harmful action in response to a grievance From Wikiquote, the free quote compendium
Revenge (or vengeance) consists primarily of retaliation against a person or group in response to perceived wrongdoing. Although many aspects of revenge resemble or echo the concept of justice, revenge usually has a more injurious than harmonious goal. The vengeful wish consists of forcing the perceived wrongdoer to suffer pain, injury or constraints, and is often justified as a means of making sure that the wrongdoer can never inflict such an injury upon others.
Four years ago my partner - my friend - was killed and I took about as much revenge as any man can take. It cost me everything I had: what was left of my family, everything. Somehow I thought it would ease the pain but it doesn't. And somewhere in your heart you really have to accept that... and then you can begin to forgive yourself.
Jack Bauer, 24: Live Another Day ep. 10, teleplay by: Adam DaSilva, story by: Robert Cochran & Manny Coto & Evan Katz
Sir Thomas Browne, Christian Morals, Part III, Section XII
Power is better than revenge. Power is a live thing, by which you reach out to grasp the future. Revenge is a dead thing, reaching out from the past to grasp you.
Doubtless, revenge is not always sweet, once it is consummated we feel inferior to our victim, or else we are tangled in the subtleties of remorse; so vengeance too has its venom, though it comes closer to what we are, to what we feel, to the very law of the self; it is also healthier than magnanimity. The Furies were held to antedate the gods, Zeus included. Vengeance before Divinity! This is the Major intuition of ancient mythology.
To me belongeth vengeance and recompense; their foot shall slide in due time: for the day of their calamity is at hand, and the things that shall come upon them make haste.
Deuteronomy 32:35
La vendetta, oh, la vendetta, è un piacer serbato ai saggi. L'obliar l'onte, gli oltraggi, è bassezza, è ognor viltà.
Revenge, oh, revenge is a pleasure reserved for smart people. To forget humiliation and outrage is debasement and cowardice.
Lorenzo da Ponte (and Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart): The Marriage of Figaro (opera) Act 1
Ah no, lasciarti in pace, non vo' questo contento, tu non nascesti, audace, per dare a me tormento, e forse ancor per ridere, di mia infelicità! Già la speranza sola delle vendette mie quest'anima consola, e giubilar mi fa!
Ah, no, I shall not leave for you that happiness in peace; You were not born, upstart To give me pain And perhaps to laugh, To laugh at my suffering. Only the hope Of my vengeance Consoles this soul And makes me rejoice!
The Marriage of Figaro (opera) Act 3
Justice, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder. Some see an innocent victim. Others will see evil incarnate getting exactly what's deserved
“In its purest form, an act of retribution provides symmetry. The rendering payment of crimes against the innocent. But a danger on retaliation lies on the furthering cycle of violence. Still, it's a risk that must be met; and the greater offense is to allow the guilty go unpunished.”
For the righteous, the revelation is a joyous event, the realization of a divine truth. But for the wicked, revelations can be far more terrifying, when dark secrets are exposed and sinners are punished for their trespasses.
Revenge may just be the ultimate Hallmark Card. Its as if You're saying "You have effected My Life so much I feel compelled to respond in kind". When though of like that, I guess the old Cliche is True. Revenge is Sweet.
Lamech said to his wives, "Adah and Zillah, Listen to my voice, You wives of Lamech, Give heed to my speech, For I have killed a man for wounding me; And a boy for striking me; If Cain is avenged sevenfold, Then Lamech seventy-sevenfold."
Genesis 4:23-24, New American Standard Bible, (1970)
If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.
Hammurabi, Section 196 of the Code of Hammurabi (translated by Leonard William King, 1910)
Alternately translated as: If a man destroy the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye.
Professor X: Oppression is no excuse for vengeance -- for murder. I wonder... does the death of innocent people -- cut down on the streets as they flee -- free you? I think not.
"In certain, extreme situations, the law is inadequate. In order to shame its inadequacy, it is necessary to act outside the law. To pursue - natural justice. This is not vengeance. Revenge is not a valid motive, it's an emotional response. No, not vengeance. Punishment."
Frank Castle, The Punisher, written by Jonathan Hensleigh and Michael France
The sixth precept of the natural law is, that in revenge and punishments we must have our eye not at the evil past, but the future good: that is, it is not lawful to inflict punishment for any other end, but that the offender may be corrected, or that others warned by his punishment may become better. But this is confirmed chiefly from hence, that each man is bound by the law of nature to forgive one another, provided he give caution for the future, as hath been showed in the foregoing article. Furthermore, because revenge, if the time past be only considered, is nothing else but a certain triumph and glory of mind, which points at no end (for it contemplates only what is past, but the end is a thing to come), but that which is directed to no end, is vain: that revenge therefore which regards not the future, proceeds from vain glory, and therefore without reason. But to hurt another without reason introduces a war, and is contrary to the fundamental law of nature. It is therefore a precept of the law of nature, that in revenge we look not backwards, but forward. Now the breach of this law is commonly called CRUELTY.
All thoughts of revenge are born of the pain of helplessness. I suffer becomes You will suffer. And let us not lie. Vengeance is invigorating. It focuses and enlivens us, and it quashes grief because it turns the emotion outward. In grief we go to pieces. In revenge we come together as a single pointed weapon aimed at a target. However destructive in the long run, it serves a useful purpose for a time.
Siri Hustvedt, The Blazing World (2014), "Rachel Briefman (written statement)". London: Sceptre, 2014, p. 118
No one rejoices more in revenge than women, wrote Juvenal. Women do most delight in revenge, wrote Sir Thomas Browne. Sweet is revenge, especially to women, wrote Lord Byron. And I say, I wonder why, boys. I wonder why.
Siri Hustvedt, The Blazing World (2014), "Harriet Burden: Notebook D". London: Sceptre, 2014, p. 292
How sweet to be an idiot At my back With no fear of attack As much retaliation as a toy.
Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompense; he will come and save you
And Samson called unto the LORD, and said, O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once, O God, that I may be at once avenged of the Philistines for my two eyes"
Judges 16:28
At vindicta bonum vita jucundius ipsa nempe hoc indocti.
Revenge is sweeter than life itself. So think fools.
One sole desire, one passion now remains To keep life's fever still within his veins, Vengeance! dire vengeance on the wretch who cast O'er him and all he lov'd that ruinous blast.
Thomas Moore, Lalla Rookh (1817), The Veiled Prophet of Khorassan
God is jealous, and the LORD revengeth; the LORD revengeth, and is furious; the LORD will take vengeance on his adversaries, and he reserveth wrath for his enemies
Nahum 1:2
Beware: "In revenge and in love woman is more barbarous than man."
The whole idea of revenge and punishment is a childish day-dream. Properly speaking, there is no such thing as revenge. Revenge is an act which you want to commit when you are powerless and because you are powerless: as soon as the sense of impotence is removed, the desire evaporates also.
Always, also, it remains true, that it is more noble to forgive than to take revenge; and that, in general, we ought too much to despise those who wrong us, to feel the emotion of anger, or to desire revenge.
Albert Pike, Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry prepared for the Supreme Council of the Thirty Third Degree for the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States: Charleston, 1871. p.76
Forgiveness is better than revenge.
Pittacus of Mytilene made this remark to justify his release of his captured enemy Alcaeus, as quoted by Diogenes Laërtius in Life of Pittacus, i. 76, citing Heraclitus as his source; according to William Shepard Walsh, in Handy-book of Literary Curiosities (1892), p. 392, Epictetus, quoting from the same source, gives the phrase thus: "Forgiveness is better than punishment; for the one is proof of a gentle, the other of a savage, nature."
The righteous shall rejoice when he seeth the vengeance: he shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked
Psalms 58:11
Revenge is like a poison. It can take you over, and before you know it, it can turn you into something ugly.
"Aunt May" in Spider-Man 3, story by Sam Raimi, Ivan Raimi and Alvin Sargent
Revenge is a fool's game. It's a luxury we can't afford.
Well, I'm not one to sit and spin Because living well is the best revenge.
R.E.M., in "Living Well Is The Best Revenge" on Accelerate (2008)
...there is a perpetual struggle between manifested chaos and the unmanifested. It is the struggle of the Forces of Light with the dark forces. Christ Himself actively resisted evil... he drove the merchants from the Temple, and all his severe accusations against the scribes and Pharisees... If we try to read objectively the words... attributed to Christ, we shall see a Teaching which is severe in its mercy. Therefore, the words "resist not evil, but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also... 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)
Helena Roerich, Letters of Helena Roerich Volume I: 1929-1935
...revenge. ...This reaction is still admired by most people, when the injury is great, and such as to arouse moral horror in disinterested people. Nor can it be wholly condemned, for it is one of the forces generating punishment, and punishment is something necessary. Moreover, from the point of view of mental health, the impulse to revenge is likely to be so strong that, if allowed no outlet, a man's whole outlook on life may become distorted and more or less insane.
...revenge is a very dangerous motive.... it allows a man to be the judge in his own case, which is exactly what the law tries to prevent. Moreover it is usually an excessive motive; it seeks to inflict more punishment than is desirable. Torture, for example, should not be punished by torture, but the man maddened by lust for vengeance will think a painless death too good for the object of his hate. Moreover, and it is here that Spinoza is in the right - a life dominated by single passion is a narrow life, incompatible with every kind of wisdom. Revenge as such is therefore not the best reaction to injury.
A man with no friends, only live for revenge Live his life off the henge, cut, through a thousand men Blade swing with the force of a cyclone Cut crystal and bone, pistol and chrome Stand in my path, you're a dead man I cut the whole world in half for the Number One headband Quest of a lonely soul, on a lonely road
'Tis an old tale, and often told; But did my fate and wish agree, Ne'er had been read, in story old, Of maiden true betray'd for gold, That loved, or was avenged, like me!
Salarino: Why, I am sure, if he forfeit, thou wilt not take his flesh? What's that good for? Shylock: To bait fish withal: if it will feed nothing else, it will feed my revenge. He hath disgraced me, and hindered me half a million; laughed at my losses, mocked at my gains, scorned my nation, thwarted my bargains, cooled my friends, heated mine enemies; and what's his reason? I am a Jew. Hath not a Jew eyes? Hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions, senses, affections, passions? Fed with the same food, hurt with the same weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means, warmed and cooled by the same winter and summer, as a Christian is? If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge? If we are like you in the rest, we shall resemble you in that. If a Jew wrong a Christian, what is his humility? Revenge. If a Christian wrong a Jew, what should his sufferance be by Christian example? Why, revenge. The villainy you teach me I will execute, and it shall go hard but I will better the instruction.
"Get even with the people who have screwed you," Donald has said, but often the person he's getting revenge on is somebody he screwed over first- such as the contractors he's refused to pay or the niece and nephew he refused to protect. Even when he manages to hit his target, his aim is so bad that he causes collateral damage. Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York and currently the de facto leader of the country's COVID-19 response, has committed not only the sin of insufficiently kissing Donald's ass but the ultimate sin of showing Donald up by being better and more competent, a real leader who is respected and effective and admired. Donald can't fight back by shutting Cuomo up or reversing his decisions; having abdicated his authority to lead a nationwide response, he no longer has the ability to counter decisions made at the state level. Donald can insult Cuomo and complain about him, but every day the governor's real leadership further reveals Donald as a petty, pathetic little man- ignorant, incapable, out of his depth, and lost in his own delusional spin. What Donald can do in order to offset the powerlessness and rage he feels is to punish the rest of us. He'll withhold ventilators or steal supplies from states that have not groveled sufficiently. If New York continues not to have enough equipment, Cuomo will look bad, the rest of us be damned. Thankfully, Donald doesn't have many supporters in New York City, but even some of those will die because of his craven need for "revenge." What Donald thinks is justified retaliation is, in this context, mass murder.
Mary L. Trump, Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World's Most Dangerous Man (2020), p. 208
Somebody once wrote, "Revenge is a dish that has to be eaten cold." Hot as you are, you're liable to end up with indigestion.
Entweihte Götter! Helft jetzt meiner Rache! Bestraft die Schmach, die hier euch angetan! Stärkt mich im Dienste eurer heil'gen Sache! Vernichtet der Abtrünn'gen schnöden Wahn! Wodan! Dich Starken rufe ich! Freia! Erhabne, höre mich! Segnet mir Trug und Heuchelei, dass glücklich meine Rache sei!
Profaned gods, help my vengeance now! Punish the humiliation which you have suffered here! Strengthen me in service of your holy cause! Annihilate the vile delusion of the apostate! Wodan! You, mighty, I call! Freia! Exalted one, hear me! Bless me with deceit and hypocrisy, So that my revenge will be joyful!
Lohengrin (opera), Wagner
Erräth'st du auch dieser Raben Geraun'? Rache riethen sie mir!
Do you also understand these ravens' whispering? To me they recommend: revenge! [Hagen sings this and then stabs Siegfried in the back with his spear]
Götterdämmerung (opera) "The Twilight of the Gods", Wagner
The way of revenge lies in simply forcing ones way into a place and being cut down. There is no shame in this. By thinking that you must complete the job you will run out of time. By considering things like how many men the enemy has, time piles up; in the end you will give up. No matter if the enemy has thousands of men, there is fulfillment in simply standing them off and being determined to cut them all down, starting from one end. You will finish the greater part of it.