Contra linguas obtrectatorum.
When Others Speak Against You
Christ counsels the soul not to be troubled by slander, urging self-knowledge, interior rootedness, and silence in the face of unjust judgment.
Son, don't take it hard if some people think and say things about you that you'd rather not hear. You should think worse things about yourself than that, and believe no one is beneath you. If you walk from within, you won't give much weight to words flying at you from outside. It's no small wisdom to keep silent in an evil time, to turn inward toward me, and not to be shaken by human judgment.
Where True Peace Is Found
True peace and glory are found not in human approval but in God alone, and freedom from people-pleasing brings deep tranquility.
Don't let your peace depend on what people say about you — whether they interpret your actions well or badly, you're still not a different person. Where is true peace and true glory? Isn't it found in me? And the person who doesn't seek to please people, and doesn't fear to displease them, will enjoy deep peace.
The Root of Restlessness
All inner restlessness and sensory distraction spring from disordered love and empty fear.
From disordered love and empty fear comes every restlessness of the heart and every distraction of the senses.
Read the original Latin
Fili, non ægre feras, si quidam de te male senserint, et dixerint quod non libenter audias. Tu deteriora de te ipso sentire debes, et neminem inferiorem te credere. Si ambulas ab intra, non multum ponderabis volantia verba ab extra. Est non parva prudentia silere in tempore malo, et introrsus ad me converti, nec humano judicio disturbari.
Non sit pax tua in ore hominum; sive enim bene sive male interpretati fuerint, non es alter homo. Ubi est vera pax et vera gloria? Nonne in me? Et qui non appetit hominibus placere, nec displicere timet, multa fruetur pace. Ex inordinato amore, et vano timore, oritur omnis inquietudo cordis et distractio sensuum.