50 Enemy Quotes That Will Make You Want to Cut Ties With Your Frenemies

The enemy quotes below will help you figure out how to spot an enemy hiding within your friends.

Enemy seems like such a strong word, but having a true enemy is a big deal. How do you beat your enemy? Should you make your enemy your friend? Maybe, you don’t think you have enemies, but want to know what you should say to the haters in your life?

An enemy is defined as, “a thing that harms or weakens something else.” We can all use a little less of those things in our lives, and hopefully, these enemy quotes will give you the inspiration to rise above, and just leave the haters behind!

Enemy quotes on the differences between friends and enemies

1. “I choose my friends for their good looks, my acquaintances for their good characters, and my enemies for their good intellects.” ― Oscar Wilde

2. “It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

3. “Never explain―your friends do not need it and your enemies will not believe you anyway.” ― Elbert Hubbard

4. “Your Worst Enemy Could Be Your Best Friend && Your Best Friend Your Worst Enemy” ― Bob Marley

5. “Friends ask you questions; enemies question you.”  ― Criss Jami

6. “The man of knowledge must be able not only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

7. “Your friends will believe in your potential, your enemies will make you live up to it.” ― Tim Fargo

8. “A wise man gets more use from his enemies than a fool from his friends.” ― Baltasar Gracian

9. “There’s ways you can trust an enemy you can’t always trust a friend. An enemy’s never going to betray your trust.” ― Daniel Abraham

10. “When a sinister person means to be your enemy, they always start by trying to become your friend” ― William Blake

11. “An honorable man is fair even to his enemies; a dishonorable man is unfair even to his friends!” ― Mehmet Murat ildan

Enemy quotes on how to fight your haters

12. “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?” ― Abraham Lincoln

13. “Whenever you are confronted with an opponent. Conquer him with love.” ― Mahatma Gandhi

14. “We do not merely destroy our enemies; we change them.” ― George Orwell

15. “Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much.” ― Oscar Wilde

16. “The truth may not set you free, but used carefully, it can confuse the hell out of your enemies.” ― Laurell K. Hamilton

17. “The greatest win is walking away and choosing not to engage in drama and toxic energy at all.” ― Lalah Delia

18. “A doubtful friend is worse than a certain enemy. Let a man be one thing or the other, and we then know how to meet him.” ― Aesop

19. “Enemies are either defeated, befriended or bypassed.” ― Stewart Stafford

20. “Your enemies cannot make you hate them, define you, or make you obsessively think about them, only you can do that.” ― Carmine Savastano

21. “I transform my enemy to a friend with my pen.” ― Debasish Mridha

22. “Keep quiet and the enemy will reveal himself.” ― Bangambiki Habyarimana

23. “Don’t fight with your enemy’s brains, fight with his heart” ― Bangambiki Habyarimana

24. “True strength isn’t being able to knock your enemies down, it’s being able to hold yourself upright against their blows.” ― Toni Sorenson

Enemy quotes on the makings of an enemy

25. “Those who pray for your downfall are concentrating negative thoughts towards you, without taking cognizance of the slippery ground in which they are standing, which could lead to their downfall.” ― Michael Bassey Johnson

 26. “An enemy generally says and believes what he wishes.” ― Thomas Jefferson

27. “A man who lies about beer makes enemies” ― Stephen King

28. “If you have enemies, good that means you stood up for something.” ― Eminem

29. “Staying silent is like a slow-growing cancer to the soul and a trait of a true coward. There is nothing intelligent about not standing up for yourself. You may not win every battle. However, everyone will at least know what you stood for—YOU.” ― Shannon L. Alder

30. “A man with no enemies is a man with no character.” ― Paul Newman

31. “Never annoy an inspirational author or you will become the poison in her pen and the villain in every one of her books.” ― Shannon L. Alder

32. “It doesn’t take but a few words to turn your best friend into your worst enemy.” ― Marlan Rico Lee

33. “If every mortal looks at others as their friends, not as their enemies, the world would be a much better place, wouldn’t it?” ― Morgan Rhodes

34. “You will meet people in life who will just dislike you for no reason, not because there is anything wrong with you but because everything is going right for you. Until they master their own peace, they will always try to destroy yours.” ― Keysha Jade

Wise enemy quotes

35. “Never interrupt your enemy when he is making a mistake.” ― Napoleon Bonaparte

36. “Love your enemies, for they tell you your Faults.” ― Benjamin Franklin

37. “The life of the enemy. Whoever lives for the sake of combating an enemy has an interest in the enemy’s staying alive.” ― Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

38. “He will never have true friends, he who is afraid of making enemies.” ― William Hazlitt

39. “Friends may come and go but enemies accumulate.” ― Jayne Ann Krentz

40. “A man falling off a cliff to certain death will stretch out a hand even to his worst enemy.” ― Robert Jordan

41. “The haft of the arrow had been feathered with one of the eagle’s own plumes. We often give our enemies the means of our own destruction.” ― Aesop

42. “I love my enemies for two reasons: they inspire me to recognize my weakness. They also inspire me to perfect my imperfect nature.” ― Sri Chinmoy

43. “Seeing the enemy as human. A general’s ultimate nightmare.” ― Sabaa Tahir

44. “Friendship or enmity is everywhere an affair of time and circumstance” ― Thucydides

45. “A genuine enemy is more useful than a fake friend.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of fake friends quotes to help you deal with deceptive people.

46. “If video games have taught me anything, it’s that if you encounter enemies then you’re going the right way” ― Ali G.

47. “Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer.” ― Niccolò Machiavelli 
If you’re enjoying these quotes, make sure to read our collection of Machiavelli quotes to give you an intellectual look at the themes of power, morality, and more.

48. “Never Hate your enemies, they teach you lessons.” ― Bharath Mamidoju

49. “People who are two-faced, usually forget which mask they are wearing at some point in their life.” ― Anthony T.Hincks

50. “If you lay with a scorpion, don’t be surprised when it finally stings you.” ― DaShanne Stokes

What did you learn from these enemy quotes?

Before reading these quotes, I would have said I didn’t have any “enemies”. I’ve come to the conclusion that I have to re-evaluate some friendships when thinking about it in the context of things that try to harm, or weaken me.

The people in your lives should be genuinely happy for you when you start to break away from things that cause you misery. Sometimes jealousy, fear, and judgments hold them back, but don’t let them get in your head!

What’s your biggest takeaway from these enemy quotes and sayings? Is there a relationship in your life that is bringing you down? Do you have a story to share about a time that you beat an enemy? Please share it in the comment section!