“The quick-tempered man—even if he raises the dead—is not acceptable in front of God.”
—Abba Agathon
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Proverbs 14:16
But a fool rages and is self-confident.
A quick-tempered man acts foolishly,
Quick tempered people create an environment of fear. They rage and are self-confident. This anger sometimes comes as a self-confidence, but it’s not—it’s more of a hurt and pain inside their heart.
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Every bad behavior comes from an unmet need.
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“I spent whole years of my youth” I suddenly shouted, overcome by a terrible rage, “dreaming of being a thief, a murderer, a criminal, just so as not to be what you wanted me to be. And you can thank heaven I didn’t become one, for lack of opportunity. And all this because I lived with you, in this house.”
Boredom
Alberto Moravia -
“If you restrain your anger, you yourself will be spared and in the process prove yourself wise and will be counted among the men of prayer.”
—Evagrius Ponticus -
So should the one inflamed with anger not pray at all? By no means! But instead of reaching for what is unattainable and even dangerous on account of his passionate condition, he should resort to those “short and intense” invocations of Christ, mentioned everywhere in the early monastic literature: those “short prayers” (as Augustine calls them), out of which the well-known “Jesus Prayer” developed.
If you want to put the enemy to flight, pray without ceasing.
These “concise,” “terse,” “repeated,” indeed “ceaseless” short prayers are the daily bread of whoever is tempted—even of him who is tempted directly by the demon of anger.
Dragon’s Wine and Angel’s Bread: The Teaching of Evagrius Ponticus on Anger and Meekness
Gabriel Bunge -
A person who is free from anger is someone who doesn’t mind dishonor. A person who is free from anger is somebody who is not worried about their dignity; they’re not worried about whether they are esteemed by people or not.
—Fr. Antony Paul -
During your time in the community, you are testing yourself to see if you can bear with people. Do you lose your peace? Do you hate people? Or do you try to avenge oneself? If you try to isolate yourself in order not to engage in these troubles, you are likened to a person who refuses to take an exam for fear of failing. The result is that you will not graduate. The correct action is for a person to take the exam and pass. It is easy to sit alone and not make mistakes. Neither will the devil leave you; he will give you even more thoughts than people would, to the point that you will leave your cell saying, “It is better to deal with people than to deal with this mental warfare.” Take the test and succeed.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Monastic Treasures for All of Us
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In the life of repentance, one does not become upset with people, as this is the result from a broken self inside. Being upset at others is always associated with pride inside one’s heart. Pride inside the heart causes a person to rage over honor; when one is angered, one rages.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Monastic Treasures for All of Us
SO GOOD QUOTES 