“Whenever someone has done wrong by you, immediately consider what notion of good or evil they had in doing it. For when you see that, you’ll feel compassion, instead of astonishment or rage” — Marcus Aurelius
Socrates famously said “no one does wrong willingly,” and he believed that we always choose what we think is best for us, based on our knowledge and experiences.
This is a tough concept to focus on — especially if someone is being cruel to us. But they really do, for whatever reason, think that they need to be doing it.
That doesn’t mean you should let people take advantage of you or hurt you . . . Stoics aren’t afraid to protect themselves or fight for what’s right. But you’ll always have an advantage if you consider why the people you dislike think their actions are necessary.