How to Overcome Disapproval, Ridicule and Rejection

We need to maintain a state of calm indifference when attacked by the stings of other people's scorn, be it online or in the real world. Epictetus advised that when we are the target of another's contempt, we should pause and allow ourselves to take a breath before we react. One of the more powerful ways to respond to insults or ridicule is to listen like a stone. We let their words fall on deaf ears, go about our business, and pretend the other person does not exist. It is the mark of a great mind to rise above insults, wrote Seneca. The most humiliating kind of revenge is to treat your adversary as not worth taking revenge upon.