The law is a gun, which if it misses a pigeon always kills a crow; if it does not strike the guilty, it hits someone else. As every crime creates a law, so in turn every law creates a crime.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
It is difficult to say who do you the most mischief, enemies with the worst intentions, or friends with the best.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects on the potential for harm caused by both enemies and friends, highlighting the complexities of human relationships.
This quote by Edward Bulwer-Lytton draws attention to the idea that both enemies and friends can cause harm in different ways. While enemies may act with malicious intent, friends may inadvertently cause greater mischief through misguided actions, emphasizing the importance of being cautious in the trust we place in others and the potential consequences of their actions, regardless of their intentions.
Themes
RelationshipsFriendsEnemiesTrustMischief
In practice
Example use cases
This quote is perfect for a discussion on the nature of trust in relationships during a psychology seminar.
More from Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron Lytton
All quotes βThe best teacher is the one who suggests rather than dogmatizes, and inspires his listener with the wish to teach himself.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
There are two lives to each of us, the life of our actions, and the life of our minds and hearts. History reveals men's deeds and their outward characters, but not themselves. There is a secret self that has its own life, unpenetrated and unguessed.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
A chord, stronger or weaker, is snapped asunder in every parting, and time's busy fingers are not practiced in re-splicing broken ties. Meet again you may; will it be in the same way? With the same sympathies? With the same sentiments? Will the souls, hurrying on in diverse paths, unite once more, as if the interval had been a dream? Rarely, rarely!
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
No author ever drew a character consistent to human nature, but he was forced to ascribe to it many inconsistencies.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
Revenge is a common passion; it is the sin of the uninstructed. The savage deems it noble;but the religion of Christ, which is the sublime civilizer, emphatically condemns it. Why? Because religion ever seeks to ennoble man; and nothing so debases him as revenge.
Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1St Baron LyttonRead
Similar quotes
Treat people as if they were what they ought to be and you help them to become what they are capable of being.
Johann Wolfgang Von GoetheRead
Selden and Lily stood still, accepting the unreality of the scene as a part of their own dream-like sensations. It would not have surprised them to feel a summer breeze on their faces, or to see the lights among the boughs reduplicated in the arch of a starry sky. The strange solitude about them was no stranger than the sweetness of being alone in it together.
Edith WhartonRead
If we can exit a relationship, pressure to reconcile lessens; if we must live with those who have wronged us, we are pushed to reconcile.
Miroslav VolfRead
I don't think it's good to try and change anyone. The trick and the mystery - of relationships and life in general - is to learn to live with the bits you don't like.
Helen MirrenRead
I'll make him an offer he can't refuse.
Mario PuzoRead
Improve relationships with others by assuming that they can hear everything you say about them
Stephen CoveyRead