Why do we shout in anger?

This is a nice forward I got some time back. It’s worth reading.

A saint once asked his disciples, ‘why do we shout in anger? Why do people shout at each other when they are upset?’

The disciples thought for a while, one of them said, ‘Because we lose our calm, we shout because of that.’

‘But, why shout when the other person is just next to you?’ asked the saint. ‘Isn’t it possible to speak to him or her with a soft voice? Why do you shout at a person when you’re angry?’

The disciples gave some other answers but none satisfied the saint. Finally he explained, ‘When two people are angry at each other, their hearts get distanced. To cover that distance they must shout to be able to hear each other. The angrier they are, the stronger they will have to shout to hear each other through that great distance.’

Then the saint asked, ‘What happens when two people fall in love? They don’t shout at each other but talk softly, why? Because their hearts are very close. The distance between them is very small…’

The saint continued, ‘When they love each other even more, what happens? They do not speak, only whisper and they get even closer to each other in their love. Finally they even need not whisper, they only look at each other and that’s all. That is how close two people are when they love each other.’

MORAL: When you argue do not let your hearts get distant, do not say words that distance each other more, else there will come a day when the distance is so great that you will not find the path to return.