We often give our enemies the means for our own destruction.
—Aesop, c. 600 BC
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Quotes
We die of comfort and by conflict live.
—May Sarton, 1953I tell you, there is such a thing as creative hate!
—Willa Cather, 1915Rivalry is the whetstone of talent.
—Roman proverbQuarreling must lead to disorder, and disorder exhaustion.
—Xunzi, c. 250 BCThe hatred of relatives is the bitterest.
—Tacitus, 117Enemies to me are the sauce piquant to my dish of life.
—Elsa Maxwell, 1955Today’s friend may be tomorrow’s foe.
—Sophocles, 440 BCFor what do we live, but to make sport for our neighbors, and laugh at them in our turn?
—Jane Austen, 1813Hate must make a man productive. Otherwise one might as well love.
—Karl Kraus, 1912Perish the universe, provided I have my revenge.
—Savinien Cyrano de Bergerac, 1654Quarrels would not last long if the fault was only on one side.
—La Rochefoucauld, 1665Revenge may be wicked, but it’s natural.
—William Makepeace Thackeray, 1847