“A stoic never gets angry, except on purpose.”
I don’t remember who said this or if it’s something I made up myself, but it is a line I often go back to when I start to lose my temper.
There is a modern misunderstanding of stoicism that believes it requires suppressing our emotions. I think this is wrong.
The master stoic feels emotions fully and then is able to choose deliberately to let go or harness these emotions before he takes action.
He is the master of his emotions because he does experience them, listen to them, and let them inform him - without being enslaved to them.
Anger is a dangerous emotion because it can lead us to react in ways that are counterproductive to the pursuit of virtue.
By exercising the virtue of temperance and “tempering our emotions,” we give ourselves space to practice wisdom in determining whether these emotions serve us well or not.
Sometimes, a righteous anger can fuel us to be courageous in the pursuit of justice.
Other times, anger leads to recklessness, bitterness, and the continuance of a cycle of pain.
So if you find yourself angry, my advice to myself is to pause, take a breath, and exercise wisdom to determine if this anger serves a productive or detrimental purpose.