What You'll Learn:
The Trappist monk Thomas Merton once said of the Vietnamese Buddhist Thich Nhat Hanh “[he] is more my brother than many who are nearer to me in race and nationality, because he and I see things the exact same way.” Martin Luther King Jr. described the monk as “a holy man, for he is humble and devout…a scholar of immense intellectual capacity.” So strongly did King believe in Hanh’s program for peace that he nominated Hanh for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1967. Hanh died in 2022, but his teachings continue to captivate and challenge people around the world. In Anger, Hanh explores the nature of anger and offers practical suggestions for how to tend to our anger and the anger of others. He submits that an angry person is a suffering person, in need of compassion.
Key Insights:
- When someone makes you angry, your top priority is cooling the fire inside—not hunting down the person who ignited it.
- Comfort your anger like it’s your needy child.
- Happiness is not a private concern.
- If your anger is so intense that you can’t confront someone compassionately, then wait.
- Once you learn to cool your own flames, you can lend a hand in helping other people cool their flames.
- Our anger is intimately tied to our consumption patterns.
- You are far more attractive when you smile.
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