Being too quick to believe what we hear causes enormous trouble. Often we shouldn't even listen, because sometimes it's better to be fooled than to always suspect people are lying. We need to free our minds from suspicion and mistrust — those unreliable sources of anger. "That person barely said hello to me. This one wouldn't let me kiss their cheek. Someone cut me off when I was telling a story. Another person didn't invite me to dinner. That one seemed disgusted by me." Suspicion will always find reasons to exist. What we need instead is honesty and a generous way of seeing things. Let's believe nothing unless it's right in front of us and unmistakable. And let's scold ourselves for being too ready to believe rumors whenever our suspicions turn out to be wrong. This practice will make us naturally slow to believe what we hear.
Readiness to believe what we hear causes very great mischief; we ought often not even to listen, because in some cases it is better to be deceived than to suspect deceit. We ought to free our minds of suspicion and mistrust, those most untrustworthy causes of anger. “This man’s greeting was far from civil; that one would not receive my kiss; one cut short a story I had begun to tell; another did not ask me to dinner; another seemed to view me with aversion.” Suspicion will never lack grounds: what we want is straightforwardness, and a kindly interpretation of things. Let us believe nothing unless it forces itself upon our sight and is unmistakable, and let us reprove ourselves for being too ready to believe, as often as our suspicions prove to be groundless: for this discipline will render us habitually slow to believe what we hear.