Man Up!

We looked at how anger is a good and necessary passion when applied properly. We admire those who have discretion and an even temper. A person who lacks the proper amount of anger and is indifferent toward injustices is considered a fool and a coward. This person may lack discretion and get mad at the wrong things while not caring about what he should. Someone who doesn't defend himself from insult or help his friends is passive and easily pushed around. This isn't admirable behavior.

Excessive anger shows itself in many ways. A person can have a high intensity, get mad too quickly, apply it to the wrong things or the wrong people. The extremes in all variations aren't often found in a person all at once thankfully or we would maniacs. So a quick tempered person gets mad right away usually at the wrong things and too much. But the good thing about this is that a hot-tempered person normally gets over it fast so they are more enjoyable to be around. They are free with passion and it doesn't get bottled up. You know upfront how they feel. There is a variation of this where a person has a chip on his shoulder and is quickly mad at everything and everyone without discretion. A hot-headed person isn't enjoyable to be around and will get you in trouble.  

There are those who sulk. I think we call this passive-aggressive today. This kind of person is very hard to appease because he seeks vengeance. Until this happens, a person with this temperament won’t be satisfied. He takes pleasure in getting back at people. It takes a long time for him to digest anger that isn't satisfied by reprisal. He causes a lot of trouble for himself and his friends. A bad tempered person like this will take offence for the wrong things, too much and for too long. He seeks vengeance and punishment unnecessarily and won’t be satisfied until his drama is appeased. We tend to dislike excessive anger more than passiveness. A bad-tempered person is very difficult to live with.  

It isn't easy to define by generalizations what the proper amount of anger is for each situation. If a person strays slightly, we don’t get upset about it. As a matter of fact we call passive person even tempered. We call those who have more anger “manly” and tell people to “man up”. The decision on how far to go either way depends on the degree of the offence and the position the person is in. Sports tend toward aggression while a counselor will be expected to show restraint. We can say that there is an application of the proper amount and to the proper objects that is virtuous and beneficial while a person who goes to the extremes will damage relationships and his life.