quotations about revenge
She's not a saint
And she's not what you think
She's an actress, whoa
She's better known
For the things that she does
On the mattress, whoa
Soon she's gonna find
Stealing other people's toys
On the playground won't
Make you many friends
She should keep in mind
She should keep in mind
There is nothing I do better than revenge
TAYLOR SWIFT
"Better Than Revenge"
There is nothing so urgent as the desire for revenge, when real or perceived injury has been done to oneself or one's community, and there is nothing so sweet as the angry pleasure it gives once enacted. Connoisseurs of revenge might applaud Emile Gaboriau's remark that "revenge is a luscious fruit which you must leave to ripen", but it is rare for revenge to be patient. We hurry to avenge whereas we dawdle to pay other kinds of debts--most notably those of gratitude--and failure to achieve revenge is painful and mortifying in ways that not discharging other debts rarely is. The impulse to revenge is an impulse to justice, but it is a primitive one, and although its intention is to restore balance, its personal and emotional basis always threatens to make it too harsh and punitive, therefore inviting further revenge.
A. C. GRAYLING
Meditations for the Humanist
Let them that are happy talk of piety; he that would work his adversary woe must take no account of laws.
EURIPIDES
Ion
I could've keyed your car
I could've rolled your yard
I know the passwords to your emails, everything you do
I could've put 'em to good use
But I'm dressed to kill and tonight I'm going out on a date
With your best friend, he always liked me anyway
R-E-V-E-N-G-E My list of things to do this week
Jealousy, misery, gonna give you what you gave to me
Make you feel so B-A-D
Break you, make you sorry
I hope you cry getting my R-E-V-E-N-G-E
TAYLOR SWIFT
"Revenge"
When we take revenge against another, we lose some of our innocence.
PATRICE REDD VECCHIONE
Revenge and Forgiveness
She said revenge can be so sweet
I like to take it when I can
I need to play with the ones I hate
I like to see them suffer
It has to be dangerous
It has to be refined
It has to be skillfull
You need to take your time
EURYTHMICS
"Revenge"
The worst revenge is the best revenge.
COLLEEN MURPHY
The Society for the Destitute Presents Titus Bouffonius
Revenge is the most worthless weapon in the world. It ruins the avenger while more firmly confirming the enemy in his wrong. It initiates an endless flight down the bottomless stairway of rancor, reprisals, and ruthless retaliation.
TIM LAHAYE & BOB PHILLIPS
Anger is a Choice
And from the darkness I descend
Clenching a torch of sweet revenge
METALLICA
"Hate Train"
Universal though the instinct for revenge may be, it is much stronger in some of us than others. And those who have it in abundance apparently pay something of a price.
ELLIS COSE
Bone to Pick
Revenge is barren of itself; itself is the dreadful food it feeds on; its delight is murder, and its satiety, despair.
FRIEDRICH SCHILLER
notes, Wilhelm Tell
The instinct of revenge is the force which constitutes the essence of what we call psychology, history, metaphysics and morality. The spirit of revenge is the genealogical element of our thought, the transcendental principle of our way of thinking.
GILLES DELEUZE
Nietzsche and Philosophy
The pleasure of revenge is like the pleasure of eating chalk and coals.
JEREMY TAYLOR
"Apples of Sodom"
Revenge, we find, the abject pleasure of an abject mind.
JUVENAL
Satire XIII
Revenge is private and personal, and so readily gets out of hand.
ERNEST LUCAS
ThirdWay, September 1979
Revenge is not always sweet, once it is consummated we feel inferior to our victim.
EMIL CIORAN
History & Utopia
I can feel vindictive in real life but I cannot act in such a manner. I imagine taking revenge on a person but then I let go. I can never get myself to do it. But I think revenge is totally justified and I see nothing wrong in people taking revenge. When hurt and betrayal is deep, only revenge can give you happiness. The great concept of forgiveness is not easy. It is great if you can forgive, but you are in a place to forgive only when you don't feel hurt.
TABU
"I Can Be Vindictive in Life But I Cannot Play It", New Indian Express, February 10, 2016
One of the reasons why revenge is so appealing is that it contemplates some direct encounter between the victim and the offender. That in itself is an improvement over what the law provides. The legal system keeps victims and offenders apart. Step aside and the law will take over from here. But why should victims abandon the process so readily? In a civilized society, if you didn't have to surrender the job of justice to the government, and if instead you could either resolve or avenge the matter privately, would you? It's difficult to maintain trust in the law knowing what we know about its imperfections. And it's even more difficult entrusting it with something as important as bringing justice to a personal tragedy. The law isn't interested in tailoring, or personalizing, criminal remedies, or responding to our individual grief. Prosecutors don't ask victims what they would like to see happen to the offender, and then follow up on those wishes. At least with revenge, the victim is empowered by his own willingness to confront and punish on his own terms. There is no need to delegate the task to an emotionally detached assistant district attorney who shares none of the grief because he's merely doing his job.
THANE ROSENBAUM
The Myth of Moral Justice
Revenge is the infliction of pain, in consequence of the neglect or violation of duty.
ELHANAN WINCHESTER
The Universal Restoration
Murder's out of tune,
And sweet revenge grows harsh.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Othello