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People who are hard to offend usually understand these 8 things about human nature

From Seneca and Marcus Aurelius to Zhuangzi and Mencius, philosophers have long noticed why small slights sting and how to let them stay small. Here are eight things about human nature that can make you harder to offend, without becoming easier to mistreat.

By Lachlan Brown · October 31, 2026

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People who are hard to offend usually understand these 8 things about human nature

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From the magazine

Aristotle noticed we envy our peers: 7 ways envy can show up in close relationships

Hiroo Onoda kept fighting World War II in a Philippine jungle for 29 years, dismissing leaflet after leaflet saying the war was over, and only laid down his rifle in 1974 when his former superior, by then a bookseller, flew out to order him to stop

The Cynics argued that much of what society calls success is a performance we trap ourselves in. Modern psychology has a quieter echo — we worry far more about how we appear to others than the evidence says we need to

Thought of the day from Stoic philosopher Epictetus: “Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions, which they form concerning thing.”

New to philosophy? Start here.