ANGER

 

Do you still flare up and throw caution to the wind simply because someone wronged you? Must another person’s foolishness drag you down to the same level provoking you to shout, speak rashly, or pour out venom? In truth, such outbursts are not marks of strength but signs of weakness. True power, and indeed true humility, are revealed in calmness under fire.

As children we were wisely asked: “If someone told you to put your fingers in the fire, would you?” Of course not. The pain and damage would be yours, not theirs. Yet anger works the same way. When we let another person’s actions provoke us into rage, we burn ourselves first. Their misconduct becomes our excuse for self-destruction. But wisdom whispers otherwise: another person’s bad behavior is never a license for us to lose our dignity.

Calling a fool a “bloody fool” does not make him more foolish. It simply exposes how much maturity and discipline we ourselves still lack. A sharp tongue may feel satisfying in the moment, but its wounds often cut deeper than intended, damaging relationships, reputations, and even our inner peace.

Ralph Waldo Emerson puts it plainly: “For every minute you are angry, you lose sixty seconds of happiness.” Anger robs us of joy, clouds our judgment, and blinds us to nobler paths. It narrows our vision until all we see is offense, while the broader opportunities for wisdom, peace, and growth slip past unnoticed.

Harmony alone furthers us. To choose calmness in the heat of provocation is not weakness, it is mastery. Let us therefore resolve to embrace refinement, to cultivate patience, and to walk in that noble simplicity which shines in the naturalness of perpetual self-control.