On Anger, Book 3, Section 30 — In Plain English

Seneca — The Senator

Do I have less than I hoped for? Well, maybe I hoped for more than I should have. This is what we need to watch out for most carefully. This kind of thinking creates the most dangerous anger — the kind that destroys everything, even what should be sacred. Emperor Julius Caesar wasn't killed by his enemies so much as by friends whose endless greed he couldn't satisfy. He wanted to satisfy them. No one ever shared the rewards of victory more generously. He kept nothing for himself except the right to give things away. But how could he feed such greedy appetites when each person wanted as much as any one person could possibly have? That's why he found his fellow soldiers standing around his chair with swords drawn. Tillius Cimber was there — the same man who had recently been his strongest supporter. Others were there too, people who only joined Pompey's side after Pompey was already dead. This is what turns soldiers against their kings. It makes the most loyal followers plot to kill the very person they once would have gladly died for.

Seneca — The Senator Original

Have I less than I hoped for? well, perhaps I hoped for more than I ought. This it is against which we ought to be especially on our guard: from hence arises the most destructive anger, sparing nothing, not even the holiest. The Emperor Julius was not stabbed by so many enemies as by friends whose insatiable hopes he had not satisfied. He was willing enough to do so, for no one ever made a more generous use of victory, of whose fruits he kept nothing for himself save the power of distributing them; but how could he glut such unconscionable appetites, when each man coveted as much as any one man could possess? This was why he saw his fellow-soldiers standing round his chair with drawn swords, Tillius Cimber, though he had a short time before been the keenest defender of his party, and others who only became Pompeians after Pompeius was dead. This it is which has turned the arms of kings against them, and made their trustiest followers meditate the death of him for whom and before whom[11] they once would have been glad to die.

Seneca — The Senator

How much better it would be to notice how small and harmless anger's beginnings really are. You'll see that people react to the same silly things as animals do. Bulls get excited by the color red. Snakes raise their heads at shadows. Bears and lions get angry when you wave a cloth at them. All naturally fierce creatures are scared by tiny things. The same thing happens to people — whether they're restless or lazy types. They get suspicious, sometimes so much that they see small kindnesses as insults. This creates the most common and bitter cause of anger: we get mad at our closest friends for not giving us as much as we expected, or as much as they gave someone else. But there's an easy fix for both problems. Did your friend favor your rival over you? Then enjoy what you have without comparing. A person who feels tortured seeing anyone else better off will never be happy.

Seneca — The Senator Original

How much better is it to observe how trifling, how inoffensive are the first beginnings of anger? You will see that men are subject to the same influences as dumb animals: we are put out by trumpery, futile matters. Bulls are excited by red colour, the asp raises its head at a shadow, bears or lions are irritated at the shaking of a rag, and all creatures who are naturally fierce and wild are alarmed at trifles. The same thing befalls men both of restless and of sluggish disposition; they are seized by suspicions, sometimes to such an extent that they call slight benefits injuries: and these form the most common and certainly the most bitter subject for anger: for we become angry with our dearest friends for having bestowed less upon us than we expected, and less than others have received from them: yet there is a remedy at hand for both these grievances. Has he favoured our rival more than ourselves? then let us enjoy what we have without making any comparisons. A man will never be well off to whom it is a torture to see any one better off than himself.