“Give me strength, not to be better than my enemies, but to defeat my greatest enemy, the doubts within myself. Give me strength for a straight back and clear eyes, so when life fades, as the setting sun, my spirit may come to you without shame.”

— P. C. Cast

Last update June 3, 2021. History

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P. C. Cast 136

American writer 1960

P. C. Cast (1960) American writer

“What I’ve loved most after you, is myself: that is, my dignity and that strength which made me superior to other men. That Strength was my life. You’ve broken it with a word, so I must die.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Count of Monte Cristo

Source: The Count of Monte Cristo

“In all my perplexities and distresses, the Bible has never failed to give me light and strength.”

Robert E. Lee (1807–1870) Confederate general in the Civil War

“My enemy said to me, "Love your enemy." And I obeyed him and loved myself.”

Khalil Gibran (1883–1931) Lebanese artist, poet, and writer

Spiritual Sayings of Kahlil Gibran
Paraphrasing of Gibran's quote "My enemy said to me, 'Love your enemy.' And I obeyed him and loved myself."
Variant: And God said, Love your enemy, & I obeyed Him & loved myself.
Source: misattributed on these websites: GaiamLife (blog) http://blog.gaiam.com/quotes/authors/kahlil-gibran?page=3 & Quote Corner - Khalil Gibran quotes Part 1 http://quotecorner.com/Khalil-Gibran-quotes.html

“You [recruits] have sworn loyalty to me. You have only one enemy and that is my enemy. In the present social confusion it may come about that I order you to shoot down your own relatives, brothers or parents but even then you must follow my orders without a murmur.”

Wilhelm II, German Emperor (1859–1941) German Emperor and King of Prussia

Speech (23 November 1891), quoted in Michael Balfour, The Kaiser and His Times (London: Penguin, 1975), p. 158
1890s

“Defend me from my friends; I can defend myself from my enemies.”

Voltaire (1694–1778) French writer, historian, and philosopher

Garantissez-moi de mes amis, écrivait Gourville proscrit et fugitif, je saurai me défendre de mes ennemis. ("Defend me from my friends," wrote Gourville, exile and fugitive, "I can defend myself from my enemies.") — Gabriel Sénac de Meilhan, Considérations sur l'esprit et les moeurs (1788): "De L'Amitié." Sénac de Meilhan was quoting Jean Hérault, sieur de Gourville (1625 - 1703).
The remark has often been attributed to Voltaire and to Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars.
Misattributed

“Don't look at me any more! If you want, I can give you my eyes — which are still fresh — and my back so you can fix that hump of yours.”

Federico García Lorca (1898–1936) Spanish poet, dramatist and theatre director

¡No me mires más! Si quieres te daré mis ojos, que son frescos, y mis espaldas para que te compongas la joroba que tienes.
Act II (ll. 578–580)
The House of Bernarda Alba (1936)