The world loves to be amused by hollow professions, to be deceived by flattering appearances, to live in a state of hallucination; and can forgive everything but the plain, downright, simple, honest truth.
William HazlittRead
The Buddha compared anger with picking up hot coals with one's bare hands and trying to throw them at the person with whom one is angry. Who gets burned first? The one who is angry of course.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Anger harms the angry person more than anyone else.
This quote by Ayya Khema illustrates the self-destructive nature of anger. It highlights that when we harbor anger, we are often the ones who suffer the most, akin to picking up hot coals; it is an act of self-harm more than an offense to the target of our rage.
Themes
AngerSelf-HarmWisdomSufferingMindfulness
In practice
Example use cases
During a workshop on emotional health, a speaker shared this quote to illustrate the dangers of holding onto anger.
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