When your rage is choking you, it is best to say nothing.
Interpretation
It's wise to remain silent during moments of intense anger.
This quote by Octavia Butler suggests that in times of anger, when emotions are overwhelming, it is more prudent to refrain from speaking. Speaking in such moments can lead to regrettable words and actions, and silence can allow for clarity and composure before responding decisively.
In practice
During a heated discussion in a meeting, one might quote Butler to emphasize the importance of remaining calm and not saying something impulsively.
What I'm working on now - I'm back to fantasy, although considering that it's me, I'm turning it into a kind of science fantasy. It's a vampire story - but my vampires are biological vampires. They didn't become vampires because someone bit them; they were born that way.
Slavery was a long slow process of dulling.
Here I was into astronomy, and here into anthropology, and there I go into geology. It was much more fun to be able to research and write about whatever I wanted to.
There is no end To what a living world Will demand of you.
You don't start out writing good stuff. You start out writing crap and thinking it's good stuff, and then gradually you get better at it. That's why I say one of the most valuable traits is persistence.
Better to stay alive," I said. "At least while there's a chance to get free." I thought of the sleeping pills in my bag and wondered just how great a hypocrite I was. It was so easy to advise other people to live with their pain.
In todays economy, the most important resource is no longer labor, capital or land; it is knowledge
A man is hindered and distracted in proportion as he draws outward things to himself.
Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Everyday, I walk myself into a state of well-being & walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. But by sitting still, & the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill. Thus if one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.
It's important to have people who are absolutely willing to say you're wrong or who have a totally different perspective than you do on everything. Fresh ideas are hard to come by, and good ones are even harder.
What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.
The glory that goes with wealth is fleeting and fragile; virtue is a possession glorious and eternal.
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