Friday, July 15, 2022

day no. 15,971: no enemies? no bueno

You have no enemies, you say?
Alas! my friend, the boast is poor;
He who has mingled in the fray
Of duty, that the brave endure,
Must have made foes! If you have none,
Small is the work that you have done.
You've hit no traitor on the hip,
You've dashed no cup from perjured lip, 
You've never turned the wrong to right,
You've been a coward in the fight.
- Charles Mackay

It is no complement to your character to be without enemies. To aim for an enemy-less existence is to make an enemy of God. He infused enmity into the world (Gen. 3:15); there is therefore no such thing as neutrality. Enemy-lessness is an impossibility. There are two opposing forces: to be aligned with one is to be the enemy of the other. There are no other uniforms. If you have no enemies, you are playing both sides; which is just another way of saying that you are everyone's enemy. It is better to be an honest enemy than a dishonest friend.

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