Anger is doubtless, to some degree, innate in each of us. However powerful we may at times feel, we are never wholly freed from the knowledge that our own longevity and that of those dearest to us is beyond our control.

 A further source of anger, enmeshed with pain, springs from those dreams nearly all of us harbor, which have not come to fruition. Still, these dreams hold an echo of hope-just enough to tempt and urge us to strive. With the passing years, however, these efforts tend to become more sporadic, reaching a point where such attempts can become almost perfunctory; and yet, they go on.

 Rage involves a more virulent, focused wrath. While in its grip, we can hurt others and then find ourselves wounded in retaliation. If the context is such as not to allow us to voice its distress at its target, we can sometimes permit its blade to lacerate anyone near at hand. Called “displacement” in psychological terms, this often results in regrets followed by deserved apologies. Still, rage tends to contain a degree of control which is lacking in fury.

 Fury is the most lethal of these three states in that someone caught up in its frenzy can lose all concern for either damage or consequence. Tornado-like in its force, the results generated by a few brief moments of fury can prove irreparable. The pleasure of its adrenalin spur may generate both words and behaviors which gravely harm or even destroy the tenderest bonds of affection and friendship.

 Thus, to view these three emotional states metaphorically, anger is a disgruntled hound, rage a tamed wolf, and fury a long-starved tiger.