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Enemy quotes

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“Trusting no man as his friend, he could not recognize his enemy when the latter actually appeared.” Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Scarlet Letter” - 1850

“In the practice of tolerance, your enemy is the best teacher.” 14th Dalai Lama, “Kindness, Clarity, and Insight” - 1984

“A great nation is like a great man: When he makes a mistake, he realizes it. Having realized it, he admits it. Having admitted it, he corrects it. He considers those who point out his faults as his most benevolent teachers. He thinks of his enemy...” Lao Tzu, “Tao Te Ching” - 4th century BC

“'Mongst all foes that a friend should be the worst!” William Shakespeare, “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” - 1623

“Wherever the enemy goes let our troops go also.” Ulysses S. Grant, “Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant” - 1885

“Think of and look at your work as though it were done by your enemy. If you look at it to admire it you are lost.” Samuel Butler, “The Note-Books of Samuel Butler” - 1912

“To secure ourselves against defeat lies in our own hands, but the opportunity of defeating the enemy is provided by the enemy himself.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“Success in warfare is gained by carefully accommodating ourselves to the enemy's purpose.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“There is no greater misfortune than underestimating your enemy.” Lao Tzu, “Tao Te Ching” - 4th century BC

“Your worst enemy . . . was your own nervous system.” George Orwell, “1984” - 1949

“The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death.” J. K. Rowling, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” - 2007

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will...” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“Well, let folly be our cloak, a veil before the eyes of the Enemy!” J. R. R. Tolkien, “The Fellowship of the Ring” - 1954

“Give me honorable enemies rather than ambitious ones, and I’ll sleep more easily by night.” George R. R. Martin, “A Game of Thrones” - 1996

“It is possible to love someone dear to you with human love, but an enemy can only be loved by divine love.” Leo Tolstoy, “War and Peace” - 1869

“They were like two enemies in love with one another.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky, “The Brothers Karamazov” - 1880

“that is the way fear serves us: it always sides with the thing we are afraid of.” George MacDonald, “The Princess and the Goblin” - 1872

“Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot that it do singe yourself.” William Shakespeare, “Henry VIII” - 1623

“Had I but serv'd my God with half the zeal I serv'd my king, he would not in mine age have left me naked to mine enemies.” William Shakespeare, “Henry VIII” - 1623

“Friendly counsel cuts off many foes.” William Shakespeare, “Henry VI, Part 1” - 1623

“Some people are nobody's enemies but their own, yer know.” Charles Dickens, “Oliver Twist” - 1838

“Calm, gentle, passionless, as he appeared, there was yet, we fear, a quiet depth of malice, hitherto latent, but active now, in this unfortunate old man, which led him to imagine a more intimate revenge than any mortal had ever wreaked upon an enemy.” Nathaniel Hawthorne, “The Scarlet Letter” - 1850

“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.” Francis Bacon, “The Essays of Francis Bacon” - 1597

“In every respect the burthen is hard on those who attack an almost universal opinion.” John Stuart Mill, “The Subjection of Women” - 1869

“Ye shall only have enemies to be hated, but not enemies to be despised.” Friedrich Nietzsche, “Thus Spoke Zarathustra” - 1891

“If your opponent is of choleric temper, seek to irritate him.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“His enemies are not demons, but human beings like himself.” Lao Tzu, “Tao Te Ching” - 4th century BC

“An enemy might at any time become a friend, but while an enemy was an enemy he should be trodden on and persecuted.” Anthony Trollope, “Phineas Redux” - 1874

“To oblige a friend by inflicting an injury on his enemy is often more easy than to confer a benefit on the friend himself.” Anthony Trollope, “Phineas Redux” - 1874

“In a cold as in a hot war it pays to know the enemy — not least because at some time in the future you may have the opportunity to turn him into a friend.” Margaret Thatcher, “The Downing Street Years” - 1993

“We should support whatever the enemy opposes and oppose whatever the enemy supports.” Mao Zedong, “Quotations from Chairman Mao Tse-tung” - 1964

“From now on the enemy is more clever than you. From now on the enemy is stronger than you. From now on you are always about to lose.” Orson Scott Card, “Ender's Game” - 1985

“Yet, tens of thousands of trained terrorists are still at large. These enemies view the entire world as a battlefield, and we must pursue them wherever they are.” George W. Bush, “State of the Union Address” - 29 January 2002

“He cursed himself and cursed the hubris which had made him so sure the battle was won and the enemy in flight.” Ian Fleming, “Casino Royale” - 1953

“All men are enemies. All animals are comrades.” George Orwell, “Animal Farm” - 1945

“It takes your enemy and your friend, working together, to hurt you to the heart; the one to slander you and the other to get the news to you.” Mark Twain, “Following the Equator” - 1897

“In the moment when I truly understand my enemy, understand him well enough to defeat him, then in that very moment I also love him.” Orson Scott Card, “Ender's Game” - 1985

“Remember, the enemy’s gate is down.” Orson Scott Card, “Ender's Game” - 1985

“Always keep your foes confused. If they are never certain who you are or what you want, they cannot know what you are like to do next.” George R. R. Martin, “A Storm of Swords” - 2000

“It is perilous to study too deeply the arts of the Enemy, for good or for ill. But such falls and betrayals, alas, have happened before.” J. R. R. Tolkien, “The Fellowship of the Ring” - 1954

“The unseen enemy is always the most fearsome.” George R. R. Martin, “A Clash of Kings” - 1999

“Noble dragons don’t have friends. The nearest they can get to the idea is an enemy who is still alive.” Terry Pratchett, “Guards! Guards!” - 1989

“Since when . . . do you have to tell the enemy when he has won?” Orson Scott Card, “Ender's Game” - 1985

“If you know the enemy and know yourself, your victory will not stand in doubt; if you know Heaven and know Earth, you may make your victory complete.” Sun Tzu, “The Art of War” - 5th century BC

“Every effect that one produces gives one an enemy. To be popular one must be a mediocrity.” Oscar Wilde, “The Picture of Dorian Gray” - 1890

“sometimes I feel as though you are the best friend I have in King’s Landing, and sometimes I feel you are my worst enemy.” George R. R. Martin, “A Clash of Kings” - 1999

“the adults are the enemy, not the other armies. They do not tell us the truth.” Orson Scott Card, “Ender's Game” - 1985

Related topics

friendship friend love God revenge betrayal battle war passion strength men death trust courage mind truth hiding self-knowledge fear knowledge

Related authors

Sun Tzu (5)
Orson Scott Card (5)
William Shakespeare (4)
George R. R. Martin (4)
Lao Tzu (3)
George Orwell (2)
Nathaniel Hawthorne (2)
Anthony Trollope (2)
J. R. R. Tolkien (2)
Oscar Wilde (1)
Mark Twain (1)
J. K. Rowling (1)
Charles Dickens (1)
Fyodor Dostoyevsky (1)
Leo Tolstoy (1)
George MacDonald (1)
Francis Bacon (1)
Ulysses S. Grant (1)
John Stuart Mill (1)
Friedrich Nietzsche (1)

Related sources

The Art of War (5)
Ender's Game (5)
Tao Te Ching (3)
Henry VIII (2)
The Scarlet Letter (2)
Phineas Redux (2)
The Fellowship of the Ring (2)
A Clash of Kings (2)
The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1)
The Picture of Dorian Gray (1)
Henry VI, Part 1 (1)
A Game of Thrones (1)
1984 (1)
Oliver Twist (1)
State of the Union Address (1)
The Brothers Karamazov (1)
The Essays of Francis Bacon (1)
Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant (1)
The Subjection of Women (1)
Thus Spoke Zarathustra (1)