Don't mind the stench of humanity. Marcus Aurelius 5.28
Marcus
advises himself to avoid resenting or reacting badly to others'
bodily odors. The rational faculty of our minds should show us that
perceiving bad smell is not in itself a cause for behaving badly, or
taking offense (as though the stinkers among us were always trying to
insult us with their presence).
Τῷ
γράσωνι μήτι ὀργίζῃ, μήτι τῷ ὀζοστόμῳ
ὀργίζῃ; τί σοι ποιήσει; τοιοῦτον στόμα
ἔχει, τοιαύτας μάλας ἔχει, ἀνάγκη
τοιαύτην ἀποφορὰν ἀπὸ τοιούτων
γίνεσθαι. «ἀλλ’ ὁ ἄνθρωπος λόγον
ἔχει,» φησί, «καὶ δύναται συννοεῖν
ἐφιστάνων τί πλημμελεῖ.» εὖ σοι γένοιτο·
τοιγαροῦν καὶ σὺ λόγον ἔχεις, κίνησον
λογικῇ διαθέσει λογικὴν διάθεσιν,
δεῖξον, ὑπόμνησον· εἰ γὰρ ἐπαΐει,
θεραπεύσεις καὶ οὐ χρεία ὀργῆς. Οὔτε
τραγῳδὸς οὔτε πόρνη.
The
stinker and the mouth-breather: each annoys you, right? But why?
Having a mouth and pits means leaking from those parts, occasionally.
“But human beings have reason,” someone will say, “and so can
comprehend with understanding when something about their expression
is wrong or out of place.” Let it be so, at least for you. Now that
you possess reason, move your rational faculty in logical fashion:
show it, and remember what you have shown. For if you smell properly,
with real understanding, you will recover from every stench without
any need for annoyance. You are not a tragic actor, nor a prostitute,
that you should make much of another man's odor.