2 quotations linked to Of Revenge by or associated with Francis Bacon, with source notes, explanations and related topics.
Use these links when you want to inspect the wording in its wider work or edition.
“A man that studieth revenge keeps his own wounds green.”
Revenge can keep an injury psychologically active long after the original event, making resentment a way of repeatedly reopening the hurt.
Source note: Bacon, “Of Revenge”; the sentence continues by contrasting revenge with wounds that would otherwise heal.
“In taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior.”
Bacon argues that retaliation merely mirrors the wrong, whereas refusing revenge can restore agency by ending the cycle instead of remaining governed by the injury.
Source note: Bacon, “Of Revenge”; the essay contrasts revenge with the higher act of passing an offence over.