quotations about enemies
An enemy will train us in watchfulness; for if he be wary to seize on every error and trip us, we shall be more heedful to expose nothing, and this will drive us to prudence and thoughtfulness.
JAMES VILA BLAKE
Essays
Love your enemies but keep your gun oiled.
KEN ALSTAD
Savvy Sayin's
The dread of an enemy is more killing then an enemy.
JOSEPH CARYL
An Exposition with Practical Observations Continued upon the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 21st Chapters of the Book of Job
Every man is his greatest enemy, and, as it were, his own executioner.
SIR THOMAS BROWNE
Religio Medici
If you want enemies, excel others; if you want friends, let others excel you.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
In reality, there are no enemies; we're all souls in growth, waking up.
JAMES REDFIELD
The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision
The only point in having enemies is so you can defeat them, kill them, brush them aside ... or give them a chance to redeem themselves.
DEREK LANDY
Death Bringer
Yet in one way enemies give us hope of good traits in ourselves; for since there will be enmity, those will incur it most who have strong points of character, which as much bring them against some men as close to others. So that we say in general, No enemies, no friends.
JAMES VILA BLAKE
Essays
In cases of defence 'tis best to weigh
The enemy more mighty than he seems;
So the proportions of defence are fill'd;
Which of a weak and niggardly projection
Doth, like a miser, spoil his coat with scanting
A little cloth.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Henry V
Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes. Keep this in mind, it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not, you can kill him without hate.
ROBERT A. HEINLEIN
The Notebooks of Lazarus Long
How much reverence has a noble man for his enemies!--and such reverence is a bridge to love.--For he desires his enemy for himself, as his mark of distinction; he can endure no other enemy than one in whom there is nothing to despise and very much to honor! In contrast to this, picture "the enemy" as the man of ressentiment conceives him--and here precisely is his deed, his creation: he has conceived "the evil enemy," "the Evil One," and this in fact is his basic concept, from which he then evolves, as an afterthought and pendant, a "good one"--himself!
FRIEDRICH NIETZSCHE
Genealogy of Morals
People no longer need enemies--in this millennium their great dream is to become victims. Only their psychopathies can set them free.
J. G. BALLARD
Super-Cannes
An adversary may spur us on to great efforts to excel; for there is pain in surpassing those who love us, however it be our duty to prevail; but to exceed any one who is hostile to us will try the heart with but a general compassion, and only a tender and charitable heart--which all, indeed, ought to be.
JAMES VILA BLAKE
Essays
I have always paid attention to the merits of my enemies, and found it an advantage.
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
The Maxims and Reflections of Goethe
Never speak harshly of your enemy -- when you can kick 'im in the shins instead!
STAN LEE
"Stan Lee's Soapbox", Conan the Barbarian #55, October 1975
Personal affection is a luxury you can have only after all your enemies are eliminated. Until then, everyone you love is a hostage, sapping your courage and corrupting your judgment.
ORSON SCOTT CARD
Empire
The only good enemy is a dead enemy.
LAURELL K. HAMILTON
The Killing Dance
We have two lessons to teach an enemy who despises us--to value himself less highly, and us more worthily.
CHRISTIAN NESTELL BOVEE
Intuitions and Summaries of Thought
Your enemy brought out your dormant primal instincts, he lit up the primitive circuits of your brain.
E. L. DOCTOROW
Homer & Langley
Friends may come and go
but enemies accumulate.
JAYNE ANN KRENTZ
In Too Deep