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The Imitation of Christ
Thomas à Kempis
The Twenty-Eighth Chapter
STRENGTH AGAINST SLANDER
THE VOICE OF CHRIST
MY CHILD, do not take it to heart if some people think badly of you and say
unpleasant things about you. You ought to think worse things of yourself and to
believe that no one is weaker than yourself. Moreover, if you walk in the spirit
you will pay little heed to fleeting words. It is no small prudence to remain
silent in evil times, to turn inwardly to Me, and not to be disturbed by human
opinions. Do not let your peace depend on the words of men. Their thinking well
or badly of you does not make you different from what you are. Where are true
peace and glory? Are they not in Me? He who neither cares to please men nor
fears to displease them will enjoy great peace, for all unrest and distraction
of the senses arise out of disorderly love and vain fear.
