Which Authors Wrote Poignant Quotes About Revenge?

2025-08-28 10:48:06 381

5 Answers

Ben
Ben
2025-08-29 18:13:52
When I want a sharp line about revenge, a few names pop into my head fast: Milton — 'Revenge, at first though sweet...' from 'Samson Agonistes' — captures the short-lived sweetness of retaliation. Nietzsche in 'Beyond Good and Evil' warns that battling monsters risks becoming one, which is basically my go-to cautionary phrase. The proverb about digging two graves (often linked to Confucius) and the aphorism 'Revenge is a dish best served cold' tied to 'Les Liaisons dangereuses' are classics I toss into discussions whenever fiction gets deliciously vindictive. They all remind me that revenge is dramatic but messy.
Madison
Madison
2025-08-31 23:41:51
I tend to think about revenge through different lenses — historical, moral, and literary — and a handful of writers keep coming up in my conversations with friends. Marcus Aurelius (from 'Meditations') gives practical moral advice: the highest revenge is to avoid mirroring the offender. That’s less flashy but surprisingly useful in real life. John Milton, in 'Samson Agonistes', frames revenge as an initially sweet poison that rebounds on the avenger. Nietzsche, in 'Beyond Good and Evil', brings in the existential danger of metamorphosis: resist the risk of becoming the thing you fight. Then there’s the cultural proverb 'Revenge is a dish best served cold', which many trace back to 'Les Liaisons dangereuses' by Choderlos de Laclos; it’s the kind of line that storytellers love because it promises calculated, patient plots. I also keep Gandhi’s line about an eye for an eye in my back pocket for the times when moral clarity is needed: it turns revenge into a cautionary tale about multiplying harm. When I read these, I’m less interested in cheering for payback than in unpacking the cost to the person who seeks it.
Hannah
Hannah
2025-09-01 05:49:12
I always get a little thrill when I bump into a line about revenge that’s both sharp and true. A few authors who nailed that feeling: Marcus Aurelius in 'Meditations' gives a Stoic take — "The best revenge is to be unlike him who performed the injury" — which is the kind of advice I whisper to myself when I want to keep my cool. John Milton’s line from 'Samson Agonistes' — 'Revenge, at first though sweet, bitter ere long back on itself recoils' — hits me on slow, rainy nights when grudges feel oddly tempting.

Pierre Choderlos de Laclos is often associated with the phrase that became the proverb 'Revenge is a dish best served cold' through his novel 'Les Liaisons dangereuses', and that cold, composed cruelty has always fascinated me in stories. Friedrich Nietzsche cautions in 'Beyond Good and Evil' about becoming what you fight — it's a philosophical mic-drop that warns how vengeance can corrode the avenger. Finally, there’s the popular line often attributed to Confucius: 'Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.' Whether he said it or not, the image sticks like a burr.

I tend to collect these lines the way I collect bookmarks — they remind me that revenge is more complicated than catharsis and that literature loves to dissect the cost.
Tessa
Tessa
2025-09-01 08:04:34
I’ll toss in a few favorite lines and where I found them, since they keep popping up in conversations and fan-theory threads. Marcus Aurelius (see 'Meditations') offers the succinct moral: be unlike the one who wronged you — it’s low-key but powerful. John Milton’s 'Samson Agonistes' has that memorable couplet, 'Revenge, at first though sweet, bitter ere long back on itself recoils,' which reads like a warning wrapped in poetry. Nietzsche in 'Beyond Good and Evil' gives the psychological twist: fighting monsters can change you into one. For moodier fiction vibes, 'Les Liaisons dangereuses' gets credited with popularizing 'Revenge is a dish best served cold.' I also keep Gandhi’s 'An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind' on the tip of my tongue when debate gets heated. If you like, start with Milton for tragedy, Laclos for scheming, and Marcus Aurelius for a calmer antidote to vengeance.
Dominic
Dominic
2025-09-03 02:33:02
I like to tuck short, bitter-sweet sayings into my mental pocket when I’m reading late. Some of the most poignant writers on revenge include Marcus Aurelius (see 'Meditations') with his calming injunction to not become what harmed you, and John Milton, whose 'Samson Agonistes' gives us the paradox that revenge initially pleases but ultimately hurts the revenger. Friedrich Nietzsche in 'Beyond Good and Evil' adds a darker philosophical spin: fight monsters and risk becoming one. Then there’s Pierre Choderlos de Laclos — his 'Les Liaisons dangereuses' is often linked to the famous proverb 'Revenge is a dish best served cold,' which I always imagine served on a silver tray in a cloak-and-dagger salon. I also keep an eye on traditional proverbs like 'Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves,' commonly attributed to Confucius, and Gandhi’s terse warning — 'An eye for an eye will only make the whole world blind' — which frames revenge as a moral dead end. When I quote these, it’s usually to remind myself that stories teach us as much about restraint as they do about righteous fury.
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