"When Our Anger Is Sinful," An Essay on Anger ch. IV (1809)
Perhaps the tender and affectionate parent, who, on some just ground, is angry with the child whom he dearly loves, may lawfully wish his child some present pain, in order to amend and cure his folly. This seems to be implied in the nature of parental correction and the end of it is the child’s real advantage: but to wish some lasting mischief to befall the object of our resentment, is base, malicious, and wicked. Nor can those sudden wishes for our own death, which violent anger sometimes produces, be at all excused. It is better for me, said the angry prophet, to die than to live: I do well to be angry, even unto death. |
