• Author: Selected
• Editor: B-7413
• Newspaper: The Umpire volume 5
• Page Number:
• Date: 8 16 1916
• Tags:
• advice

WHAT TO DO WITH A BAD TEMPER

‘‘Starve it; give it nothing to feed on. When something tempts you to grow angry, do not yield to temptation. It may for a minute or two be difficult to control yourself, but try it. Force yourself to do nothing, to say nothing and the rising temper will be obliged to go down because it has nothing to hold it up. The person who can and does control tongue, hand and heart in the face of great provocation, is a hero. The world may not own him or her as such, but God does. The Bible says that he who ruleth his own spirit is better than he who taketh a city.

What is gained by yielding to temper? For a moment there is a feeling of relief; but soon comes a sense of sorrow and shame, with a wish that the temper had been controlled. Friends are separated by a bad temper, trouble is caused by it, and pain is given to others as well as to self. The pain too often lasts for days, even years—sometimes for life. An outburst of temper is like the bursting of a steam boiler; it is impossible to tell beforehand what will be the result. The evil done may never be remedied. Starve your temper. It is not worth keeping alive. Let it die.”’

—Selected