One should not answer the slanders or reproaches of others, for the pain endured in silence consumes the slanderer; and he who bears it patiently comes also to share in the slanderer's merit. Do not permit slander and reproach. Do not humiliate or insult others. Do not quarrel with friends. Refrain from the company of the base and the low. Do not be arrogant or ignoble in conduct. Avoid harsh and wrathful words. Harsh words burn and scorch the most vital organs, the bones, the heart, and the very sources of life in men. Therefore the virtuous man should always refrain from harsh and angry words. The worst of men is he whose speech is harsh and angry, who pierces the vital organs of others with verbal thorns, who carries hell upon his tongue, and who should always be regarded as a source of suffering for people. The wise man, pierced by another's many-worded arrows, sharp and burning like fire or sun, should, even though deeply wounded and consumed by pain, patiently endure them, remembering that the merit of the slanderer becomes his own.