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| Chapter XXI. We must guard against anger, before it arises; if it has already arisen we must check and calm it, and if we cannot do this either, at least we should keep our tongue from abuse, so that our passions may be like boys' quarrels. He relates what Archites said, and shows that David led the way in this matter, both in his actions and in his writings.
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Chapter XXI.
We must guard against anger, before it arises; if it has
already arisen we must check and calm it, and if we cannot do this
either, at least we should keep our tongue from abuse, so that our
passions may be like boys’ quarrels. He relates what
Archites said, and shows that David led the way in this matter, both in
his actions and in his writings.
90. Let anger be
guarded against.135
| 135 Cic. de
Off. I. 25, § 89. | If it cannot,
however, be averted, let it be kept within bounds. For
indignation is a terrible incentive to sin. It disorders the mind
to such an extent as to leave no room for reason. The first
thing, therefore, to aim at, if possible, is to make tranquillity of
character our natural disposition by constant practice, by desire for
better things, by fixed determination. But since passion is to a
large extent implanted in our nature and character, so that it cannot
be uprooted and avoided, it must be checked by reason, if, that is, it
can be foreseen. And if the mind has already been filled with
indignation before it could be foreseen or provided against in any way,
we must consider how to conquer the passion of the mind, how to
restrain our anger, that it may no more be so filled. Resist
wrath, if possible; if not, give way, for it is written:
“Give place to wrath.”136
91. Jacob dutifully gave way to his brother
when angry, and to Rebecca; that is to say, taught by counsels of
patience, he preferred to go away and live in foreign lands, rather
than to arouse his brother’s anger; and then to return only when
he thought his brother was appeased.137
Thus
it was that he found such great grace with God. With what offers
of willing service, with what gifts, did he reconcile his brother to
himself again, so that he should not remember the blessing which had
been taken away from him, but should only remember the reparation now
offered?138
92. If, then, anger has got the start, and
has already taken possession of thy mind, and mounted into thy heart,
forsake not thy ground. Thy ground is patience, it is wisdom, it
is reason, it is the allaying of indignation. And if the
stubbornness of thy opponent rouses thee, and his perverseness drives
thee to indignation: if thou canst not calm thy mind, check at
least thy tongue. For so it is written: “Keep thy
tongue from evil, and thy lips that they speak no guile. Seek
peace and pursue it.”139
See the
peace of holy Jacob, how great it was! First, then, calm thy
mind. If thou canst not do this, put a restraint upon thy
tongue. Lastly, omit not to seek for reconciliation. These
ideas the speakers of the world have borrowed from us, and have set
down in their writings. But he who said it first has the credit
of understanding its meaning.
93. Let us then avoid or at any rate check
anger, so that we may not lose our share of praise, nor yet add to our
list of sins. It is no light thing to calm one’s
anger. It is no less difficult a thing than it is not to be
roused at all. The one is an act of our own will, the other is an
effect of nature. So quarrels among boys are harmless, and have
more of a pleasant than a bitter character about them. And if
boys quickly come to quarrel one with the other, they are easily calmed
down again, and quickly come together with even greater
friendliness. They do not know how to act deceitfully and
artfully. Do not condemn these children, of whom the Lord
says: “Except ye be converted and become as this child, ye
shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.”140
So also the Lord Himself, Who is the
Power of God, as a Boy, when He was reviled, reviled not again,
when He was struck, struck
not back.141
Set then thy
mind on this—like a child never to keep an injury in mind, never
to show malice, but that all things may be done blamelessly by
thee. Regard not the return made thee by others. Hold thy
ground. Guard the simplicity and purity of thy heart.
Answer not an angry man according to his anger, nor a foolish man
according to his folly. One fault quickly calls forth
another. If stones are rubbed together, does not fire break
forth?
94. The heathen—(they are wont to
exaggerate everything in speaking)—make much of the saying of the
philosopher Archites142
| 142 lived c.
b.c. 400. A noted philosopher, and also
general. | of Tarentum, which
he spoke to his bailiff: “O you wretched man, how I would
punish you, if I were not angry.” But David already before
this had in his indignation held back his armed hand. How much
greater a thing it is not to revile again, than not to avenge
oneself! The warriors, too, prepared to take vengeance against
Nabal, Abigail restrained by her prayers.143
From whence we perceive that we
ought not only to yield to timely entreaties, but also to be pleased
with them. So much was David pleased that he blessed her who
intervened, because he was restrained from his desire for
revenge.
95. Already before this he had said of his
enemies: “For they cast iniquity upon me, and in their
wrath they were grievous to me.”144
Let us hear what he said when
overwhelmed in wrath: “Who will give me wings like a dove,
and I will flee away and be at rest.”145
They kept provoking him to anger, but
he sought quietness.
96. He had also said: “Be ye
angry and sin not.”146
The moral
teacher who knew that the natural disposition should rather be guided
by a reasonable course of teaching, than be eradicated, teaches morals,
and says: “Be angry where there is a fault against which ye
ought to be angry.” For it is impossible not to be roused
up by the baseness of many things;147
| 147 Cic. de
Off. I. 38, § 136. | otherwise we
might be accounted, not virtuous, but apathetic and neglectful.
Be angry therefore, so that ye keep free from fault, or, in other
words: If ye are angry, do not sin, but overcome wrath with
reason. Or one might put it thus: If ye are angry, be angry
with yourselves, because ye are roused, and ye will not sin. For
he who is angry with himself, because he has been so easily roused,
ceases to be angry with another. But he who wishes to prove his
anger is righteous only gets the more inflamed, and quickly falls into
sin. “Better is he,” as Solomon says, “that
restraineth his anger, than he that taketh a city,”148
for anger leads astray even brave
men.
97. We ought therefore to take care that we do not
get into a flurry, before reason prepares our minds. For
oftentimes anger or distress or fear of death almost deprives the soul
of life, and beats it down by a sudden blow. It is therefore a
good thing to anticipate this by reflection, and to exercise the mind
by considering the matter. So the mind will not be roused by any
sudden disturbance, but will grow calm, being held in by the yoke and
reins of reason. E.C.F. INDEX & SEARCH
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