Seneca Moral essays
Seneca: Let different qualities in different people keep…
Let different qualities in different people keep us from quarrelling with them: let us fear to be angry with some, feel ashamed of being angry with others, and disdain to be angry with others. We do a fine thing, indeed, when we send a wretched slave to the workhouse!
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Seneca’s moral essays. The reading beside it is ours.
Not every person deserves the same emotional response from us. With some people, anger is dangerous because they can do real harm. With others, it is beneath us because they are acting from ignorance, weakness, or misery. A rude stranger, an overwhelmed junior employee, and a malicious rival may all require different boundaries, but none require us to lose control. The temptation is to demonstrate our importance by punishing whoever has less power. That is not strength; it is insecurity wearing authority. Be especially alert to anger directed downward—at service workers, children, assistants, or anyone who cannot easily answer back. Before you exercise power, ask whether you are correcting something necessary or merely enjoying the feeling of being obeyed. The person who can afford to be gentle usually has more control than the person who needs to make everyone afraid.
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