quotations about enemies
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
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
What joins men together ... is not the sharing of bread but the sharing of enemies.
CORMAC MCCARTHY
Blood Meridian
If you want enemies, excel others; if you want friends, let others excel you.
CHARLES CALEB COLTON
Lacon
Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.
ANONYMOUS
You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything that shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats. Do no bother yourself about it; disdain. Keep your mind serene as you keep your life clear.
VICTOR HUGO
Choses Vues 1849-1885
We shall support whatever our enemies oppose and oppose whatever our enemies support.
MAO ZEDONG
Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong
The enemy is never more unnerving than when he's invisible.
K. J. PARKER
Devices and Desires
The assault of our enemies is not part of our life; it is only part of our experience; we throw it off and guard ourselves against it as against frost, storm, rain, hail, or any other of the external evils which may be expected to happen.
JOHANN WOLFGANG VON GOETHE
The Maxims and Reflections of Goethe
When the opportunity presents itself for you to defeat your enemy, that is the time which you must not do it. There will come a time, in many instances, when the person who hates you most, the person who has misused you most, the person who has gossiped about you most, the person who has spread false rumors about you most, there will come a time when you will have an opportunity to defeat that person. It might be in terms of a recommendation for a job; it might be in terms of helping that person to make some move in life. That’s the time you must do it. That is the meaning of love. In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.
MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR.
sermon delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Nov. 17, 1957
The only good enemy is a dead enemy.
LAURELL K. HAMILTON
The Killing Dance
Men of sense often learn from their enemies. It is from their foes, not their friends, that cities learn the lesson of building high walls and ships of war.
ARISTOPHANES
The Birds
We're locked in a death grip and it's taking its toll
When our enemies are what make us whole
ANDREW BIRD
"Archipelago", My Finest Work Yet
It is noteworthy that in Japanese pop culture, enemies are not always villains. It is acknowledged that an enemy is simply the person fighting for the other side of the conflict and that if the story were told from his point of view, he would be the hero of the tale.
ROBIN E. BRENNER
Understanding Manga and Anime
The Bible tells us to love our neighbors, and also to love our enemies; probably because they are generally the same people.
G. K. CHESTERTON
Illustrated London News, Jul. 16, 1910
An enemy to define ourselves
An enemy to refine our hate
DARK TRANQUILITY
"The Enemy", Damage Done
Grenades and bombs are exploding.
Friends are fighting furiously against foes.
One enemy pounding on another's nest,
emptying mother earth of its content.
SAMMY OKE AKOMBI
"Common Enemy", God the Artist and Other Poems
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
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
Your enemy brought out your dormant primal instincts, he lit up the primitive circuits of your brain.
E. L. DOCTOROW
Homer & Langley