quotations about revenge
He that thinks he shows boldness or height of mind by a scurrilous reply to a scurrilous provocation measures himself by a false standard, and acts not the spirit of a man, but the spleen of a wasp.
ROBERT SOUTH
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attributed, Treasury of Thought
Revenge in fiction can be shocking, but it often embeds a moral message. There is heroic revenge, a staple of the American movie world, in which the determined hero or anti-hero acts against an evil protagonist (the law being ineffective or absent). And there is righteous revenge, as in tales of women who exact bloody retribution on abusing men, a denouement that can bring cheers from an audience. Oppressors and bullies, goes the sentiment, often deserve what they get.
STEPHEN FINEMAN
"Wanting revenge is only natural--here's why", The Conversation, November 2, 2017
The man who seeks revenge is like the man who shoots himself in order to hit his enemy with the kick of the gun's recoil.
TIM LAHAYE & BOB PHILLIPS
Anger is a Choice
By retaliating our sufferings on the heads of those we love, we get rid of a present uneasiness and incur lasting remorse. With the accomplishment of our revenge our fondness returns; so that we feel the injury we have done them, even more than they do.
WILLIAM HAZLITT
Characteristics
REVENGE is a kind of wild justice; which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out. For as for the first wrong, it doth but offend the law; but the revenge of that wrong, putteth the law out of office. Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior; for it is a prince's part to pardon. And Solomon, I am sure, saith, It is the glory of a man, to pass by an offence. That which is past is gone, and irrevocable; and wise men have enough to do, with things present and to come; therefore they do but trifle with themselves, that labor in past matters. There is no man doth a wrong, for the wrong's sake; but thereby to purchase himself profit, or pleasure, or honor, or the like. Therefore why should I be angry with a man, for loving himself better than me? And if any man should do wrong, merely out of ill-nature, why, yet it is but like the thorn or briar, which prick and scratch, because they can do no other. The most tolerable sort of revenge, is for those wrongs which there is no law to remedy; but then let a man take heed, the revenge be such as there is no law to punish; else a man's enemy is still before hand, and it is two for one. Some, when they take revenge, are desirous, the party should know, whence it cometh. This is the more generous. For the delight seemeth to be, not so much in doing the hurt, as in making the party repent. But base and crafty cowards, are like the arrow that flieth in the dark. Cosmus, duke of Florence, had a desperate saying against perfidious or neglecting friends, as if those wrongs were unpardonable; You shall read (saith he) that we are commanded to forgive our enemies; but you never read, that we are commanded to forgive our friends. But yet the spirit of Job was in a better tune: Shall we (saith he) take good at God's hands, and not be content to take evil also? And so of friends in a proportion. This is certain, that a man that studieth revenge, keeps his own wounds green, which otherwise would heal, and do well. Public revenges are for the most part fortunate; as that for the death of Caesar; for the death of Pertinax; for the death of Henry the Third of France; and many more. But in private revenges, it is not so. Nay rather, vindictive persons live the life of witches; who, as they are mischievous, so end they unfortunate.
FRANCIS BACON
"Of Revenge", Essays, or Counsels Civil and Moral
The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury.
MARCUS AURELIUS
Meditations
There is no truer saying than "Revenge is a dish best eaten cold." It is so much sweeter for the waiting, and my only regret is that I cannot broadcast my triumph to the world.
MINETTE WALTERS
The Scold's Bridle
On the contrary, once revenge is taken, we feel even more miserable having behaved with such negative poison. The right approach is to beware of revenge and not let it build a foundation in our hearts. Let us eliminate this joy stealer, for it may come in pretending to bring us satisfaction, but leaves with all the joy and happiness that once belonged to us.
RAVI V. MELWANI
I Wanna Be Happy: Happiness Guaranteed in 6 Simple Steps
If thine enemy hunger, feed him; if he thirst, give him drink: for in so doing thou shalt heap coals of fire on his head.
BIBLE
Romans 12:20
Revenge, at first though sweet,
Bitter ere long back on itself recoils.
JOHN MILTON
Paradise Lost
In complex societies, free-wheeling revenge undermines a ruler's control; it's wild justice. A basic given for civic order is that the state appropriates revenge. Justice is codified. Punishment is the state's prerogative, revenge by another name.
STEPHEN FINEMAN
"Wanting revenge is only natural--here's why", The Conversation, November 2, 2017
Revenge, like some poisonous plant, replete with baneful juices, rankles in the breast, and meditates mischief to its neighbour.
WELLINS CALCOTT
Thoughts Moral and Divine
Revenge is the law of the outlaws.
LAURA BLUMENFELD
Revenge: A Story of Hope
In a distorted, fallen world revenge is normal, its extreme form being capital punishment. Certainly, those who harm others, especially those whose lives are distorted, must be placed where they cannot repeat such acts, but judgment belongs to God alone.
GENE DAVENPORT
"Revenge accomplishes nothing", The Jackson Sun, November 2, 2017
Far from being a psychological trait, the spirit of revenge is the principle on which our whole psychology depends.
GILLES DELEUZE
Nietzsche and Philosophy
You know
If somebody, somewhere done you wrong
Oh, don't worry about your revenge, no
I said if somebody, somewhere done you wrong
Oh, don't worry about your revenge, no no
Because that's when evil
Oh, evil slips on in
STEVE MILLER BAND
"Evil"
Hunting high and low to seek revenge
Brand new moral code, got made reluctant renegade
Leaving empty souls when he avenged
Evil spirits flowed he drank the blood like lemonade
MORCHEEBA
"If You Like Lemonade"
Revenge is the naked idol of the worship of a semi-barbarous age.
PERCY BYSSHE SHELLEY
A Defence of Poetry
Revenge is the prime ingredient in the fountain of youth.
CLOCKWERK
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus
Revenge is not the purest motivator. Nor is it the most stable. Playing with that kind of raw emotion can leave the mind clouded and body burnt out. But when channeled properly it can make a fine, if ephemeral and highly combustible, fuel.
NICK MOYLE
"Texas uses huge first quarter to exact revenge from Kansas", My San Antonio, November 11, 2017