“A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.”
Book of Proverbs, c. 700 BC · Hebrew wisdom collection
Chapter 1
On Anger
“Be not hasty in thy spirit to be angry: for anger resteth in the bosom of fools.”
Ecclesiastes, c. 250 BC · Hebrew book of the Preacher
“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.”
Book of Proverbs, c. 700 BC · Hebrew wisdom collection
“Anyone can get angry, that is easy, but to do this to the right person, to the right extent, at the right time, with the right motive, and in the right way, that is no longer easy.”
Aristotle, c. 340 BC · Greek philosopher of Stagira
“No one will postpone his anger: yet delay is the best remedy for it, because it allows its first glow to subside.”
Seneca the Younger, c. 45 AD · Roman Stoic and playwright
“Consider how much more pain is brought on us by the anger and vexation caused by such acts than by the acts themselves, at which we are angry and vexed.”
Marcus Aurelius, c. 175 AD · Roman emperor and Stoic
“Remember that it is not he who gives abuse or blows who affronts, but the view we take of these things as insulting. When anyone provokes you, it is your own opinion which provokes you.”
Epictetus, c. 125 AD · Greek Stoic born into slavery
“Let a man overcome anger by love, let him overcome evil by good; let him overcome the greedy by liberality, the liar by truth.”
The Dhammapada, c. 300 BC · early Buddhist verse collection
“A person's character is recognized through three things: his cup, his purse, and his anger.”
Rabbi Ilai, c. 250 AD · Talmudic sage
“When angry, count ten before you speak; if very angry, an hundred.”
Thomas Jefferson, 1825 · American statesman writing to a namesake child
Venting does not drain anger. In controlled trials, people who hit or shouted to let off steam afterward behaved more aggressively, not less.
Brad J. Bushman, 2002 · social psychologist testing the catharsis theory
Putting a feeling into words calms the brain. Naming an emotion lowered activity in the amygdala and raised it in regions tied to self-control.
Matthew D. Lieberman and colleagues, 2007 · neuroscientists studying affect labeling
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