find myself giving similar advice to my students (teenagers), who tend to be pre-occupied with what other people think of them. I always say, "Think about what those people are like... Then consider carefully whether their opinion is valid, correct, and even worth taking into account. The answer is usually no." Not to be mean, but the reality is that most people form un-informed or un-educated opinions about things and other people.
Really, when you get down to it, who can really know the true you? Who can understand your aspirations, dreams, and demons? You past, present, and future? Your hopes, ambitions, and obstacles? There is so much that goes into making you uniquely who you are, that no one can really know you fully (except God, of course). And thus, no one is really truly fit to judge you. When people do, you should feel confident in dismissing their judgements.
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