“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
Variant: Always forgive your enemies — nothing annoys them so much.
Source: The 48 Laws of Power
“Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.”
Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish writer and poet
Variant: Always forgive your enemies — nothing annoys them so much.
Erich Maria Remarque book All Quiet on the Western Front
Paul to the corpse of a French man he has just killed, Ch. 9
All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)
“Forgive your enemies, but never forget their names.”
John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America
As quoted in Mayor (1984) by Ed Koch
Attributed
Phan Thi Kim Phuc (1963) Child depicted in the Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph taken during the Vietnam War on June 8, 1972
"In Napa, “napalm girl” Kim Phuc shares story of suffering and forgiveness in Vietnam and beyond" in Napa Valley Register https://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/in-napa-napalm-girl-kim-phuc-shares-story-of-suffering-and-forgiveness-in-vietnam-and/article_4f9225b8-0938-5509-b69b-abe13479fd4d.html (24 February 2019)
Miguel Pro (1891–1927) Mexican Jesuit priest and martyr
Source: Blessed Miguel Pro Juarez https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/saint/blessed-miguel-pro-juarez-397 (November 23, 1927)
Erich Maria Remarque book All Quiet on the Western Front
Paul to the corpse of a French man he has just killed, Ch. 9
Source: All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)
Context: I thought of your hand-grenades, of your bayonet, of your rifle; now I see your wife and your face and our fellowship. Forgive me, comrade. We always see it too late. Why do they never tell us that you are poor devils like us, that your mothers are just as anxious as ours, and that we have the same fear of death, and the same dying and the same agony — Forgive me, comrade; how could you be my enemy?
“I would ask you all to be on your guard against the enemy within.”
Clement Attlee (1883–1967) Former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
There are those who would stop at nothing to injure our economy and our defence. The price of liberty is still eternal vigilance. I know what a fine part the trade unionists of this country have played in our recovery effort. When they are asked to take unofficial action, which may hurt this country, let them just consider carefully whether the motives of those who ask them to strike are really concerned with the interests of the workers.
Broadcast (30 July 1950), quoted in The Times (31 July 1950), p. 4
Prime Minister
Robert E. Lee (1807–1870) Confederate general in the Civil War
As quoted in A Life of General Robert E. Lee (1871), by John Esten Cooke