Quick Temper

— A matter not unworthy of remark is the almost universal claim laid to that supposed-to-be undesirable possession, a quick temper. “ I have a frightfully quick temper ! ” is an assertion often made without any sign of regret, rather with evident self-complacency. And how often, when, with the intention of saying something pleasing, we remark upon the sweetness of a friend’s disposition to the friend in person, are we met with the reply, “ Oh, you ’re quite mistaken ; I ’m one of the quickest-tempered people in the world ! ” given in a tone that does not imply modest deprecation of a compliment, but a decided sense of unappreciated merit.

Now this willingness — eagerness, it may even, without exaggeration, be called — to be convicted of what is acknowledged to be a fault, strikes one as a curious anomaly. No one would answer, if told, “You are very truthful,” “ Oh, no, I ’m a constant liar; ” nor, if complimented upon consistent attention to her own business, would respond, “ On the contrary, scandal-mongering is my favorite occupation.” At least, no one would give either of these answers in the serious way in which the claim to the possession of a hot temper is made. May there not be, underlying this inconsistency and explaining it, a misconception of the real meaning and source of a quick temper ? To many minds, this undesirable trait seems to be the outcome of many very admirable qualities. To be hot-tempered means, inferentially, in such mental vocabularies, to be generous, and large-minded, and unselfish, and — after a little lapse of time — forgiving. But I maintain that it means exactly the reverse of all these things. If a man be quick-tempered, if he give way to anger quickly and unrighteously (for I leave out of the question entirely that righteous wrath which rises for good reason only, and is quite a different matter from temper), he is not generous, for he shows no regard for the comfort of those around him ; he is not unselfish, for it is safe to say that in nine cases out of ten, if not in ten out of ten, his fury is kindled by some fancied slight to himself, and is allowed to blaze simply as an illumination in honor of his self-esteem ; he is not forgiving, because, though he may recover quickly from his aberration, and soon be perfectly urbane to the whilom victim of it, the restoration is simply forgetfulness, and to forget the injury inflicted upon another by his own hasty words is by no means synonymous with forgiveness of injuries he himself may have received. Last of all, he is not large-minded. I am convinced that a quick temper is an unfailing indication of a limited intelligence and a lack of mental quickness. If the mind were large enough to grasp the true relations of things, to see how small a point in the universe this temperrousing episode occupied, and if it could see this quickly — in a flash of thought — the outburst would be averted.

Let the people with slow tempers, if there be any such, assert themselves and claim their superiority. Let them declare that they are not deficient in sensibility ; that they are not callous, heavy, nor mean-spirited; but that they are really the quick ones, quick in intellect and in discrimination, and so able to control the temper with which, after everything has been said, I am inclined to think we are all, in the beginning, equally gifted.