Seeing Red Trivia Quiz

Answer: Confucius

Confucius, who lived around 500 B.C., was a Chinese thinker whose many aphorisms form the basis of Confucianism, a tradition that straddles religion and philosophy. He lived in the Spring and Autumn period, a time of political instability and war in China as local lords gained relative power in comparison to royals.

The main themes of Confucius' writings are the strength of the family unit, the need to comport yourself with dignity and the value of social harmony. As such, we can imagine Confucius' aphorism here about anger was meant to urge people to consider how actions made in anger could affect your family and community.

Answer: Bible (Ephesians 4:26)

This quote from the Bible's New Testament is typically attributed by Christians to the apostle Paul. The book of Ephesians is thought to be written for the people of Ephesus, a city with many early adopters of Christianity, then in the Roman Empire and today in Turkey.

We could interpret this quote as Paul calling for Christians to resolve disputes quickly and amicably, encouraging harmony in the Christian community as part of his message about "unity in Christ" and advice for how to manage familial relationships and work.

(This phrasing is taken from the New International Version.)

Answer: Quran (Surah Ash-Shura 42:37)

This sentence is part of a bigger paragraph about "reward" for true believers in Allah and "retribution" to those who are "wrongdoers". Other characteristics of "true believers" are defending yourself from tyranny, being patient and choosing mercy over vengeance.

The Ash-Shura, named after the Arabic word for "consultation" used in the chapter, is thought to have been written around 600 A.D. This would place it during Prophet Muhammad's lifetime and mission in Mecca, when Muslims were a persecuted minority.

(This quote is taken from the Sahih International.)

Answer: Dalai Lama XIV

The role of Dalai Lama arose from the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism, but it has long been a position associated with Tibetan nationalism, with several Dalai Lamas leading the government of Tibet.

The fourteenth Dalai Lama was announced in 1939, when he was aged four. Buddhists believe the Dalai Lama chooses which body to reincarnate into, so that the Dalai Lama is a position lasting a person's entire lifetime.

The quote about anger fits with the teachings of Buddhism that nirvana is the ultimate personal goal and it is an emotional state without any passion or strong emotion. The sources of negative emotions - the "three poisons" - are delusion, hatred and aversion. The quote means that anger, or the second poison, is an emotion that leads you away from peace, or nirvana.

(This translation of the quote comes from "1400 Lessons from the 14th Dalai Lama", Aksapada, 2019.)

Answer: Bhagavad Gita (16.4)

The Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu scripture, is a dialogue between Lord Krishna and the warrior Arjuna ("Parth"), exploring duty, righteousness, and the path to liberation. It comes from one of the last B.C. centuries and is part of the epic poem Mahabharata.

This quote describes the traits of those with a "demoniac" or destructive nature. Krishna warns Arjuna against qualities like anger, arrogance, and ignorance, which Hindus believe lead the soul away from spiritual growth. Instead, the Gita emphasizes self-discipline, humility, and inner purity. This quote highlights the contrast between divine and demoniac qualities, urging individuals to overcome ego and negative tendencies to align with dharma (righteousness) and attain moksha (spiritual liberation).

(This quote comes from the version by Swami Mukundananda.)

Answer: Tao Te Ching (63)

Taoists traditionally believe Laozi was the author of Tao Te Ching. They say that Laozi lived in China during China's Spring and Autumn period, even meeting Confucius. The Tao Te Ching teaches the importance of harmony, simplicity, and living in accordance with the Tao-the natural way of the universe.

The quote is about showing personal "virtue" by responding positively to negative expressions by others like anger. It also emphasizes the importance of taking action before a problem spirals out of control. Taoists aim to achieve wu wei: the alignment of mind with instinct. For instance, you can override your instinct to be rude back to someone who acts angrily towards you; by practicing positivity it can become your instinct.

(This version was translated by Charles Mueller.)

Answer: Dhammapada (222)

The Dhammapada, roughly meaning 'eternal truth verse', is a collection of sayings that believers say comes from the Buddha. According to Buddhists, the Buddha was born in modern-day Nepal around 500 BC, where he attained nirvana.

Chariots are used often as a metaphor in Buddhism for a person on their journey to nirvana, as one of the most advanced technologies in the era these texts were written in, and this passage is about how the "charioteer" heading towards nirvana is one who notices anger as it begins to form rather than "holding the reigns" as anger has uncontrollable effects on them.

(This version was translated by Acharya Buddharakkhita.)

Answer: Thich Nhat Hanh

Thich Nhat Hanh was a Vietnamese Buddhist of the 20th and 21st century. He was influential on the idea of 'mindfulness' in the West. As a pacifist, he was exiled from both North Vietnam and South Vietnam for refusing to support the U.S. invasion of Vietnam or the Viet Cong's self-defence.

In this quote, Thich is giving practical mindfulness instructions on how to deal with anger - concentrating on breath can distract your brain from the source of the anger, but deep breathing can also trigger nervous system changes such as slowing your heartbeat, leading to the physical sources of anger dissipating.

(This saying by Thich is quoted in "Surviving the Storm", Felicia Allen, 2017.)

Answer: Talmud (Pirkei Avot 5:12)

The Talmud is a significant text in Judaism, originating in the Dark Ages and featuring a heterogeneous collection of teachings and opinions of rabbis on philosophy, history and Jewish religious practice.

In the context of this quote, the author describes four types of people. The opposite of "wicked" - the person who rarely becomes angry and easily is appeased - is "pious". On the other hand, according to this mishnah, for the person who is changeable (easily angry and easily appeased), "his gain disappears in his loss". The person who is hard to anger and hard to appease sees that "his loss disappears in his gain".

(This version was translated by Dr. Joshua Kulp.)

Answer: Sam Harris

Sam Harris is a 21st-century writer in the New Atheism movement, where he is seen as one of its (sarcastically named) "Four Horsemen", alongside Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and Daniel Dennett.

This type of atheism is brash in its assessment of religion as irrational, with the New Atheists following materialist philosophies that emphasize the scientific method - truth through experiment and observation, not abstract ideas - and a morality based on outcomes rather than intentions.

While all the religious quotes featured in this quiz see anger as negative because the aim of life is to be individually virtuous, atheists may believe that anger is contextual. Sometimes anger can spur people to protest injustice, which may lead to positive outcomes.

Sam Harris has a particular focus on criticizing Islam, leading him to make comments that justify America's "war on Terror" and Israel's murder of Palestinian civilians. However, not all atheists have the same perspective - the left-wing, irreligious academic Noam Chomsky has criticized Harris's singling out of Islam.

(This quote is from an article for "Jewcy" written in 2006.)