Benjamin Franklin on anger

A penny saved is a penny earned.

For the want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for the want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for the want of a horse the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for the want of care about a horseshoe nail.

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.

Anybody can become angry⁠—that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way⁠—that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.

Aristotle384–322 BC

I was angry with my friend I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe: I told it not, my wrath did grow.

William Blake1757–1827A Poison Tree (1794), Songs of Experience (1794), A Poison Tree, st. 1In context

• Friendship

Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned.

Gautama Buddha501–501 BC