The Folly of Anger

“Having a grievance or resentment is like drinking poison and thinking it will kill your enemy.” – Nelson Mandela

As we are creatures of and by emotions we must understand that to be angry, or hate, or wish harm to another, or merely hold a grudge, we must produce that state and those emotions within ourselves, first. To do so is to produce the poison Mr. Mandela speaks of above.

A former mentor wisely said, “if you look for things to be disappointed in, mad at, or not good enough, you will always find plenty.”

I like to flip that by saying: if you look for what’s right, what’s good, what can be built upon and what can be learned, you will too find plenty — it does however require different eyes.

Similar Posts

  • How To Be of Value

    Try not to become a man of success, but rather try to become a man of value. – Albert Einstein Success is an abstract, relative term. It’s a made-up thing, it doesn’t actually exist anywhere, like “time.” (You can show me a clock, but you can’t show me time . . . .) And it…

  • How Is Your Speech

    Speech is the mirror of the soul; as a man speaks, so he is. – Publilius Syrus Language is everything to our lives. How we talk about who we are, what we want and what we get is so, so important. The question is: how is your speech? Do you build yourself up, or tear…

  • From Thoughts to Destiny

    Keep your thoughts positive because your thoughts become your words. Keep your words positive because your words become your behavior. Keep your behavior positive because your behavior becomes your habits. Keep your habits positive because your habits become your values. Keep your values positive because your values become your destiny. – Mohandas Gandhi Not much…

  • Why Be Happy?

    There is no duty we so much underrate as the duty of being happy. By being happy we sow anonymous benefits upon the world. – Robert Louis Stevenson . . . because it has two important benefits: 1) you get to be happy 2) you serve as a living, breathing model of what to do….

  • Look Within

    Do not give your attention to what others do or fail to do; give it to what you do or fail to do. – Buddha This reminds me of one of my favorite questions. When I find myself annoyed/bothered by, or otherwise resisting, someone, I ask myself: “What is it about you that I don’t…