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Quotes / Revenge

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    Anime and Manga 

"Listen, Jolyne. This is between me and [the man who murdered my sister]. 'Course, there's gonna be people who say that revenge isn't gonna bring back my sister. They don't get it. Others will say forgiveness is what matters. But, I sure as hell don't want to live my life forcing myself to forget the fact that my sister was thrown away in a fucking gutter... and besides, I've already made up my mind!"

"I'm an avenger!"
Sasuke Uchiha (fairly often), Naruto

    Comic Books 

"Revenge is good. As good a fire to move forward as any. Remember those who stood on your fingers as you climbed the craggy cliffs. Remember their faces. Remember their families."
Arnim Zola, Captain America

    Comic Strips 

Dilbert: Dogbert, we must become vigilantes and punish the man who robbed our house!! It's not justice we seek, it's revenge!!! We must make him suffer.
Dogbert: Tell him one of your stories about work.

    Film 

"Revenge is never a straight line. It's a forest, and like a forest it's easy to lose your way...to get lost...to forget where you came in."
Hattori Hanzo, Kill Bill

Revenge is a dish Best Served Cold.

"Then it will happen this way: You make the kill. But your pain doesn't die with Harvey, it grows. So you run out into the night to find another face, and another, and another, until one terrible morning you wake up and realize that revenge has become your whole life. And you won't know why."
Bruce Wayne to Dick Grayson, Batman Forever

"Revenge is like a poison. It can take you over, and before you know it, it can turn you into something ugly."
Aunt May, Spider-Man 3

"Evil wakes in vengeance. Be careful what you choose."
Dahila, Silent Hill

"No it doesn't! Cause there's still gonna be one guy with one eye! How's the last blind guy gonna stab out the last one eye'd guy's eye? All the one-eye'd guy has to do is run and hide, and the blind guy won't be able to find him. Gandhi was wrong! Just no one has the balls to say it..."

Buzz Lightyear: I just want you to know that, even though you tried to terminate me, revenge is not an idea we promote on my planet.
Woody: Oh, well, that's good.
Buzz Lightyear: [leans in] But we're not on my planet... [grabs Woody's collar] Are we?
Woody: No...

"That's why you left the temple and ran away, isn't it? The Great Tournament was too much responsibility. But vengeance... that's so much simpler."
Raiden to Liu Kang on the subject of this very trope which isn't strong enough to help him defeat Shang Tsung, Mortal Kombat: The Movie

"I wanted to give you an empty world... like the one you gave me."
Ernst Stavro Blofeld, No Time to Die

    Literature 

"The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could; but when he ventured upon insult, I vowed revenge."

Properly speaking, there is no such thing as revenge. Revenge is an act which you want to commit when you are powerless and because you are powerless: as soon as the sense of impotence is removed, the desire evaporates also.
George Orwell, Revenge Is Sour

"Revenge is the foundation of justice. Justice began with revenge, and revenge is still the only justice some beings can ever hope for."
Emperor Palpatine, Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith novelization

"Torak... You seek vengeance. But don't let it take over your spirit. Vengeance burns, Torak. It burns your heart. It makes the pain worse. Don't let that happen to you."

"It is always better to avenge dear ones than to indulge in mourning."
Beowulf, Beowulf (v. 1385-6)

"Revenge truly is sweet. It takes you to a dark place, but, man, it satisfies a thirst."

"And would you go nae length for revenge?" said the hag—"for revenge—the sweetest morsel to the mouth that ever was cooked in hell!"

"You have overthrown the whole of my life, torn me from family and friends and home; you have ruined all my lord's hopes for China, and I must live knowing that all for which he fought and labored was for naught. His spirit will live unquiet, and his grave go untended.
No, I will not kill you, or your captain, who binds you to his country. I will see you bereft of all that you have, of home and happiness and beautiful things. I will see your nation cast down and your allies drawn away. I will see you as alone and friendless and wretched as am I; and then you may live as long as you like, in some dark and lonely corner of the earth, and I will call myself content...
We will not meet again perhaps for a long while; I hope you will remember me, and know what joys you have are numbered."

"We stand alone at the edge of the world, as I stood alone atop the corpses of my family. When you go forth from this city, you will bring the same ruin to your people that you allowed to befall mine. I am Hallandrette's favourite son and I will devour your bones as surely as she does when her unloved children are cast into the ocean."
Florian Leikenbloom, The Monster of Elendhaven

    Live-Action TV 

"See, that day I vowed I would do everything in my power to track you down, gain your trust, and then destroy you."
Barney Stinson, How I Met Your Mother, "Unpause"

"Four years ago my partner — my friend — was killed and I took about as much revenge as any man can take. It cost me everything I had: what was left of my family, everything. Somehow I thought it would ease the pain but it doesn't. And somewhere in your heart you really have to accept that... and then you can begin to forgive yourself."
Jack Bauer, 24: Live Another Day

"Love turned to rage in that moment. So I hunted down, and murdered Grant Ward. Not to serve any good. Not to serve any belief. I wanted revenge. I wanted to feel him die. That's the sin that gave your devil new life."
Phil Coulson, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Garak: All during the years of my exile I imagined what it would be like to come home. I even thought of living in this house again, with Mila. But now she's dead, and this house is about to be reduced to a pile of rubble. My Cardassia is gone.
Kira: Then fight for a new Cardassia.
Garak: I have an even better reason, Commander: revenge.
Kira: That works too.

To the modern man, vengeance is an idea, a word. Payback, one thing for another, like commerce. Not for us. Vengeance is a living thing. It moves through the generations. It commands. It kills.

Mike: Revenge is a waste of time.
Fiona: Well, so is watching TV and eating candy — you do it because it feels good.
Burn Notice, "Hot Spot"

    Music 

That you'd think I would seek any glory
Betrays the true blindness that has overcome you!
I recall the virtues I stood for
I recall the struggles and the things we have done!
I will not be deterred from my vengeance,
I remember the lessons passed on to the sons
I am one of the Emperor's Children!
I am Rylanor and I am the Ancient of Rites
So I reject you now and for always!
To strike you down I have waited for a million nights!
Stringstorm, "Rylanor's Last Stand"

Here comes revenge, just for you
Revenge, you can't undo
Revenge, it's killing me
Revenge, set me free
Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth
A life for a life, it's my burden of proof
Revenge, just for you, revenge
You ask forgiveness, I give you sweet revenge
Metallica, "Here Comes Revenge"

"You'll never know what hit you
Won't see me closing in
I'm gonna make you suffer
This hell you put me in
I'm underneath your skin
The devil within..."
Digital Daggers, "The Devil Within"

    Religion and Myth 

Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, "Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord."

    Tabletop Games 

Some deeds are too horrible to go unpunished. The Lord's Church counsels forgiveness, but as anyone who has seen a witch-burning knows, the ministers of God are anything but forgiving. "Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord..." but why should it belong to Him alone? Most folk are denied revenge or justice by the very institutions that revel in it themselves. The common man has neither the means to nor the permission to exact vengeance personally, and Church and Crown rarely do it for him. What is he to do? Nothing? Never!
Revenge and rebellion go hand-in-hand, united by hatred and helplessness. After a while, no damnation could be worse than the pain of doing nothing. To those who have been wronged beyond forgiveness - to the mother whose son was trampled by a princely brat, to the husband whose wife was raped by mercenaries, to the orphan whose parents were burned for a witchcraft they never practiced - retribution screams like a tempest in their veins. When God will not help, the Devil may!
Mage: The Sorcerer's Crusade — Infernalism, Mage: The Ascension

    Theatre 

"If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh? If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not revenge?"

I will carry Hell to your doorstep!
I will make you pay!
You will reap the hate you've sown
On my Judgement Day!
Sleepless nights and days of damnation,
Soon and evermore.
I will bring the Chateau d'If
Knocking upon your door!
Edmond Dantes, "Hell to Your Doorstep", The Count of Monte Cristo, The Musical

    Video Games 

Look, even if you think we're still enemies, we're enemies with a common interest: revenge. You like revenge, right? Everybody likes revenge! Well, let's go get some!
GLaDOS, Portal 2

"Travis! You are the loser! This fight was only part of our plan! I said I'd avenge you killing my brother, didn't I?! Well, who's been a brother to you? Travis....don't think you can kill without suffering consequences! To kill someone is not simply to end their life...one must be willing to risk their entire being to destroy another's! Up until now, you've had it easy...I'm taking the curse you gave me, the shackles of revenge, and throwing them back on you! Now, it's your turn to be burdened with another's death! It has destroyed me, and it will destroy you, too! THIS IS THE ULTIMATE VENGEANCE!"
— last words of Skelter Helter, No More Heroes 2: Desperate Struggle

You act as though payback makes you a noble man
Is that a fact?
Well, you're a goddamn Philistine!

"Vae Victus - suffering to the conquered. Ironic that now I was the one suffering. Not anything as pedestrian as physical pain. Rather the cruel jab of impotent anger - the hunger for revenge. I didn’t care if I was in Heaven or Hell - all I wanted was to kill my assassins. Sometimes you get what you wish for. The Necromancer Mortanius offered me a chance for vengeance. And like a fool, I jumped at his offer without considering the cost. Nothing is free. Not even revenge."

"There is no greater release than that from vengeance sated."
Kain, Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

"Mine wasn't the most original approach to the problem. An eye for an eye, the first principle of revenge. Old as dirt, still going strong. The cardinal rule in going after someone with an intention to kill was not to make it personal — which it almost always ended up being anyway. It did with me."

"EFREET! I have come for you! Face me NOW!"
Tibicenas returning to the Djinn world for revenge against the Efreet in AdventureQuest Worlds

"Any prize I want huh? I'll take revenge. Try having your face ripped apart. See what you ask for."
Frank "No Face" McCutcheon, Twisted Metal: Black

    Webcomics 

"I want you to listen very carefully. There's one thing better than friends. Killing the guy that killed your friends."
Axe Cop, Axe Cop

They say when you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves. They underestimate me.

    Web Animation 

I had one thing
And you've taken it from me
A single light, a single friend
But you've made that end
There was one thing
To help escape the misery
And now it's all disarrayed
You took my whole life away
You sent me back to nothing
Now you'll pay
Pay

    Web Original 

"REVEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEENNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
Goliath, Gargoyles Abridged

    Western Animation 

"Revenge is a dish best served immediately."
Dan, Dan Vs.

"Grammy Flash used to say that the trouble with "an eye for an eye" is that everyone ends up blind."
The Flash, Justice League Unlimited, "Flashpoint"

"Revenge, as they say, is a sucker's game."
David Xanatos, defying this trope in Gargoyles

"One well-placed shot and the pain disappears. "

    Real Life 
Revenge is an act of passion; vengeance of justice. Injuries are revenged; crimes are avenged.
Joseph Joubert

Revenge has no more quenching effect on emotions than salt water has on thirst.
Walter Weckler

Revenge is sweeter than life itself. So think fools.
Juvenal

Revenge is the sword that wounds the one who wields it.
E. C. McKenzie

Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.
— Japanese proverb

The gentleman does not needlessly and unnecessarily remind an offender of a wrong he may have committed against him. He cannot only forgive, he can forget; and he strives for that nobleness of self and mildness of character which impart sufficient strength to let the past be but the past.
Robert E. Lee

Life being what it is, one dreams of revenge.
Paul Gauguin

"Americans always talk about the love of justice in that really abstract form, but what the person on the street really wants is street justice — the bad guy gets his comeuppance. The Caped Crusader and the something avenger, it's all about vengeance, and something like that. We don't have a hero named Jurisprudence Man."
Larry Hama, re: The Punisher, Superheroes: A Never Ending Battle

"Writers, as a class, are the research-and-development team for the whole human race in the domain of revenge. We ennoble it, we glorify it; we earn our livings inventing wonderful and exotic ways to justify the delicious deed of puncturing the pompous who make our lives miserable. We create virtual daydreams for the masses in which the mighty are humiliated for their misdeeds of oppression against those who are still climbing the evolutionary ladder. It is our job to tend the flames of mythic vision, creating the cultural context in which the arrogant are accurately mirrored and drawn, so that all will know who they are. It is our job to prepare the ground so that the thieves of joy can be reduced to craven, whimpering, pitiful objects of scorn and abuse."
David Gerrold, Alternate Gerrolds: An Assortment of Fictitious Lives

"Revenge... is like a rolling stone, which, when man hath forced up a hill, will return on him with a greater violence, and break those bones whose sinews gave it motion."
Jeremy Taylor

"Men are more ready to repay an injury than a benefit, because gratitude is a burden and revenge a pleasure."
Tacticus


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