Losing our sense of proportion

"reflect often that the majority of human beings become upset and bothered even when nothing bad is either present or definite for the future. For no one resists his own movement, once begun; no one trims his fear to accord with reality. No one says, “My informant is of no account, an empty fellow; he either made it up, or believed someone who did.” We let ourselves be blown about by the breeze, alarmed by ambiguities as though they were confirmed facts. We lose our sense of proportion: the least cause of uneasiness turns right away into fear."

• Seneca, Letters 13.13