quotations about enemies
It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill.
J. R. R. TOLKIEN
The Fellowship of the Ring
We tend to become like the worst in those we oppose.
FRANK HERBERT
Chapterhouse: Dune
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
We shall support whatever our enemies oppose and oppose whatever our enemies support.
MAO ZEDONG
Quotations from Chairman Mao Zedong
Mortal enemies are like beautiful kitchens: Some households have them, and when they belong to famous people, we're immediately more interested in them. Which makes public feuds between mortal enemies akin to fancy custom appliances and gleaming copper pots as far as the eye can see.
ALEX ABAD-SANTOS
"Kanye West and Taylor Swift's latest fight explained", Vox, February 12, 2016
We must give even an enemy what credit he deserves. If thus we do, then whether we blame or excuse, it will be clear that we are looking at the wrong, not blinded by hatred of the person. This will gain credit for what we say. To this kind of high and self-contained justice, enemies may help us more directly than friends, perhaps, because it is so easy to commend the friend for love's sake, but a harder and higher virtue to excuse the enemy for justice's sake.
JAMES VILA BLAKE
Essays
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
Every man is his greatest enemy, and, as it were, his own executioner.
SIR THOMAS BROWNE
Religio Medici
Friends come and go, but enemies accumulate.
ANONYMOUS
He makes no friends who never made a foe.
ALFRED TENNYSON
Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir
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
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
There's ways you can trust an enemy you can't always trust a friend. An enemy's never going to betray your trust.
DANIEL ABRAHAM
The Dragon's Path
Our enemies come nearer the truth in the opinions they form of us than we do in our opinion of ourselves.
FRANÇOIS DE LA ROCHEFOUCAULD
Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims
An enemy is like a darkroom designed to develop you as a portrait for the next season of your life.
J. ELWOOD GATLIN, SR.
260 Gems of Wisdom, 624 Daily Confessions
In reality, there are no enemies; we're all souls in growth, waking up.
JAMES REDFIELD
The Tenth Insight: Holding the Vision
I hate admitting that my enemies have a point.
SALMAN RUSHDIE
The Satanic Verses
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
Your enemy is any power, spirit, force and personality, that does not want you to fulfil your destiny.
D. K. OLUKOYA
When the Enemy Hides