On Anger, Book 3, Section 4 — In Plain English

Seneca — The Senator

By Hercules, no wild animal looks as terrifying as an angry man — not even when the beast is starving, or pierced with a spear, or using its last breath to bite its killer. If you have time, listen to what an angry person says and threatens. The words that pour from his tortured mind are awful! Wouldn't everyone want to give up anger if they saw that it starts by hurting themselves? People use anger as their most powerful weapon. They think it proves their strength. They see quick revenge as one of the best rewards of success. Don't you think I should warn them that a person enslaved by his own anger has no real power — and isn't even free? And shouldn't I especially warn the more careful and thoughtful people? Other evil emotions mostly attack low people. But anger slowly takes over the minds of even educated and otherwise wise men. This is so true that some people claim anger proves you're honest. Most people believe that good-natured folks are especially prone to it.

Seneca — The Senator Original

By Hercules, no wild beast, neither when tortured by hunger, or with a weapon struck through its vitals, not even when it gathers its last breath to bite its slayer, looks so shocking as a man raging with anger. Listen, if you have leisure, to his words and threats: how dreadful is the language of his agonized mind! Would not every man wish to lay aside anger when he sees that it begins by injuring himself? When men employ anger as the most powerful of agents, consider it to be a proof of power, and reckon a speedy revenge among the greatest blessings of great prosperity, would you not wish me to warn them that he who is the slave of his own anger is not powerful, nor even free? Would you not wish me to warn all the more industrious and circumspect of men, that while other evil passions assail the base, anger gradually obtains dominion over the minds even of learned and in other respects sensible men? So true is that, that some declare anger to be a proof of straight-forwardness, and it is commonly believed that the best-natured people are prone to it.

Seneca — The Senator

You might debate about other emotions, but anger definitely looks the worst. I've described what an angry person looks like in my earlier books. He looks sharp and tense. Sometimes he's pale because his blood rushes inward. Other times all the heat in his body rushes to his face, making it red as if it's stained with blood. His eyes dart around wildly, bulging from his head. Or they lock into one fixed, unblinking stare. Then there are his teeth — he grinds them against each other as if he wants to eat someone. It sounds exactly like a wild boar sharpening its tusks. His joints crack. He wrings his hands without thinking. He slaps his own chest over and over. His breathing is quick and he sighs deeply. His whole body sways. His speech comes out in choppy, broken pieces. His lips tremble. Sometimes he presses them tight together and hisses curses through them.

Seneca — The Senator Original

There may be some doubt about the others, but at any rate no passion has a worse look. We have described the angry man’s appearance in our former books, how sharp and keen he looks, at one time pale as his blood is driven inwards and backwards, at another with all the heat and fire of his body directed to his face, making it reddish-coloured as if stained with blood, his eyes now restless and starting out of his head, now set motionless in one fixed gaze. Add to this his teeth, which gnash against one another, as though he wished to eat somebody, with exactly the sound of a wild boar sharpening his tusks: add also the cracking of his joints, the involuntary wringing of his hands, the frequent slaps he deals himself on the chest, his hurried breathing and deep-drawn sighs, his reeling body, his abrupt broken speech, and his trembling lips, which sometimes he draws tight as he hisses some curse through them.