Losing your temper is a sign of weakness, they say. It’s not great for your health, either. Or, for those around you.
Writing about a Stoic approach to anger, author, stoic and cognitive psychotherapist Donald Robertson recalls the emperor Hadrian (not a Stoic):
who once flew into a rage and stabbed some poor slave in the eye with the point of a metal stylus. When Hadrian finally calmed down and came to his senses he apologised for this horrific act and asked the man if there was anything he could do to make amends. The slave, however, said that all he wanted was his eye back.
The ancient Stoics viewed anger as temporary madness, and,in this post (from ClassicalWisdom.com), Roberston offers a Stoic approach to controlling one’s anger through Marcus Aurelius’ “ten gifts from Apollo.”
