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Anger repressed can poison a relationship as surely as the crudest words.
Joyce Brothers
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Holding back anger can harm relationships just as much as saying hurtful things.

This quote by Joyce Brothers highlights the detrimental effects of repressed anger in personal relationships. When individuals do not express their feelings of anger, it can create underlying tension and resentment, ultimately poisoning the relationship over time, much like the effects of outright verbal attacks. The quote emphasizes the importance of open communication and addressing feelings instead of burying them, as unresolved emotions can be just as harmful as explicit hostility.

Themes

AngerRelationshipsCommunicationFeelingsEmotionsTrust

In practice

Example use cases

In a therapeutic session discussing relationship health.

More from Joyce Brothers

If a child is given love, he becomes loving ... If he's helped when he needs help, he becomes helpful. And if he has been truly valued at home ... he grows up secure enough to look beyond himself to the welfare of others.
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Don't always try to be popular. It isn't possible for everyone to like you. It's far more important for you to like yourself. And when you respect yourself, strangely, you get more respect than when you court it from others.
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Feeling gratitude isn't born in us-it's something we are taught, and in turn, we teach our children.
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Accept that all of us can be hurt, that all of us can and surely will at times fail. Other vulnerabilities, like being embarrassed or risking love, can be terrifying, too. I think we should follow a simple rule: if we can take the worst, take the risk.
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Listening, not imitation, may be the sincerest form of flattery.
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I have emerged from the tunnel of grief into the light. Life is better. Not the same, but good and getting better all the time.
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