There are two things a person should never be angry at; what they can help, and what they cannot. – Plato What does that mean? This reminds me of the old saying “There are two kinds of people in this world; those who divide everything into two camps and those who don’t.” Here we have…
Today, when we face problems or disagreements, we have to arrive at solutions through dialogue. – Dalai Lama What does that mean? This is a variation of “violence begets more violence” but is stated from the opposite direction. He is calling for dialogue, or discussion, as the peaceful path to the resolution of our differences. I…
A large part of mankind is angry not with the sins, but with the sinners. – Seneca What does that mean? To me, this speaks of the envy and bitterness that is part of the lives of so many people. They aren’t so mad that you are doing something prohibited by law or societal values, they are…
The greatest remedy for anger is delay. – Seneca What does that mean? Anger, when delayed or deferred, is weakened. This, he believes, is the best course, to allow anger to fade away before it is acted out. In his case, I believe ‘remedy’ is used to mean cure, making delay the cure for anger. This makes…
Anger: an acid that can do more harm to the vessel in which it is stored than to anything on which it is poured. – Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger) What does that mean? This phrase, in a slightly different wording, is also frequently attributed to Mark Twain, but I think Seneca probably said…
Anger and intolerance are the enemies of correct understanding. – Mohandas Gandhi What does that mean? While the term “correct under-standing” shows up repeatedly in Buddhist writings, I am told by a reliable source (a Zen Assistant-Priest) that the English words mean exactly what you’d expect. So, let’s start out with a definition of the…
