On Anger, Book 2, Section 2 — In Plain English

Seneca — The Senator

Where is this leading, you ask? We need to understand what anger really is. If anger springs up against our will, then reason can never defeat it. All movements that happen without our choice are beyond our control and unavoidable. We shiver when cold water hits us. We flinch when touched in sensitive spots. Our hair stands up at bad news. Our faces flush at crude words. We get dizzy looking down a cliff. We can't prevent any of these things, so no amount of reasoning will stop them. But anger can be driven away by wise thinking. It's a voluntary flaw of the mind, not one of those automatic responses that come with being human — responses that can happen even to the wisest among us.

Seneca — The Senator Original

Whither, say you, does this inquiry tend? That we may know what anger is: for if it springs up against our will, it never will yield to reason: because all the motions which take place without our volition are beyond our control and unavoidable, such as shivering when cold water is poured over us, or shrinking when we are touched in certain places. Men's hair rises up at bad news, their faces blush at indecent words, and they are seized with dizziness when looking down a precipice; and as it is not in our power to prevent any of these things, no reasoning can prevent their taking place. But anger can be put to flight by wise maxims; for it is a voluntary defect of the mind, and not one of those things which are evolved by the conditions of human life, and which, therefore, may happen even to the wisest of us.