so much constancy or such
greatness of mind to belong to any man; but here a man comes forward
to prove that you have no reason for doubting that one who is but of
human birth can raise himself above human necessities, can tranquilly
behold pains, losses, diseases, wounds, and great natural convulsions
roaring around him, can bear adversity with calm and prosperity with
moderation, neither yielding to the former nor trusting to the latter,
that he can remain the same amid all varieties of fortune, and think
nothing to be his own save himself, and himself too only as regards
his better part....

You have no cause for saying, as you are wont to do, that this wise
man of ours is nowhere to be found; we do not invent him as an unreal
glory of the human race, or conceive a mighty shadow of an untruth,
but we have displayed and will display him just as we sketch him, tho
he may perhaps be uncommon, and only one appears at long intervals;
for what is great and transcends the common ordinary type is not often
produced; but this very Marcus Cato himself, the mention of whom
started this discussion, was a man who I fancy even surpassed our
model. Moreover, that which hurts must be stronger than that which is
hurt. Now wickedness is not stronger than virtue; therefore the wise
man can not be hurt. Only the bad attempt to injure the good. Good men
are at peace among themselves; bad ones are equally mischievous to the
good and to one another. If a man can not be hurt by one weaker than
himself, and a bad man be weaker than a good one, and the good have no
injury to dread, except from one unlike themselves; then, no injury
takes effect upon the wise man; for by this time I need not remind you
that no one save the wise man is good....

The nobler a man is by birth, by reputation, or by inheritance, the
more bravely he should bear himself, remembering that the tallest men
stand in the front rank in battle. As for insults, offensive language,
marks of disgrace, and such like disfigurements, he ought to bear them
as he would bear the shouts of the enemy, and darts or stones flung
from a distance, which rattle upon his helmet without causing a wound;
while he should look upon injuries as wounds, some received on his
armor and others on his body, which he endures without falling or even
leaving his place in the ranks. Even tho you be hard prest and
violently attacked by the enemy, still it is base to give way; hold
the post assigned to y