Have you ever suffered from the insults of rude people? Have you let them berate you, when you are innocent of everything they are claiming you have done?

Been there. Experienced that.

During these times, I have never been able to come up with anything to say back. I was too shocked at the verbal assault to defend myself. Later, I would think of so many things I could have said, but it was too late. I used to feel that I was very stupid for not having a comeback. As I grew and matured, I realized that maybe God was stopping me from having a comeback, because then I would have been caught in the same trap as the rude person.

My daughter recently shared a quote with me from the Classic book, A Little Princess, by Frances Hodgson Burnett, first written in 1905. This quote actually makes my lack of response seem smart.

“I never answer when I can help it. When people are insulting you, there is nothing so good for them as not to say a word—just to look at them and THINK. When you will not fly into a passion people know you are stronger than they are, because you are strong enough to hold in your rage, and they are not, and they say stupid things they wish they hadn’t said afterward. There’s nothing so strong as rage, except what makes you hold it in—that’s stronger. It’s a good thing not to answer your enemies. I scarcely ever do.” – Sarah Crewe, “A Little Princess”

What words of wisdom have you taken from classic stories and found them to be useful when dealing with difficult people?