Moral essays. With an English translation by J.W. Basore

ON ANGER, II. xxx\'i. 4-6has blurred tlie sharpness of their vision, and sicklypeoplehave fallen back into illnesses. There is noquicker road to madness. Many, therefore, havecontinued in the frenzy of anger, and have neverrecovered the reason that had been unseated. It wasfrenzy that drove Ajax to his death and anger drovehim into frenzy. These all call down death upontheir cliildren, poverty upon themselves, destructionupon their house, and they deny that they are angryjust as the frenzied deny that they are mad. Theybecorne enemies to their closest friends and have tobe shunned by those most dear ; regardless of alllaw except as a means to injure, swayed by trifles,difficult to approach by either word or kindly act,they conduct themselves always with violence and.are ready either to fight with the sword or tofall upon it.* For the fact is that the greatest of alle\"ilS74fce-^ee^that surpasses all others, has laid holdupoji, them. Other ills come gi-adually, but thepower of this is sudden and complete. In short, itbrings into subjection all other passions. It conquersthe most ardent love, and so in anger men havestabbed the bodies that they loved and have lain inthe arms of-those whom they had slain ; avarice, themost stubborn and unbending e\il, has been troddenunder foot by anger after being forced to scatter herwealth and to set fire to her home and all her collectedtreasure. Tell me, has not also the ambitiousman torn off the highly prized insignia of his officeandr rejected the honour that had been conferred?There is no passion of any kind over which angerdoes not hold mastery.251