Should I expect that malicious gossip will respect anyone? After all, it didn't respect Rutilius or Cato. Will anyone care about being called too wealthy by people who thought even Diogenes the Cynic wasn't poor enough? That incredibly disciplined philosopher fought against every bodily desire. He was poorer than all the other Cynics — he not only gave up owning things, but also gave up asking for anything. Yet people still criticized him for not being needy enough. As if he was teaching poverty instead of virtue!
Am I to expect that evil speaking will respect anything, seeing that it respected neither Rutilius nor Cato? Will any one care about being thought too rich by men for whom Diogenes the Cynic was not poor enough? That most energetic philosopher fought against all the desires of the body, and was poorer even than the other Cynics, in that besides haying given up possessing anything he had also given up asking for anything: yet they reproached him for not being sufficiently in want: as though forsooth it were poverty, not virtue, of which he professed knowledge.