“[O]ne must learn first how liberating anger feels, then how intoxicating, then how damaging, and in each of these stages, the reason for these feelings must be admitted and accurately described” (149) David Maura

I found this just now while reading “David and Me” by Harriet Malinowitz and thought this would be a wonderful quote. In fact, her complete article is hilarious and full of energy. She talks about her entanglement, emotionally, with Bartholomae’s “Inventing the University” and his elitist thoughts on prestige, the educational system and student writing.

Anger, yes it does feel liberating at times, definitely it becomes intoxicating, but most importantly, it becomes damaging. It can damage you if you remain in anger. In using my word of the day, for the sake of using it in as many sentences and risking the ability to have it remain in my brain, we must not become subjugated by our anger and emotions. We must disentangle ourselves of such detrimental feelings. Let me rephrase that, it is okay to feel anger, at times it may motivate us to seek changes and enforce alternative outcomes, but it can also create a hazy argument with a diluted finale. It is far more important to address the stages and describe the reasoning behind the ill feelings. Perhaps in doing so, you may discover the meaning behind those thoughts and may even find yourself starring in a mirror. Possibly, you may be misplacing the anger on someone else, when in fact, you may truly be feeling it towards a whole different situation or person.