This is what a wise person will say. Their mind is free from vice, so they criticize others — not from hatred, but to help them improve. They will add: 'Your opinion of me causes me pain, but not for my own sake. I hurt for you. When you hate what is good and attack virtue itself, you give up all hope of becoming better. You cannot harm me, just as people cannot harm the gods by tearing down their altars. But your intention is clearly evil. You want to cause harm, even when you lack the power to do it.'
This is what the man will say who possesses wisdom, whose mind, being free from vices, bids him reproach others, not because he hates them, but in order to improve them: and to this he will add, "Your opinion of me affects me with pain, not for my own sake but for yours, because to hate perfection and to assail virtue is in itself a resignation of all hope of doing well. You do me no harm; neither do men harm the gods when they overthrow their altars: but it is clear that your intention is an evil one and that you will wish to do harm even where you are not able.