Enemies

"His father was no man's friend but his owne, and he (saith the prouerbe) is no man's foe else."

"The shaft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagle's own plumes. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction."

"Your friends are three and your enemies are (also) three. Your friends are: your friend, your friend's friend and your enemy's enemy. And your enemies are: your enemy, your friend's enemy and your enemy's friend."

"There is only one thing more useful in politics than having the right friends, and that is having the right enemies."

"Observe your enemies, for they first find out your faults."

"Our No. 1 enemy is ignorance. And I believe that is the No. 1 enemy for everyone — it's not understanding what actually is going on in the world."

"You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion."

"Have you forgotten the story of "Lorna Doone"—how the Doones, men of high family, who had fallen under the displeasure of the Government, had betaken themselves to the Doone Valley, surrounded on all sides by precipitous mountains, and from this strongly fortified position levied their blackmail upon the surrounding country, killing and robbing and outraging the people of the land until the citizens were aroused and determined to extirpate them? Do you recall how the men of the eastern county gathered together on the eastern mountain, and the men from the western county gathered on the western mountain, with their arms and cannon ready to fall upon the Doones and destroy them, when by some untoward accident a cannon from the western ranks was trained across the valley and shot into the ranks of the men of the east, and how, inflamed by this accident, the men on the east trained their guns across the valley into the ranks of the men of the west, and while these foolish people were slaughtering one another, the Doones sallied forth and put both counties to flight and continued to rob and kill and outrage for years to come. Let us heed the lesson, my countrymen! Let me say to Governor Kitchin and Senator Simmons and Chief Justice Clark: The Doones are in the valley. I pray you, gentlemen, train your guns a little lower."

"I tell thee, be not rash; a golden bridge is for a flying enemy."

"You will learn to defeat the enemy. He will teach you how."

"A reckless king will easily fall into the hands of his enemies. Hence the king shall ever be wakeful."

"The king who is situated anywhere immediately on the circumference of the conqueror's territory is termed the enemy. The king who is likewise situated close to the enemy, but separated from the conqueror only by the enemy, is termed the friend (of the conqueror)."

"But I tell you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who mistreat you and persecute you."

"Never give in — never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."

"A weak Invention of the Enemy."

"Never hate your enemies, it clouds your judgement."

"But a companion and a friend shall be turned to an enemy."

"No people on earth can be held, as a people, to be an enemy, for all humanity shares the common hunger for peace and fellowship and justice."

"Let us admit, then, quite frankly that the military profession was a means of making a living by taking the property of others. Its peculiarity was that it was the only means to that end that was—I suppose that I may say that is—reckoned honourable. The only essential point was that the person whose property was to be taken should be declared, or at any rate considered, to be an enemy. A penniless younger son who stole a sheep in England was liable to be hanged for his pains; but, if he joined some adventure overseas, or took service in the army of some foreign power, he could steal as many of the enemy's sheep as pleased him. Moreover, he was tolerably sure of a share of plunder, and he might, if lucky, capture some prisoner of high rank and obtain high ransom for him."

"If you wou'd be reveng'd of your enemy, govern your self."

"'Thou canst not joke an Enemy into a Friend; but thou may'st a Friend into an Enemy."

"Who judges best of a Man, his Enemies or himself?"

"You and I were long friends; you are now my enemy, and I am yours."

"Depend on me; never fear your enemies. Ill warrant We make more noise than they."

"A man's enemies have no power to harm him, if he is true to himself and loyal to God."

"The wise person finds enemies more useful than the fool does friends."

"The less you know about your enemies, the easier it is to project all your fantasies on to them. The closer you come to the other, the more you see the vulnerabilities, the paradoxes, the contradictions."

"Arnon Grunberg, Opinion: My Settler Sister Knows Her Enemies. First of All, She Hates the Germans. Then the Arabs, Haaretz, 18 January 2019"

"Never fear your, enemies. A bold fight is the best: we should advance, and not retrograde."

"We have met the enemy and he is us."

"It is hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head."

"Now the trumpet summons us again—not as a call to bear arms, though arms we need—not as a call to battle, though embattled we are—but a call to bear the burden of a long twilight struggle, year in and year out, "rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation"—a struggle against the common enemies of man: tyranny, poverty, disease and war itself."

"Wee commonly say of a prodigall man that hee is no man's foe but his owne."

"He who forgiveth, and is reconciled unto his enemy, shall receive his reward from God; for he loveth not the unjust doers."

"We pray for our enemies; we seek to persuade those who hate us without cause to live conformably to the goodly precepts of Christ, that they may become partakers with us of the joyful hope of blessings from God, the Lord of all."

"He who is not with Me is against Me; and he who does not gather with Me scatters."

"The only 'natural enemies' are those who take one’s very nature as an offence."

"What boots it at one gate to make defence, And at another to let in the foe?"

"We have met the enemy and they are ours—two ships, two brigs, one schooner and a sloop."

"If thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat; and if he be thirsty, give him water to drink: For thou shalt heap coals of fire upon his head, and the LORD shall reward thee."

"Keep your friends close, your enemies closer."

"Inventé par le caloumnateur ennemy."

"If this law of Karma, "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth," is inevitable and exact justice, it by no means follows that we ourselves, personally, should attempt to fulfil it in this way. If we do so, we shall never emerge from the magic circle of karma. Indeed, we must forgive our personal enemies, as who knows but that the blow one receives is a return blow, well-deserved under the law of Karma? By returning such a blow with another and with a feeling of revenge in our heart, we do not outlive this karma, but we continue and even intensify it in the worst way for ourselves. Moreover, by forgiving our enemies we decrease the amount of evil in space and become immune against many blows. Similarly, let us understand the words "Love thine enemies." However, with all this, we must resist evil, if we do not want to be entirely overwhelmed by it. (26 May 1934)"

"I have political enemies, of course—men who, influenced by party feeling, are not above attacking methods and possibly my official reputation; but personal ones—wretches willing to stab me in my homelife and affections, that I can not believe. My life has been as an open book. I have harmed no man knowingly and, as far as I know, no man has ever cherished a wish to injure me."

"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."

"Be advis'd; Heat not a furnace for your foe so hot That it do singe yourself: we may outrun, By violent swiftness, that which we run at, And lose by over-running."

"I do believe, Induced by potent circumstances, that You are mine enemy; and make my challenge You shall not be my judge."

"That you have many enemies, that know not Why they are so, but, like to village-curs, Bark when their fellows do."

"O cunning enemy, that, to catch a saint, With saints dost bait thy hook!"

"I do defy him, and I spit at him; Call him a slanderous coward and a villain: Which to maintain I would allow him odds, And meet him, were I tied to run afoot Even to the frozen ridges of the Alps."