Anger, then, or whatever emotion arises within us, is the result of a variety of causes and conditions coming together. This being the case, just one thing will ignite the flame and everything will come up. The thing which triggers it is only the immediate cause. The actual cause is very broad, and that is what we need to look at—not only external objects but also how we respond to them. At this stage I’m talking about the emotions which bring pain and discomfort, those we don’t like—anger, jealousy, attachment—those sorts of emotions. And any of these results will always be unpleasant. That will always be the case. When we talk about results, of course, it is the future we are talking about, some kind of unknown, but still we can predict that the result of those emotions will always be unpleasant. This is quite clear. It is quite obvious from our own experiences with emotions like anger, attachment and jealousy. Sometimes anger may give some kind of immediate support, some kind of strength and power, but in the long run it doesn’t. There’s always some fear behind it.

Geshe Tashi Tsering
From Emotion and Compassion

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