Marcus Aurelius says meditation retreats are a scam:
Ἀναχωρήσεις αὑτοῖς ζητοῦσιν, ἀγροικίας καὶ αἰγιαλοὺς καὶ ὄρη· εἴωθας δὲ καὶ σὺ τὰ τοιαῦτα μάλιστα ποθεῖν. ὅλον δὲ τοῦτο ἰδιωτικώτατόν ἐστιν, ἐξὸν ἧς ἂν ὥρας ἐθελήσῃς εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἀναχωρεῖν.
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They desire retreats for themselves in the countryside, on the coast and in the mountains, and you desire such most of all. But this is all most amateurish, as it is possible at any time you want to retreat into yourself.
Meditations 4.3
Demosthenes was regularly pulling all-nighters to prepare his speeches, which did not go unnoticed by his enemies:
Πυθέας ἐπισκώπτων ἐλλυχνίων ἔφησεν ὄζειν αὐτοῦ τὰ ἐνθυμήματα.
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Pytheas scoffed and said that his thoughts smelled of lamp wicks.
Plutarch, Demosthenes 8.4
A kantharos in the shape of a donkey’s head, ca. 500 BC. British Museum.
Πάντες ὡς ἔπος εἰπεῖν περὶ ὄνου σκιᾶς μάχονται οἱ φιλοσοφοῦντες.
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All philosophers, as the saying goes, are fighting over a donkey’s shadow.
Lucian, Hermotimus 71
@AncPhi Show some kindness to the poor man:
ἴδιον ἀνθρώπου φιλεῖν καὶ τοὺς πταίοντας.
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It is peculiar to man to love even those who do wrong.
Τὰ εἰς ἑαυτόν 7.22