Can someone who gets upset by the sound of a bench scraping on the floor really handle the harsh words of political fights? Can they deal with the insults that politicians throw at each other in courts and government meetings? If you get angry at your servant for making your drink wrong, how will you handle real hunger or thirst on a long summer march? Nothing feeds anger more than soft, spoiled living. Your mind needs to be toughened by hardship so that only serious blows can hurt you.
Will one whose ears are agonised by the noise of a bench being dragged along the floor be able to endure with unruffled mind the rude language of party strife, and the abuse which speakers in the forum or the senate house heap upon their opponents? Will he who is angry with his slave for icing his drink badly, be able to endure hunger, or the thirst of a long march in summer? Nothing, therefore, nourishes anger more than excessive and dissatisfied luxury: the mind ought to be hardened by rough treatment, so as not to feel any blow that is not severe.