All our enemies are mortal.
—Paul Valéry, 1942Quotes
Rivalry is the whetstone of talent.
—Roman proverbPut national causes first and personal grudges last.
—Sima Qian, c. 91 BCI tell you, there is such a thing as creative hate!
—Willa Cather, 1915We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.
—Aesop, c. 600 BCIt is very foolish to attack one’s enemy openly if one can injure him in secret.
—Giambattista Giraldi, 1543One of the most time-consuming things is to have an enemy.
—E.B. White, 1977An injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 1746From hell’s heart I stab at thee; for hate’s sake I spit my last breath at thee.
—Herman Melville, 1851To outwit an enemy is not only just and glorious but profitable and sweet.
—Plutarch, c. 100Enemies are so stimulating.
—Katharine Hepburn, 1969Hoping for new friendship from old enemies is / Like expecting to find a rose in a furnace.
—Muhammad Baqir Najm-i Sani, 1612Many need no other provocation to enmity than that they find themselves excelled.
—Samuel Johnson, 1751