Commentary by Terry Anker

Some of us think not quite enough and “feel” a bit more than is productive. We can count among the greatest contributions of our species those which came from intellect, and the ability to solve complex problems may be chief. Still, we cannot too easily discount the role of love, hate and rage in forming our society. Passion empowers us to reach our greatest triumphs. But also, it can embitter us to our most egregious follies. Standing at the foot of David, one innately understands Michelangelo’s regard for the boy who slayed Goliath. Paradoxically, passing the gate of Dachau, one is chilled by those murdered through unrestrained odium.

Nineteenth-century German thinker Friedrich Nietzsche remarked, “One ought to hold on to one’s heart; for if one lets it go, one soon loses control of the head too.” In this world abundant with emotion, his warning is worth consideration. Is violence required? Are hate and fear-mongering legitimate tools for change? War, politics, divorce, the morning commute and kids’ sporting events all seem to have abandoned civility in descending order, relying instead on self-justifying emotion.

“Emotion can be the enemy. If you give into your emotion, you lose yourself. You must be at one with your emotions, because the body always follows the mind,” observed actor and martial artist Bruce Lee. As an athlete, Lee knew that an undisciplined mind would diminish his chance of victory.

Can we live without feeling? Would we want to if we could? Hope inoculates us from despair, anger promotes destruction. Even as aspiration is a reliable and resilient force, so is vengeance. Like so many things, Irish playwright Oscar Wilde had it right: “I don’t want to be at the mercy of my emotions. I want to use them, to enjoy them, and to dominate them.”