When People Speak Ill of You, Plato Offers This Answer

If there's one thing Plato truly understood, it was this: the world doesn't easily embrace the truth, nor those who approach it.

Being accused, mocked, or belittled isn’t always a sign that you are wrong; sometimes, it’s a sign that you didn’t fit into what others wanted you to be.

But what do you do then? How do you respond when people talk about you without knowing even a third of who you are? Plato didn’t offer easy life instructions. He didn’t believe in slogans but rather in meaningful analyses that stemmed from human behavior.

Among his insights, there’s one quote worth remembering every time someone speaks about you… without you.

(Read his sayings below)

15 Pieces of Advice from Plato

1. What matters is not living to acquire more, but living well.

2. The one who seeks excellence should not love themselves or their possessions more than justice.

3. It is better to be wronged than to wrong others.

4. To be laconic is to philosophize.

5. When people speak ill of you, live in such a way that no one will believe them.

6. God is not responsible for the actions of those who have the freedom to choose.

7. A human is one who reflects and judges what they have seen.

8. We should not care so much about what the masses will say about us, but rather what someone who truly understands justice and injustice has to say. That, indeed, is the truth.

9. Ignorance is the root and stem of all evil.

10. Among pleasures, some are good and others are bad. The good ones are those that are beneficial, while the bad ones are those that are harmful.

11. If a person receives proper education, within them awakens a powerful force and will to evolve into the most divine and peaceful of beings.

12. But if they do not receive proper and diligent upbringing, they become the wildest of what the earth produces.

13. This city is what it is because its citizens are what they are.

14. It is impossible for two bad people to ever be friends, nor for a good person not to have a good friend.

15. Justice means that each person takes care of their own business and does not interfere with the business of others.