VIR-I-0021
“I said something in anger that wasn't true — and I need to correct it.”
Anger makes liars of good people. Words spoken in anger carry real weight even when they're untrue — sometimes more than accurate ones. Correcting it isn't weakness; it's exactly what honesty requires when it's hard. You don't get to keep the anger and let the false statement stand.
Your Practice
Go back to the person. Not to relitigate the argument — just to say, specifically, what you said that wasn't true and to retract it. Keep it simple. You don't have to apologize for your anger. Just correct the false statement. That's the debt you owe to the truth.
The Architects
“How much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it.”
— Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book XI