#enemies

I would sooner lose my best friend than my worst enemy. To have friends, you know, one need only be good-natured; but when a man has no enemy left there must be something mean about him. ↗

— Oscar Wilde

#enemies #friends #friendship #friendship

He had been dazzled. Because of the dazzling brightness, he had had to kill [Seigen]. All who had encountered Seigen had had their hearts stolen by that brightness. That envy had turned to malice. ↗

— Takayuki Yamaguchi

#antipathy #enemies #envy #heart #human-nature

This new war, like the previous one, would be a test of the power of machines against people and places; whatever its causes and justifications, it would make the world worse. This was true of that new war, and it has been true of every new war since... I knew too that this new war was not even new but was only the old one come again. And what caused it? It was caused, I thought, by people failing to love one another, failing to love their enemies. ↗

— Wendell Berry

#love #war #love

Jesus Christ lived in the midst of his enemies. At the end all his disciples deserted him. On the Cross he was utterly alone, surrounded by evildoers and mockers. For this cause he had come, to bring peace to the enemies of God. So the Christian, too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. There is his commission, his work. 'The kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. And he who will not suffer this does not want to be of the Kingdom of Christ; he wants to be among friends, to sit among roses and lilies, not with the bad people but the devout people. O you blasphemers and betrayers of Christ! If Christ had done what you are doing who would ever have been spared' (Luther). ↗

— Dietrich Bonhoeffer

#christianity #cross #enemies #inspirational #love

When you initially forgive, it is like letting go of a hot iron. There is initial pain and the scars will show, but you can start living again. ↗

— Stephen Richards

#forgive-your-enemies #forgive-yourself #forgiven #forgiveness-men-women #forgiving

After an awkward pause, Bast extended his hand. Chronicler hesitated for a bare moment before reaching out quickly, as if he were sticking his hand into a fire. Nothing happened, both of them seemed moderately surprised. "Amazing, isn't it?" Kvothe addressed them bitingly. "Five fingers and flesh with blood beneath. One could almost believe that on the other end of that hand lay a person of some sort. ↗

— Patrick Rothfuss

#chronicler #enemies #friends #humor #kvothe

Normally we divide the external world into that which we consider to be good or valuable, bad or worthless, or neither. Most of the time these discriminations are incorrect or have little meaning. For example, our habitual way of categorizing people as friends, enemies, and strangers depending on how they make us feel is both incorrect and a great obstacle to developing impartial love for all living beings. Rather than holding so tightly to our discriminations of the external world, it would be much more beneficial if we learned to discriminate between valuable and worthless states of mind. ↗

— Geshe Kelsang Gyatso

#discrimination #enemies #friends #good #mind

But you know as well as I do that anger won’t solve anything.” “I beg to differ,” he shrugged. “Anger can be quite rewarding…at least for those of us who have the option of blasting our enemies to oblivion. ↗

— M.A. George

#enemies #humor #paranormal-romance #sarcastic-humor #anger

A man falling off a cliff to certain death will stretch out a hand even to his worst enemy. ↗

— Robert Jordan

#enemies #death

There are two things in life you cannot choose. The first is your enemies; the second your family. Sometimes the difference between them is hard to see, but in the end time will show you that the cards you have been dealt could always have been worse. ↗

— Carlos Ruiz Zafón

#could-have-been-worse #difference #enemies #family #family