Pliny on an Insulting Audience

Epist. 6.17 (LCL, Radice)

Pliny the Younger to Claudius Restitutus

I have come away from a reading given by a friend of mine feeling really rather put out, so that I simply must pour out the whole story to you by letter, seeing that there is no chance of doing so in person. The work being read was highly finished in every way, but two or three clever speakers--or so they seemed to themselves and a few others--listened to it like deaf mutes. They never opened their lips, stirred a hand, nor even rose to their feet if only as a change from sitting still. What is the point of all this dignity and learning, or rather this laziness and conceit, this want of tact or even good sense, which makes you spend a whole day giving offence and leaving an enemy in the many you came to hear as your dearest friend? Are you a better speaker than he is? All the more reason not to grudge him his success, for jealousy is a sign of inferiority. In fact whether your own performance is better or worse or on a par with his, you should show your appreciation; for if your superior does not meet with applause neither will you, and it is in your own interests that anyone you equal or surpass should be well received.