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Anger is a normal part of grief, even though people rarely talk about it. You might feel angry at the illness, at doctors, at relatives who said the wrong thing, at God, at the person who died for leaving, or at yourself.
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Anger often sits on top of deep sorrow. It can feel easier to be furious than to feel helpless. Like every emotion, it rises, peaks and passes — usually sooner than we fear — especially when it is given somewhere safe to go: a walk, a page of writing, a conversation with someone who will simply listen.
These quotes do not ask you to stop being angry. They offer a little steadiness while the feeling moves through.
If anger is turning into thoughts of harming yourself or someone else, please speak to a doctor or a crisis line straight away. You deserve support with this.
It is alright to feel that it is unfair. Sometimes it is.
— The Quiet LightLoss is nothing else but change, and change is Nature's delight.
— Marcus Aurelius, MeditationsHatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love. This is the eternal law.
— After the Dhammapada, 5Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms, to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances.
— Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for MeaningOne whose mind is untroubled in sorrow, who is free from fear and anger, is called a person of steady wisdom.
— After the Bhagavad Gita, 2.56Let not the sun go down upon your wrath.
— Ephesians 4:26 (KJV)Anger is a fire. Let it warm you into action, not burn you from inside.
— The Quiet LightIf you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
— Marcus Aurelius, MeditationsHolding on to anger is like picking up a burning coal to throw at someone; you are the one who is burned.
— After BuddhaghosaPutting a feeling into words can soften its grip.
— After research on affect labellingFrom anger comes delusion; from delusion, confused memory; and from confused memory, the loss of reason.
— After the Bhagavad Gita, 2.63Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another.
— Colossians 3:13 (KJV)Walk it off, write it down, say it out loud to the sky. Anger needs somewhere to go.
— The Quiet LightLet us not grieve that they were taken, but give thanks that we had them at all.
— After Seneca, LettersFeelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.
— Thich Nhat HanhAnger in grief is love that has been wounded. It, too, can be held gently.
— After grief counselling practiceBe friendly and compassionate to all, free from ego, forgiving, and even-minded in joy and sorrow.
— After the Bhagavad Gita, 12.13Beneath anger there is often a deep sorrow asking to be held.
— The Quiet LightMen are disturbed not by things, but by the opinions about things.
— Epictetus, EnchiridionThe present moment is the only place where life can be lived. Come back to it, breath by breath.
— After Thich Nhat HanhEvery feeling, even anger, rises, peaks and passes like a wave, usually far sooner than we fear.
— After emotion researchYou do not have to be gentle with the loss. Only with yourself.
— The Quiet LightAccepting what happened is not saying it was alright. It is choosing to stop fighting the tide.
— The Quiet Light