52 Vengeance Quotes

In the intricate dance of human emotions, few feelings are as powerful and consuming as vengeance. The urge to seek justice, to right a perceived wrong, or to reclaim one's honor often fuels some of the most memorable and compelling narratives in literature, film, and history. Our curated collection of the top 52 vengeance quotes delves deep into this intense emotion, exploring its complexities and the myriad ways it shapes our actions and decisions. Join us as we journey through these poignant, thought-provoking quotes that highlight the dark allure and profound impact of vengeance.

1. “Vengeance is sweet. Vengeance taken when the vengee isn't sure who the venger is, is sweeter still.” - Gary D. Schmidt

2. “Art makes murder into the supreme image of Beauty and in doing so sets free the vengeful God. (referring to Jean Lorrain's LE VICE ERRANT)” - Jennifer Birkett

3. “Towards thee I roll, thou all-destroying but unconquering whale; to the last I grapple with thee; from hell's heart I stab at thee; for hate's sake I spit my last breath at thee.” - Herman Melville

4. “LET THE FLAMES BEGIN!” - Hayley Williams

5. “For the taking of revenge, a man locks himself up alone and thinks. His stomach must be empty for his head to be full. Vengeance comes a little from the heart and a lot from the mind; one must take oneself apart from the noise of men and of things, even from what resembles them; only the voices of bells and of thunder are allowed. Let the room in which you meditate be dark, narrow and warm.” - Xavier Forneret

6. “The raw hunk of meat that used to be my enemy makes a sound, and I know where the mouth is. And I think the word he's trying to say is 'please'. Pity, not vengeance sends my arrow flying into his skull.” - Suzanne Collins

7. “And I may not omit here a special work of God's providence. There was a proud and very profane young man [aboard the Mayflower], one of the seamen, of a lusty, able body, which made him the more haughty; he would always be contemning the poor people in their [sea]sickness, and cursing them daily with grievous execrations, and did not let to tell them, that he hoped to help cast half of them overboard before they came to their journey's end, and to make merry with what they had; and if he were by any gently reproved, he would curse and swear most bitterly.But it pleased God before they came half seas over, to smite this young man with a grievous disease, of which he died in a desperate manner, and so was himself the first that was thrown overboard. Thus his curses light on his own head; and it was an astonishment to all his fellows, for they noted it to be the just hand of God upon him.” - William Bradford

8. “Vengeance is one of life's great motivators.” - K.S. Brooks

9. “Part of me wants justice for this. Part of me wants to never cause harm to another.” - Ken Scholes

10. “Regarding vengeance and arch-enemies, one must not only be timely but prideful, and pride exacts propriety.” - Adam Levin

11. “And now...farewell to kindness, humanity and gratitude. I have substituted myself for Providence in rewarding the good; may the God of vengeance now yield me His place to punish the wicked.” - Alexandre Dumas

12. “If you're betrayed, release disappointment at once.By that way, the bitterness has no time to take root.” - Toba Beta

13. “War always reaches the depths of horror because of idiots who perpetuate terror from generation to generation under the pretext of vengeance.” - Guy Sajer

14. “Man tames not vengeance; vengeance breaks the man.” - Chris Galford

15. “When the ships had lifted, they returned across the river to the silence of death. Then his grandfather told him, "Many fine things your father had planned for you: learning and useful work and a life of satisfaction and peace. Do you recall this?""Yes, Grandfather.""The learning you shall have. You will learn patience and resource, the ability of your hands and your mind. You will have useful work: the destruction of evil men. What work could be more useful? This is Beyond; you will find that your work is never done—so therefore you may never know life of peace. However, I guarantee you ample satisfaction, for I will teach you to crave the blood of these men more than the flesh of woman."The old man had been as good as his word.” - Jack Vance

16. “...And you, you better run because i'm going to destroy you for what you've taken from me.” - Samantha Young

17. “I am often thought of as being remarkably bright, and yet my brains, more often than not, are busily devising new and interesting ways of bringing my enemies to sudden, gagging, writhing, agonizing death.” - Alan Bradley

18. “And now,' said the unknown, 'farewell kindness, humanity, and gratitude! Farewell to all the feelings that expand the heart! I have been heaven's substitute to recompense the good - now the god of vengeance yields to me his power to punish the wicked!” - Alexandre Dumas

19. “For some offenses, there is only retribution." Nora Hawks, "One Woman's Vengeance.” - Dennis R. Miller

20. “I know there are people who believe you should forgive and forget. For the record, I'd like to say I'm a big fan of forgiveness as long as I'm given the opportunity to get even first.” - Sue Grafton

21. “You cannot get ahead while you are getting even.” - Dick Armey

22. “Grudges are for those who insist that they are owed something; forgiveness, however, is for those who are substantial enough to move on.” - Criss Jami

23. “When it comes to world news, attitude is what marks the distinction between justice and vengeance. Justice is pure, but vengeance brings more ruin.” - Criss Jami

24. “Wendy is still dead. I hadn't understood before: it really doesn't bring them back. Somehow, you think, despite what you know, it will be a trade. Find the person who did the wrong thing and they will suffer instead of the one who was killed. Instead, that person just suffers too.” - Mariah Fredericks

25. “The fish was an enemy. It had come upon the community and killed two men, a woman, and a child. The people of Amity would demand the death of the fish. They would need to see it dead before they could feel secure enough to resume their normal lives.” - Peter Benchley

26. “But secondly you say 'society must exact vengeance, and society must punish'. Wrong on both counts. Vengeance comes from the individual and punishment from God.” - Victor Hugo

27. “... Life can be savored only if you look to the future and leave vengeance to the gods” - David Gemmell

28. “I am glad that though someone did me grossly wrong my final mark on this world is not one of countering hurt with more hurt but is one of love and friendship. We will always be known by our actions. Let them always be good ones.” - Sherrilyn Kenyon

29. “To seek greatness is the only righteous vengeance.” - Criss Jami

30. “I, Rooster John Byron, hereby place a curseUpon the Kennet and Avon Council,May they wander the land for ever,Never sleep twice in the same bed,Never drink water from the same well,And never cross the same river twice in a year.He who steps in my blood, may it stick to themLike hot oil. May it scorch them for life,And may the heat dry up their souls,And may they be filled with the melancholyWine won't shift. And all their newborn babiesBe born mangled, with the same marks,The same wounds of their fathers.Any uniform which brushes a single leaf of this woodIs cursed, and he who wears it this St George's Day,May he not see the next.” - Jez Butterworth

31. “She swore vengeance on all men with dark hearts.” - Lisa Papademetriou

32. “It is unfortunate that in most cases when the sins of the father fall on the son it is because unlike God, people refuse to forgive and forget and heap past wrongs upon innocent generations.” - E.A. Bucchianeri

33. “Stamp, your name is to be Laura. I'm sharing my name with you. I'm putting my power into you and you must do my work. Don't listen to anyone but me. You are to be my command laid on my enemy. you'll make a hole in him through which he'll drip away until he runs dry. As he drips out darkness, we'll smile together, me inside, you outside. We'll crush him between our smiles.” - Margaret Mahy

34. “No one messes around with a nerd’s computer and escapes unscathed.” - E.A. Bucchianeri

35. “The ecstasy of wrath is not enough for vengeance!” - Anonyms

36. “Life was taking its vengeance on me, and that vengeance consisted merely in coming back, nothing more. Every case of madness involves something coming back. People who are possessed are not possessed by something that just comes but instead by something that comes back. Sometimes life comes back. If in me everything crumbled before that power, it is not because that power was itself necessarily an overwhelming one: it in fact had only to come, since it had already become too full-flowing a force to be controlled or contained - when it appeared it overran everything. And then, like after a flood, there floated a wardrobe, a person, a loose window, three suitcases. And that seemed like Hell to me, that destruction of layers and layers of human archaeology.” - Clarice Lispector

37. “Judiciously show a cat, milk, if you wish her to thirst for it. Judiciously show a dog his natural prey, if you wish him to bring it down one day.” - Charles Dickens

38. “When the time comes, let loose a tiger and a devil; but wait for the time with the tiger and the devil chained -not shown- yet always ready.” - Charles Dickens

39. “Some justice, though did not deal with kindheartedness or good feeling toward others. No, justice had a darker side, a gray area where it mingled alongside vengeance, and only the wise and pure of heart were able to tell the two apart. That kind of justice was swift. It was only called upon afer mercy and morals fail. It was the darkest form of goodness known to anyone, even the gods, and required only the strongest, most daring men to bring about.” - Evan Meekins

40. “Respect the dead, learn from them, do not follow or avenge them.” - Evan Meekins

41. “Every decent man in America ought to swoon with joy for the opportunity to crush with his heel the woolly head of this black lizard, to keep him from scuttling on his belly farther over the earth and spitting forth his venom of death!” - richard wright

42. “I wanted it more than enough. I wanted it with every fiber of my being, and I had the power to make it happen - to make it so I was the one Drew wanted, not Lizzie” - Michelle Madow

43. “Vengeance, retaliation, retribution, revenge are deceitful brothers—vile, beguiling demons promising justifiable compensation to a pained soul for his losses. Yet in truth they craftily fester away all else of worth remaining.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

44. “He was in that humour when a man will cut off his nose to spite his face” - Robert Louis Stevenson

45. “Vengeance is a monster of appetite, forever bloodthirsty and never filled.” - Richelle E. Goodrich

46. “Vengeance is a delicious fruit, which must be allowed to ripen in order that it may be fully enjoyed.” - Émile Gaboriau

47. “Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavour, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned.” - Charlotte Brontë

48. “Everyone might think Lizzie's an angel, but I knew better. She was selfish, and she was going to pay.” - Michelle Madow

49. “One of my favorite dialogue pieces from Black Creek Burning: “It was a polite, white lie,” Brie whispered. “I’ll have to remember you think that way,” Nathan said.” - R.T. Wolfe

50. “God will not let any violence go unpunished, but He Himself will take vengeance on our enemies and will send home to them what they have deserved by the way they have treated us. As He Himself says (Deut. 23:55): “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay.” On the basis of this, St. Paul admonishes the Christians (Rom. 12:19): “Never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God.” These words are not only instruction but also consolation, as if He were to say: “Do not take it upon yourselves to avenge yourselves on one another or to speak curses and maledictions. The person that does you harm or injury is interfering with the office of God and sinning against God as gravely as this man has sinned against you. Therefore, keep your fist to yourself. Leave it to the charge of His wrath and punishing, for He will not let it remain unavenged, and His punishment is more severe than you would like. This man has not assailed you but God Himself, and has already fallen into His wrath. He will not escape this. No one ever has. So why get angry with him when the anger of God, immensely greater and more severe than the anger and punishment of the whole world, has already come upon him and has already avenged itself more thoroughly than you ever could? Besides, he has not injured you one tenth as much as he has injured God. When you see him lying under the severe condemnation, why so many curses and threats of vengeance? Rather you should take pity on his plight, and pray for him to be rescued from it and to reform.” - Martin Luther

51. “Sorry, but I have plans elsewhere,” William said darkly. “I’m leaving tomorrow morning, and I’ll be gone for a few weeks.”“What plans?”“Doesn’t matter why I kept you in the dark. I’m going and that’s final.”“You can’t go without me,” Gilly said.“I can and I will.”“You promised to protect me always. How can you protect me if you’re gone?”“I didn’t lie to you. I will always protect you,” William told her gently. He stood, reached for her, but realized what he was doing and dropped his arms to his sides. “You have to trust me on this.” - Gena Showalter

52. “I've always considered myself a good person. I've never done anything to purposely hurt anyone. I was in shock that this happened to me, and because it did, I turned into this vengeful person. I've never truly hated anyone, but I was glad when I saw him lying there on the floor.” - Maya Banks