“I must be cruel only to be kind;
Thus bad begins, and worse remains behind.”
Source: Hamlet
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William Shakespeare699
English playwright and poet 1564–1616Related quotes
Charles Darwin (1809–1882) British naturalist, author of "On the origin of species, by means of natural selection"
Charlotte Brontë book Jane Eyre
Jane to Helen Burns (Ch. 6)
Jane Eyre (1847)
Context: If people were always kind and obedient to those who are cruel and unjust; the wicked people would have it all their own way: they would never feel afraid, and so they would never alter, but would grow worse and worse. When we are struck at without a reason, we should strike back again very hard; I am sure we should — so hard as to teach the person who struck us never to do it again.
“Baby, you got to be cruel, you got to be cruel to be kind.”
Nick Lowe (1949) British singer
"Cruel to Be Kind" on the single Little Hitler / Cruel to Be Kind (1978) (Top of the Pops 1979) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-JJ7oGHwMTI <br class="br">Context: I pick myself up off the ground to have you knock me back down<br>Again and again and when I ask you to explain<br>You say, you've got to be...<br>Cruel to be kind in the right measure<br>Cruel to be kind it's a very good sign<br>Cruel to be kind means that I love you<br>Baby, you got to be cruel, you got to be cruel to be kind.
Sarah Dessen book What Happened to Goodbye
What Happened To Goodbye (2011)
Source: What Happened to Goodbye