Mars—What Great Minds say about Its Functions

       ©2009 by Donna Cunningham, MSW

 My Google startup page includes the daily selections on http://www.quotationspage.com/ and I enjoy them immensely.  The more brilliant quotes seem to capture the essence of some planet or sign, so I’ve taken to saving them. Below are some that  bring out the issues and concerns of the planet Mars. (For more information about the authors and sources of the quote, click on their names.) 

I’ll start by quoting myself, if I may, so that newcomers to astrology understand Mars well enough to appreciate the quotes. 

    “Mars is the planet of energy and action. When we go through periods of continuous anger–days and nights when the same rageful thoughts churn over and over in our minds–this is a signal from the Higher Self that we need to take action.  We need to DO SOMETHING about the condition that is making us uncomfortable. Anger is the body-mind’s way of mobilizing against a threatening, frustrating, or adverse situation. It motivates us to change something in our lives. Often, the needed change involves the quality of our key relationships.

“Anger is not unhealthy in itself, but our reactions to it often are. Some of us redirect anger to safer, seemingly weaker targets and wreak havoc in our relationships.  All too many of us turn it in on ourselves, creating depression and self-hate. Do you suppress and subvert your own anger?

“At those times when anger looks like it has moved in to stay, ask yourself what action you’re avoiding. Rageful thoughts that repeat like a broken record are the Higher Self’s way of needling us about something that needs to be done. The first step is to bless the part of yourself that is using this signal to get your attention. Rather than judging it or pushing it down, let it help you identify what needs to be changed. Ask yourself, “What part of my life is my anger trying to mobilize me to change?” Affirmations you could say are, “I accept my anger as a healthy, motivating force,” and “I allow my anger to lead me to the truth.”

” Anger can be a great spur to creative problem solving. Maybe you already know what needs to be changed. The things ­that make you angry are all too glaringly clear, and the conditions ­that needs to be changed stares you in the face every day but you ­just don’t know where to begin. Think about the variety of ways ­to approach the situation. Use your creativity to go beyond the ­obvious. Mayhem is not the answer, but neither is withdrawal from people and situations that evoke anger.  (From Outer Planet Aspects to Venus and Mars, volume 2 of the Outer Planets and Inner Life., available at Moon Maven Publications.)  

 

 Quotes that Pertain to Mars

 Speak when you are angry–and you will make the best speech you’ll ever regret.  – Laurence J. Peter 

Usually when people are sad, they don’t do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change. Malcolm X

 The size of a man is measured by the size of the thing that makes him angry. Author Unknown

When a man is wrong and won’t admit is, he always gets angry. Thomas C. Haliburton

Competition is a painful thing, but it produces great results. Jerry Flint

Good coaches teach respect for the opposition, love of competition, the value of trying your best, and how to win and lose graciously. Brooks Clark

Players win games, teams win championships. Bill Taylor

 Victory attained by violence is tantamount to a defeat, for it is momentary. Mahatma Gandhi

 You can have anything you want if you want it desperately enough. You must want it with an inner exuberance that erupts through the skin and joins the energy that created the world. Sheila Graham

 What a mistake to suppose that the passions are strongest in youth! The passions are not stronger, but the control over them is weaker! They are more easily excited, they are more violent and apparent; but they have less energy, less durability, less intense and concentrated power than in mature life. Edward Bulwer-Lytton

Energy and persistence conquer all things. Benjamin Franklin

The sole cause of anger is unmet expectations.  Jane Roberts, channeling, most likely in Seth Speaks. (My favorite insight into Mars.)

 Furious activity is no substitute for understanding.   – H. H. Williams

Here’s one I just found, by following the links to articles WordPress said might be related to this one:  Anger is made of two components: one is an idea that there’s something wrong, two is that someone else is to blame.  (See the review of Michael Currie’s Doing Anger Differently at http://www.time.com/time/health/article/0,8599,1809471,00.html.)

One last thing to read about Mars:  You know that email that circulates every summer about Mars being closer now than in about 60,000 years?  Well, it just ain’t so–read It’s Baaaaaack–The Mars Hoax!

Previous quote collections on Skywriter:

• Quotes about Saturn’s Issues—Wise Counsel from our Elders
• Uranian Ideas—Exceptional Thoughts about an Exceptional Planet
• Neptunian Musings—Mysterious but Strangely Apt Quotations

More Posts about Mars on this Blog:

• Mars-Pluto Aspects? Use your Manifestation Mojo!   
• The Law of Progressive Annoyance—Mars or Jupiter? 
• Johnny Depp’s Darker Roles—Where Do They Show in his Chart?
• Piracy on the High Seas and the Pirates among Us: The Transiting Mars-Uranus Conjunction
• The Transiting Mars-Uranus Conjunction, Last of 4 
• It’s Baaaaaack–The Mars Hoax! 

Art credits:  the photos are from http://www.clipart.com.