--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When people approach you angrily, you…" description: "\"When people approach you angrily, you take them very seriously, and, if you're like me, with the faint suggestion that you can be angry too, and that y..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/harry-stack-sullivan-27472_angry_when-people-approach-you-angrily-you-tak_2990289.png" --- # When people approach you angrily, you take them very… ![“When people approach you angrily, you take them very seriously, and, if you're like me, with the faint suggestion that you can be angry too, and that you would like to know what the shooting is about” quote by Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/harry-stack-sullivan-27472_angry_when-people-approach-you-angrily-you-tak_2990289.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/harry-stack-sullivan-27472_angry_when-people-approach-you-angrily-you-tak_2990289.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/harry-stack-sullivan-27472_angry_when-people-approach-you-angrily-you-tak_2990289.png) > “When people approach you angrily, you take them very seriously, and, if you're like me, with the faint suggestion that you can be angry too, and that you would like to know what the shooting is about” [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Take angry people seriously, acknowledging their anger, and respond with calm curiosity about their underlying concerns. **In simple terms:** Treat anger with seriousness and gentle inquiry. Key Takeaway Listen, acknowledge, and ask about the cause. Themes communication empathy conflict Mood thoughtful reflective Type advice psychological When to use this quote - personal arguments - workplace disputes - family disagreements Key Concepts psychology anger interpersonal Questions to Reflect On - How can you stay calm when faced with anger? - What questions reveal the root of someone's anger? A Different Perspective May be misinterpreted as confrontational if not handled gently. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Angry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angry/) [Approach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/approach/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Suggestions](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suggestions/) ## Related quotes > [You gotta be able to close out to the side, you gotta be able to know where the shooting pocket is, where he likes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dillon-brooks/you-gotta-be-able-to-close-out-to-the-side-you-gotta-be-able-to-know/) [Dillon Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dillon-brooks/) > [Like, I've worked on movies where you go in every day and you know that what you're shooting isn't very good to start with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruben-fleischer/like-i-ve-worked-on-movies-where-you-go-in-every-day-and-you-know/) [Ruben Fleischer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruben-fleischer/) > [I know what I can do and shooting is not my favourite part, so I think it's better to leave the shooting for some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-matip/i-know-what-i-can-do-and-shooting-is-not-my-favourite-part-so-i-think/) [Joel Matip](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-matip/) > [A lot of people know shooting is definitely a strength of my game, but I want to show them I can do a little…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kevin-huerter/a-lot-of-people-know-shooting-is-definitely-a-strength-of-my-game-but/) [Kevin Huerter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kevin-huerter/) > [You can't get a bullseye if you don't know where you're shooting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/layla-kayleigh/you-can-t-get-a-bullseye-if-you-don-t-know-where-you-re-shooting/) [Layla Kayleigh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/layla-kayleigh/) > [You have to know what you're shooting. Don't just make your movie in the editing room and just get everything you can on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-wilson/you-have-to-know-what-you-re-shooting-don-t-just-make-your-movie-in/) [Patrick Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-wilson/) > [“But angry like he was now? It did something to me. Made me ache harder for him. Want him just that much more. My…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/riley-murphy/but-angry-like-he-was-now-it-did-something-to-me-made-me-ache-harder/) [Riley Murphy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/riley-murphy/) > [I have been to anger management twice. After the first session the lady was like, 'Baby, you don't seem that angry at all. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kid-rock/i-have-been-to-anger-management-twice-after-the-first-session-the/) [Kid Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kid-rock/) > [I'm not angry. I like to laugh.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-cowherd/i-m-not-angry-i-like-to-laugh/) [Colin Cowherd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-cowherd/) > [The first song I wrote, when I was 8, was about feeling really angry - like the weight of everything on my shoulders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrianne-lenker/the-first-song-i-wrote-when-i-was-8-was-about-feeling-really-angry/) [Adrianne Lenker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrianne-lenker/) > [“Just say it: I'm angry and no one will like me. God: No, I will not say that. But don't you think we ached…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-e-isaacs/just-say-it-i-m-angry-and-no-one-will-like-me-god-no-i-will-not-say/) [Susan E. Isaacs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-e-isaacs/) > [I no longer have the energy to get really angry, like I used to,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/i-no-longer-have-the-energy-to-get-really-angry-like-i-used-to/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [I have a really high bar for being angry. Like, it doesn't even happen every year.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-stein/i-have-a-really-high-bar-for-being-angry-like-it-doesn-t-even-happen/) [Joel Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-stein/) > [You feel like people are looking at you like, 'I wanted the old Kathleen. Where's the old Kathleen?' I felt that way in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathleen-hanna/you-feel-like-people-are-looking-at-you-like-i-wanted-the-old/) [Kathleen Hanna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathleen-hanna/) > [If I'm hungry, I get very angry. If I don't have caffeine, my coffee or my energy drink, I get even more angry. Then…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-j-pritchard/if-i-m-hungry-i-get-very-angry-if-i-don-t-have-caffeine-my-coffee-or/) [A. J. Pritchard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-j-pritchard/) ## More by Harry Stack Sullivan > [There is no fun in psychiatry. If you try to get fun out of it, you pay a considerable price for your unjustifiable optimism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/there-is-no-fun-in-psychiatry-if-you-try-to-get-fun-out-of-it-you-pay/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [The psychiatric interviewer is supposed to be doing three things: considering what the patient could mean by what he says; considering how he himself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/the-psychiatric-interviewer-is-supposed-to-be-doing-three-things/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [When the satisfaction or the security of another person becomes as significant to one as one's own satisfaction or security, then the state of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/when-the-satisfaction-or-the-security-of-another-person-becomes-as/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [Your emotional life is not written in cement during childhood. You write each chapter as you go along.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/your-emotional-life-is-not-written-in-cement-during-childhood-you/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [As you love yourself, so shall you love others. Strange but true, with no exceptions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/as-you-love-yourself-so-shall-you-love-others-strange-but-true-with/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [What I am, at any given moment in the process of my becoming a person, will be determined by my relationships with those who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/what-i-am-at-any-given-moment-in-the-process-of-my-becoming-a-person/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [All of us are much more human than otherwise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/all-of-us-are-much-more-human-than-otherwise/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [It is easier to act yourself into a new way of feeling than to feel yourself into a new way of acting.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/it-is-easier-to-act-yourself-into-a-new-way-of-feeling-than-to-feel/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [The supply of interpretations, like that of advice, greatly exceeds the need for them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/the-supply-of-interpretations-like-that-of-advice-greatly-exceeds-the/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [Everybody has a great deal of experience in living. But no one lives in anything like the highest style of the art; and it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/everybody-has-a-great-deal-of-experience-in-living-but-no-one-lives/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [We are all much more simply human than otherwise, be we happy and successful, contented and detached, miserable and mentally disordered, or whatever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/we-are-all-much-more-simply-human-than-otherwise-be-we-happy-and/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [If you do jot feel equal to the headaches that psychiatry induces, you are in the wrong business. It is work - work the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/if-you-do-jot-feel-equal-to-the-headaches-that-psychiatry-induces-you/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [ \[O\]ne of the greatest difficulties encountered in bringing about favorable change is this almost inescapable illusion that there is a perduring, unique, simple existent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/o-ne-of-the-greatest-difficulties-encountered-in-bringing-about/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [What you know about the people whom you know at all well is truly amazing, even though you have never formulated it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/what-you-know-about-the-people-whom-you-know-at-all-well-is-truly/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) > [If you have to maintain self-esteem by pulling down the standing of others, you are extraordinarily unfortunate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/if-you-have-to-maintain-self-esteem-by-pulling-down-the-standing-of-2/) [Harry Stack Sullivan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) [Explore all 20 Harry Stack Sullivan quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/) ## More Angry quotes > [“Some say the Earth is angry Because he wants no company; I say the Earth is angry Because he lives alone.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-k-jemisin/some-say-the-earth-is-angry-because-he-wants-no-company-i-say-the/) [N.K. Jemisin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-k-jemisin/) > [There's only so much for a man to take...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kirsten-gilchrist/there-s-only-so-much-for-a-man-to-take/) Kirsten Gilchrist > [It is afraid of an informed, angry public demanding the constitutional government it was promised - and it should be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-snowden/it-is-afraid-of-an-informed-angry-public-demanding-the-constitutional/) [Edward Snowden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-snowden/) > [“When you feel terribly angry, you're possessed by anger ghost.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toba-beta/when-you-feel-terribly-angry-you-re-possessed-by-anger-ghost/) [Toba Beta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toba-beta/) > [You should be angry. You must not be bitter. Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. It doesn't do anything to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/you-should-be-angry-you-must-not-be-bitter-bitterness-is-like-cancer/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I always fight better when my opponent's angry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-haye/i-always-fight-better-when-my-opponent-s-angry/) [David Haye](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-haye/) > [Sometimes you have to laugh to keep from crying or getting overly angry or to maintain control.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dennis-haysbert/sometimes-you-have-to-laugh-to-keep-from-crying-or-getting-overly/) [Dennis Haysbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dennis-haysbert/) > [When you're frustrated with people, when they've made you angry, it just may be because you haven't given them enough time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/randy-pausch/when-you-re-frustrated-with-people-when-they-ve-made-you-angry-it/) [Randy Pausch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/randy-pausch/) > [When I was writing 'Black Panther,' on one level, I was angry because DC would never let me write 'Batman,' so I was doing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-priest/when-i-was-writing-black-panther-on-one-level-i-was-angry-because-dc/) [Christopher Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-priest/) > [Another step had her backed up against the wall, and he braced his arms on both sides of her. "I'm beginning to look forward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johanna-lindsey/another-step-had-her-backed-up-against-the-wall-and-he-braced-his/) [Johanna Lindsey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johanna-lindsey/) > [I'm an angry guy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-gandolfini/i-m-an-angry-guy/) [James Gandolfini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-gandolfini/) > [Apparently, I'm the angriest man. I don't know. It's just an interpretation. If it was someone else, they might be called focused or competitive.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alun-wyn-jones/apparently-i-m-the-angriest-man-i-don-t-know-it-s-just-an/) [Alun Wyn Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alun-wyn-jones/) > [In the 1998 Oscars, I found myself in the bathroom in a stall, next to Tom Selleck. So I leaned over and I said…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hanks/in-the-1998-oscars-i-found-myself-in-the-bathroom-in-a-stall-next-to/) [Tom Hanks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hanks/) > [Of course I get angry, but I want to use my brain a little bit and not just smash things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kacey-musgraves/of-course-i-get-angry-but-i-want-to-use-my-brain-a-little-bit-and-not/) [Kacey Musgraves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kacey-musgraves/) > [“Rather than being incensed by the nature of the bruise, maybe we should be inspired by the possibilities in the bruise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/rather-than-being-incensed-by-the-nature-of-the-bruise-maybe-we/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) [Browse all 3,857 Angry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/angry/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When people approach you angrily, you take them very seriously, and, if you're like me, with the faint suggestion that you can be angry too, and that you would like to know what the shooting is about", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Harry Stack Sullivan" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/when-people-approach-you-angrily-you-take-them-very-seriously-and-if/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Angry" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/when-people-approach-you-angrily-you-take-them-very-seriously-and-if/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/harry-stack-sullivan-27472_angry_when-people-approach-you-angrily-you-tak_2990289.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/harry-stack-sullivan-27472_angry_when-people-approach-you-angrily-you-tak_2990289.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/88a/harry-stack-sullivan-27472_angry_when-people-approach-you-angrily-you-tak_2990289.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When people approach you angrily, you take them very seriously, and, if you're like me, with the faint…” — Harry Stack Sullivan", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Harry Stack Sullivan", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harry-stack-sullivan/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When people approach you angrily, you...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/when-people-approach-you-angrily-you-take-them-very-seriously-and-if/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harry-stack-sullivan/when-people-approach-you-angrily-you-take-them-very-seriously-and-if/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```