QuoteProject
The angry man wishes the object of his anger to suffer in return; hatred wishes its object not to exist.
Aristotle
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Anger seeks retribution while hatred desires the complete destruction of its target.

In this quote, Aristotle distinguishes between anger and hatred, suggesting that while anger is often a desire for the person who has wronged us to face consequences for their actions, hatred goes further by wishing that the person simply does not exist. This highlights the deeper, more destructive nature of hatred compared to the more immediate and perhaps more understandable response of anger.

Themes

AngerHatredPhilosophyEmotionHuman Nature

In practice

Example use cases

In a discussion about the effects of negative emotions, this quote can illustrate the destructive power of hatred.

More from Aristotle

Love is composed of a single soul inhabiting two bodies.
AristotleRead
Those who cannot bravely face danger are the slaves of their attackers.
AristotleRead
For often, when one is asleep, there is something in consciousness which declares that what then presents itself is but a dream.
AristotleRead
You will never do anything in this world without courage. It is the greatest quality of the mind next to honor.
AristotleRead
But if nothing but soul, or in soul mind, is qualified to count, it is impossible for there to be time unless there is soul, but only that of which time is an attribute, i.e. if change can exist without soul.
AristotleRead
The whole is more than the sum of its parts.
AristotleRead

Similar quotes

The right of nature... is the liberty each man hath to use his own power, as he will himself, for the preservation of his own nature; that is to say, of his own life.
Thomas HobbesRead
A good character is the best tombstone.
Charles SpurgeonRead
Lying is an elementary means of self-defense.
Susan SontagRead
There are two classes of Christians: the proud who imagine they are humble and the humble who are afraid they are proud. There should be another class: the self-forgetful who leave the whole thing in the hands of Christ and refuse to waste any time trying to make themselves good. They will reach the goal far ahead of the rest.
Aiden Wilson TozerRead
Humanity at the centre of the primates, Homo sapiens, in humanity, is the end-product of a gradual work of creation, the successive sketches for which still surround us on every side.
Pierre Teilhard De ChardinRead
In the final analysis, true justice is not a matter of courts and law books, but of a commitment in each of us to liberty and mutual respect.
Jimmy CarterRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.