MEDEA: Let no one think of me
As humble or weak or passive; let them understand
I am of a different kind: dangerous to my enemies,
Loyal to my friends. To such a life glory belongs.[ΜΉΔΕΙΑ:μηδείς με φαύλην κἀσθενῆ νομιζέτω
μηδ᾽ ἡσυχαίαν, ἀλλὰ θατέρου τρόπου,
βαρεῖαν ἐχθροῖς καὶ φίλοισιν εὐμενῆ:
810τῶν γὰρ τοιούτων εὐκλεέστατος βίος.]Euripides (485?-406? BC) Greek tragic dramatist
Medea [Μήδεια], l. 807ff (431 BC) [tr. Vellacott (1963)]
(Source)
(Source (Greek)). Other translations:None shall think lightly of me, as if weak,
Of courage void, or with a soul too tame,
But form'd by Heaven in a far different mould.
The terror of my foes, and to my friends
Benignant : for most glorious are the lives
Of those who act with such determin'd zeal.
[tr. Wodhull (1782)]Let me not be deem'd
A poor, low-thoughted, tame, and timid thing:
No; to my foes relentless is my soul,
But to my friends all gentleness; and such
Are held through life in honour's highest rank.
[tr. Potter (1814)]Let none believe me weak and lethargic
Nor tame in spirit, but far other souled;
Dour to my foes, but to my friends most helpful:
For the lives of such do wear the nobler grace.
[tr. Webster (1868)]Let no one deem me a poor weak woman who sits with folded hands, but of another mould, dangerous to foes and well-disposed to friends; for they win the fairest fame who live their life like me.
[tr. Coleridge (1891)]Let no one think me mean-spirited and weak, nor of a gentle temper, but of a contrary disposition to my foes relentless, and to my friends kind: for the lives of such sort are most glorious.
[tr. Buckley (1892)]Let none account me impotent, nor weak,
Nor meek of spirit! — Nay, in other sort,
Grim to my foes, and kindly to my friends,
For of such is the life most glorious.
[tr. Way (Loeb) (1894)]Names have I
Among your folk? One light? One weak of hand?
An eastern dreamer? — Nay, but with the brand
Of strange suns burnt, my hate, by God above,
A perilous thing, and passing sweet my love!
For these it is that make life glorious.
[tr. Murray (1906)]Let no man think of me as mean or weak
Or a quiet soul, -- nay very far from it! --
As dangerous a foe as loyal friend.
For such are they that live most honourable.
[tr. Lucas, ed. Higham (1938)]Let no one think me a weak one, feeble-spirited,
A stay-at-home, but rather just the opposite,
One who can hurt my enemies and help my friends;
For the lives of such persons are most remembered.
[tr. Warner (1944)]Let no one think of me as “poor” or “weak”
Or “retiring”, but quite the contrary, a millstone
Around my enemies’ necks, a boon to my friends.
The lives of people like that are most renowned.
[tr. Podlecki (1989)]Let no one think me weak, contemptible, untroublesome. No, quite the opposite, hurtful to foes, to friends kindly. Such persons live a life of greatest glory.
[tr. Kovacs (Loeb) (1994)]Let no one think me a weak and feeble woman, or one to let things pass, but rather one of the other sort, a generous friend but an enemy to be feared. It is people like that who achieve true fame in life.
[tr. Davie (1996)]Let no one think that I am some weak and sickly woman, or one of those quiet spirits!
Quite the opposite! I am most friendly to my friends and most fearsome to my enemies. It’s only people like me who live a life of glory.
[tr. Theodoridis (2004)]Let no one think that I am mean or weak
nor peaceful, but of the other sort,
a weight upon my enemies but to my friends most kind.
It is to such people the heroic way of life belongs.
[tr. Luschnig (2007)]Let no one think that I’m a trivial woman,
a feeble one who sits there passively.
No, I’m a different sort — dangerous
to enemies, but well disposed to friends.
Lives like mine achieve the greatest glory.
[tr. Johnston (2008), l. 957ff]Let no one think me weak, worthless, or docile. Let me be thought the opposite of these: harsh with my ehemies, gentle with my friends. Such people live lives of great renown.
[tr. Kovacs / Kitzinger (2016)]Let no one think me weak, contemptible,
untroublesome; no, quite the opposite,
hurtful to foes, kindly to friends;
such persons live a life of greatest glory.
[tr. Kovacs; ed. Yeroulanos (2016)]Let no one think me insignificant or weak,
or gentle -- I am quite the opposite;
a heavy burden on my enemies
and a great help to my friends;
people like this live the most glorious life.
[tr. Ewans (2022)]Let no one consider me trifling and weak, as one who lives in serenity [hēsukhiā], but of another mold: dangerous to enemies [ekhthroi], and well-disposed to philoi. They win the fairest kleos who live their life like me.
[tr. Coleridge / Ceragioli / Nagy / Hour25]Let no one think of me as weak, contemptible, untroublesome. No, quite the opposite: hurtful to foes, to friends kindly. Such people live a life of greatest glory.
[tr. Kovacs / Zhang / Rogak]
Quotations about:
enemies
Note not all quotations have been tagged, so Search may find additional quotes on this topic.
You have no enemies, you say?
Alas, my friend, the boast is poor;
He, who has mingled in the fray
Of duty that the brave endure,
Must have made foes! If you have none,
Small is the work that you have done,
You’ve hit no traitor on the hip,
You’ve dashed no cup from perjured lip,
You’ve never turned the wrong to right,
You’ve been a coward in the fight.Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Poem (1884), “No Enemies”, Interludes and Undertones, Poem 121
(Source)
The hitting on the hip is an allusion to Genesis 32:35.
A third-person version of the poem, titled "Not In It," was "Selected" as filler in The Medical and Surgical Reporter, Vol. 69, No. 19 (1893-11-04), uncredited:He has no enemies, you say.
My friend, your boast is poor.
He who hath mingled in the fray
Of duty that the brave endure
Must have made foes.
If he has none,
Small is the work that he has done.
He has hit no fraud upon the hip;
He has shook no cup from perjured lip;
He has never turned the wrong to right;
He has been a coward in the fight.
If men of eminence are exposed to censure on one hand, they are as much liable to flattery on the other. If they receive reproaches which are not due to them, they likewise receive praises which they do not deserve. In a word, the man in a high post is never regarded with an indifferent eye, but always considered as a friend or an enemy.
Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101
(Source)
He that has never known adversity is but half acquainted with others, or with himself. Constant success shows us but one side of the world. For, as it surrounds us with friends, who will tell us only our merits, so it silences those enemies from whom alone we can learn our defects.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 513 (1820)
(Source)
What wouldest thou have me follow? what my enemies think prudent, or what I myself think to be so?
[Que veux-tu que je suive, la prudence de mes ennemis, ou la mienne?]
Charles-Lewis de Secondat, Baron de Montesquieu (1689-1755) French political philosopher
Persian Letters [Lettres Persanes], Letter 8, Usbek to Rustan (1721) [tr. Floyd (1762)]
(Source)
(Source (French)). Alternate translations:What wouldst thou have me pursue; the Prudence of my Enemies, or my own?
[tr. Ozell (1736)]Which would you have me obey -- the petty maxims that guide my enemies, or the dictates of my own free soul?
[tr. Davidson (1891)]Which would you have me accept as a guide, -- the foresight of my enemies or my own?
[tr.https://archive.org/details/persianletters00degoog/page/n52/mode/2up?q=%22accept+as+a+guide%22">Betts (1897)]Would you have me follow my own counsel or that of my enemies?
[tr. Healy (1964)]Ought I to heed my enemies' prudent counsels or my own?
[tr. Mauldon (2008)]Which would you have me follow, Rustan, my own counsel, or that of my enemies?
[tr. MacKenzie (2014)]
AMBITION, n. An overmastering desire to be vilified by enemies while living and made ridiculous by friends when dead.
Ambrose Bierce (1842-1914?) American writer and journalist
“Ambition,” The Cynic’s Word Book (1906)
(Source)
Included in The Devil's Dictionary (1911).
Originally published in the "Devil's Dictionary" column in the San Francisco Wasp, where the entry read:An overmastering desire to be abused by the newspapers during life, and have an epitaph by Hector A. Stuart after death.
Bierce frequently mocked the verse of Stuart, a San Francisco poet.
If fifty bands of men surrounded us
and every sword sang for your blood,
you could make off still with their cows and sheep.[εἴ περ πεντήκοντα λόχοι μερόπων ἀνθρώπων
νῶϊ περισταῖεν, κτεῖναι μεμαῶτες Ἄρηϊ,
καί κεν τῶν ἐλάσαιο βόας καὶ ἴφια μῆλα.]Homer (fl. 7th-8th C. BC) Greek author
The Odyssey [Ὀδύσσεια], Book 20, l. 49ff (20.49) [Athena to Odysseus] (c. 700 BC) [tr. Fitzgerald (1961)]
(Source (Greek)). Alternate translations:If there were
Of divers-languag’d men an army here
Of fifty companies, all driving hence
Thy sheep and oxen, and with violence
Offer’d to charge us, and besiege us round,
Thou shouldst their prey reprise, and them confound.
[tr. Chapman (1616)]Though fifty bands of men should us oppose,
You should their herds of cattle drive away.
[tr. Hobbes (1675), l. 37ff]Were we hemm’d around
By fifty troops of shouting warriors bent
To slay thee, thou should’st yet securely drive
The flocks away and cattle of them all.
[tr. Cowper (1792), l. 54ff]Though fifty bands stood threatening thee and me,
All breathing slaughter, their fat kine and sheep
Thou shouldst drive off, and take their wealth in fee.
[tr. Worsley (1861), st. 6]If fifty troops of men, as good as thou
Surround us twain, and strive to slay in battle,
Of their fat kine and sheep should'st thou be captor!
[tr. Bigge-Wither (1869)]Though fifty bands of mortals that in speech
Articulate use their tongues around us rose
In conflict fierce to kill us both intent,
Still should'st though prove the man that all those beeves
And fatten'd flocks should to thye homestall drive.
[tr. Musgrave (1869), l. 70ff]Even should fifty companies of mortal men compass us about eager to slay us in battle, even their kine shouldst thou drive off and their brave flocks.
[tr. Butcher/Lang (1879)]If fifty bands of menfolk, word-speaking wights that are,
Stood round about us, eager for our slaying in the war,
Yet their kine shouldst though be driving and their goodly fatted sheep.
[tr. Morris (1887)]Should fifty troops of mortal men stand round about us, eager in the fight to slay, you still might drive them away from their oxen and sturdy sheep.
[tr. Palmer (1891)]Even though there were fifty bands of men surrounding us and eager to kill us, you should take all their sheep and cattle, and drive them away with you.
[tr. Butler (1898)]If fifty troops of mortal men should stand about us, eager to slay us in battle, even their cattle and goodly sheep shouldest thou drive off.
[tr. Murray (1919)]Though fifty troops of humans hemmed us round, all mad to kill outright, yet shuld you win through to lift their flocks and herds.
[tr. Lawrence (1932)]If you and I were surrounded by fifty companies of men-at-arms, all thirsting for your blood, you could drive away their cows and sheep beneath their very noses.
[tr. Rieu (1946)]Even though there were fifty battalions of mortal people
standing around us, furious to kill in the spirit of battle,
even so you could drive away their cattle and fat sheep.
[tr. Lattimore (1965)]Even if fifty bands of mortal fighters
closed around us, hot to kill us off in battle,
still you could drive away their herds and sleek flocks!
[tr. Fagles (1996)]Even if there were fifty squadrons of armed men
All around us, doing their mortal best to kill us,
You would still be able to run off with their cattle!
[tr. Lombardo (2000)]If in fact there were fifty battalions of men who are mortal
Standing around us, eagerly striving to kill us in battle,
even from them you would drive their cattle away and their fat sheep.
[tr. Merrill (2002)]You and I could be surrounded by fifty companies of men-at-arms, all thirsting for our blood, but you would still drive away their cows and sheep.
[tr. DCH Rieu (2002)]If we were ambushed, surrounded by not one but fifty gangs of men who hoped to murder us -- you would escape, and even poach their sheep and cows.
[tr. Wilson (2017)]If there were fifty troops of mortal men in ambush all around us, firmly determined to kill us, nevertheless even then you'd drive off their cattle and fattened sheep.
[tr. Green (2018)]Even were fifty troops around us, to kill us, you'd end by driving off their cattle!
[tr. Green (2018), summary]If there were fifty groups
of other men standing here around us,
intent on slaughter, even so, I say,
you’d still drive off their cattle and fine sheep.
[tr. Johnston (2019), l. 55ff]
We injure ourselves more than our enemies, by indulging hatred towards them.
Marguerite Gardiner, Countess of Blessington (1789-1849) Irish novelist [Lady Blessington, b. Margaret Power]
Desultory Thoughts and Reflections (1839)
(Source)
Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 11 “Where Do We Go from Here?” (1958)
(Source)
If you rejoice in revenge, torture, and war […] you cannot say you’re a follower of the guy who explicitly said “love your enemies” and “do good to those who hate you”. The next line isn’t, “And if that doesn’t work, send a titanium-fanged dog to rip his nuts off”. Jesus lays on that hippie stuff pretty thick! He has lines like, “do not repay evil with evil”, and “do not take revenge on someone who wrongs you.” Really! It’s in that book you hold up when you scream at gay people.
William "Bill" Maher (b. 1956) American comedian, political commentator, critic, television host.
Real Time with Bill Maher, “New Rules” (13 May 2011)
There is a reason you separate military and the police. One fights the enemies of the state, the other serves and protects the people. When the military becomes both, then the enemies of the state tend to become the people.
Ronald D. Moore (b. 1964) American screenwriter, television producer
Battlestar Galactica, 1×02 “Water” [Adama] (2004)
We have no eternal allies, and we have no perpetual enemies. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and these interests it is our duty to follow.
Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784-1865) British statesman, Prime Minister (1855-58, 1859-65) [Lord Palmerston]
Speech, House of Commons (1 Mar 1848)
No matter how unpredictable the future may be, we don’t win freedom through security systems, cryptography, interrogations and spot searches. We win freedom by having the courage and the conviction to live every day freely and to act as a free society, no matter how great the threats are on the horizon.
Cory Doctorow (b. 1971) Canadian-British blogger, journalist, activist, author
Little Brother (2008)
Institutions like to continue doing what they have been doing, always on a grander scale, if possible. When old enemies disappear, mellow, or turn into allies, as frequently happens in international relations, new enemies must be found and new threats must be discovered. The failure to replenish the supply of enemies is the supreme threat facing any national security bureaucracy.
Richard J. Barnet (1929-2004) American scholar, writer, activist
Roots of War, 5.1 (1971)
I have never made but one prayer to God, and very short one: “O Lord, make my enemies ridiculous.” And God granted it.
Voltaire (1694-1778) French writer [pseud. of Francois-Marie Arouet]
Letter to M. Damilaville (16 May 1767)
Peace and friendship with all mankind is our wisest policy, and I wish we may be permitted to pursue it. But the temper and folly of our enemies may not leave this in our choice.
Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) American political philosopher, polymath, statesman, US President (1801-09)
Letter (1786-05-06) to C. W. F. Dumas
(Source)
Pay attention to your enemies, for they are the first to discover your mistakes.
Antisthenes (c. 445 - c. 365 BC) Greek Cynic philosopher
In Diogenes Laërtius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, VI, xii
But this truth from long experience I assert, that he who has the most friends and the fewest enemies, is the strongest; will rise the highest with the least envy; and fall, if he does fall, the gentlest, aud the most pitied.
Lord Chesterfield (1694-1773) English statesman, wit [Philip Dormer Stanhope]
Letter to his son, #293 (11 Nov 1752)
(Source)
You will usually find that the enemy has three courses open to him, and of these he will adopt the fourth.
Helmuth von Moltke (1800-1891) Prussian soldier
(Attributed)
The best thing to give to your enemy is forgiveness; to an opponent, tolerance; to a friend, your heart; to your child, a good example; to a father, deference; to your mother, conduct that will make her proud of you; to yourself, respect; to all men, charity.
Clara Lucas Balfour (1808-1878) English novelist, lecturer, temperance campaigner
Sunbeams for All Seasons: Counsels, Cautions, and Precepts (1861 ed.)
There are two modes of establishing our reputation; to be praised by honest men, and to be abused by rogues. It is best, however, to secure the former, because it will be invariably accompanied by the latter.
Charles Caleb "C. C." Colton (1780-1832) English cleric, writer, aphorist
Lacon: Or, Many Things in Few Words, Vol. 1, § 218 (1820)
(Source)
The lack of objectivity, as far as foreign nations are concerned, is notorious. From one day to another, another nation is made out to be utterly depraved and fiendish, while one’s own nation stands for everything that is good and noble. Every action of the enemy is judged by one standard — every action of oneself by another. Even good deeds by the enemy are considered a sign of particular devilishness, meant to deceive us and the world, while our bad deeds are necessary and justified by our noble goals, which they serve.
Erich Fromm (1900-1980) American psychoanalyst and social philosopher
The Art of Loving, ch. 5 (1956)
(Source)
What could be more absurd, to begin with, than our attitude of high moral outrage against other nations for manufacturing the selfsame weapons that we manufacture? The difference, as our leaders say, is that we will use these weapons virtuously, whereas our enemies will use them maliciously — a proposition that too readily conforms to a proposition of much less dignity: we will use them in our interest, whereas our enemies will use them in theirs.
Wendell Berry (b. 1934) American farmer, educator, poet, conservationist
Essay (1999), “The Failure of War,” Citizenship Papers (2003)
(Source)
It is one of the most difficult yet necessary things in life to learn to disdain. Disdain protects and crushes. It is a breastplate and a club. You have enemies? Why, it is the story of every man who has done a great deed or created a new idea. It is the cloud which thunders around everything, which shines. Fame must have enemies, as light must have gnats. Do not bother yourself about it; disdain. Keep your mind serene as you keep your life clear. Do not give your enemies the satisfaction of thinking that they cause you grief or pain. Be happy, be cheerful, be disdainful, be firm.
[C’est une des choses les plus difficiles et les plus nécessaires de la vie que d’apprendre à dédaigner. Le dédain protège et écrase. C’est une cuirasse et une massue. Vous avez des ennemis? Mais c’est l’histoire de tout homme qui a fait une action grande ou créé une idée neuve. C’est la nuée qui bruit autour de tout ce qui brille. Il faut que la renommée ait des ennemis comme il faut que la lumière ait des moucherons. Ne vous en inquiétez pas; dédaignez! Ayez la sérénité dans votre esprit comme vous avez la limpidité dans votre vie. Ne donnez pas à vos ennemis cette joie de penser qu’ils vous affligent et qu’ils vous troublent. Soyez content, soyez joyeux, soyez dédaigneux, soyez fort.]
Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Diary (1845-12-07), “Villemain,” Things Seen [Choses Vues], Vol. 1 (1887)
(Source)
Dictated 1845-12-03 by Hugo to Juliette Drouet.
Sometimes attributed (in a shortened form) to Winston Churchill.
(Source (French)). Another translation:One of the hardest and most important things in life is learning to treat things with disdain. Disdain can protect, it can crush; it’s a breastplate and a club. You’ve got enemies? Why, that’s the story of every man who has done a great deed or come up with a new idea. It’s the thundercloud around everything that shines. Fame will attract enemies just as light will attract insects. Don’t fret about it. Treat it with disdain. Keep your mind calm, just as you keep your life clean. Don’t give your enemies the satisfaction of thinking that they’re hurting you and upsetting you. Be happy and cheerful and disdainful and strong.
[tr. Blackmore (2004)]
If we could read the secret history of our enemies, we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) American poet
“Table Talk,” Drift-Wood (1857)
(Source)
More discussion of this quotation here: If We Could Read the Secret History of Our Enemies, We Should Find in Each Man’s Life Sorrow and Suffering Enough To Disarm All Hostility – Quote Investigator.
Hastur was paranoid, which was simply a sensible and well-adjusted reaction to living in Hell, where they really were all out to get you.
Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Good Omens, 6. “Saturday” (1990) [with Neil Gaiman]
(Source)
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929-1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Trumpet of Conscience,” Steeler Lecture (Nov 1967)