--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had rather be plundered by my enemies…" description: "\"I had rather be plundered by my enemies than by my friends.\" — Henry IV" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/556/henry-iv-55287_enemies_i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies_3017153.jpg" --- # I had rather be plundered by my enemies than by my friends. ![“I had rather be plundered by my enemies than by my friends.” quote by Henry IV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/556/henry-iv-55287_enemies_i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies_3017153.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/556/henry-iv-55287_enemies_i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies_3017153.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/556/henry-iv-55287_enemies_i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies_3017153.jpg) > “I had rather be plundered by my enemies than by my friends.” [Henry IV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-iv/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Preferring betrayal by foes over friends highlights deep mistrust and the pain of close betrayal. **In simple terms:** Friends betray more painfully than enemies. Key Takeaway Guard against trusting too easily. Themes trust betrayal friendship pain Mood cautious reflective Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - political alliances - personal relationships - leadership decisions Key Concepts human nature psychology loyalty Questions to Reflect On - How do you rebuild trust after betrayal? - What signs indicate a friend may betray you? A Different Perspective Trust can be rebuilt with effort, not impossible. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enemies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemies/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends/) [Friendship](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friendship/) ## Related quotes > [It is curious how often one prefers his enemies to his friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gore-vidal/it-is-curious-how-often-one-prefers-his-enemies-to-his-friends/) [Gore Vidal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gore-vidal/) > [“My enemies are everywhere, and my friends are fools.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-r-r-martin/my-enemies-are-everywhere-and-my-friends-are-fools/) [George R.R. Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-r-r-martin/) > [Them against me, me against them, me against enemies, me against friends somehow they both seem to become one, a sea full of sharks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicki-minaj/them-against-me-me-against-them-me-against-enemies-me-against-friends/) [Nicki Minaj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicki-minaj/) > [“Enemies can also be friends.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-zhang/enemies-can-also-be-friends/) Wendy Zhang > [The difference between your enemies and your friends your enemies envy you because ur completing your friends envy u because ur succeeding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terri-b/the-difference-between-your-enemies-and-your-friends-your-enemies/) [Terri B](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terri-b/) > [“Friends may be enemies, and enemies, friends. Lacking the ability to see into another’s mind and read the motivations that lie within, no man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shaun-myandee/friends-may-be-enemies-and-enemies-friends-lacking-the-ability-to-see/) [Shaun Myandee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shaun-myandee/) > [“If you do not know the power of his indwelling life in you, shaping your personality, healing your brokenness, enabling you to live as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-eldredge/if-you-do-not-know-the-power-of-his-indwelling-life-in-you-shaping/) [John Eldredge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-eldredge/) > [“When at last he reached home, eleven and a half years after setting off, and having achieved nothing, he discovered that his relatives had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-bryson/when-at-last-he-reached-home-eleven-and-a-half-years-after-setting/) [Bill Bryson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-bryson/) > [With the plundered people transferring their energies into relaxed and receptive thoughts, degradation and lust for power produced art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-weiss/with-the-plundered-people-transferring-their-energies-into-relaxed/) [Peter Weiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-weiss/) > [“was being plundered”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/was-being-plundered/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Airport expansion is just one example of how our planet is being plundered for profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-mcdonnell/airport-expansion-is-just-one-example-of-how-our-planet-is-being/) [John McDonnell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-mcdonnell/) > [“Remember that you're far back in the procession; remember that a whole army corps has laid siege to her, that she's been laid waste,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-miller/remember-that-you-re-far-back-in-the-procession-remember-that-a-whole/) [Henry Miller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-miller/) > [Until it seems the whole city will be covered with gold pollen shaken from the bell-towers, lilies plundered with the weight of massive bees . . .](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hilda-doolittle/until-it-seems-the-whole-city-will-be-covered-with-gold-pollen-shaken/) [Hilda Doolittle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hilda-doolittle/) > [Often the masses are plundered and do not know it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederic-bastiat/often-the-masses-are-plundered-and-do-not-know-it/) [Frederic Bastiat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederic-bastiat/) > [You British plundered half the world for your own profit. Let's not pass it off as the Age of Enlightenment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paddy-chayefsky/you-british-plundered-half-the-world-for-your-own-profit-let-s-not/) [Paddy Chayefsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paddy-chayefsky/) ## More by Henry IV > [Paris must not be a cemetery. I do not wish to reign over the dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-iv/paris-must-not-be-a-cemetery-i-do-not-wish-to-reign-over-the-dead/) [Henry IV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-iv/) > [It is in the midst of disasters that bold men grow bolder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-iv/it-is-in-the-midst-of-disasters-that-bold-men-grow-bolder/) [Henry IV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-iv/) > [I would willingly give fifty thousand crowns to be able to say that I took Paris without costing the life of one single man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-iv/i-would-willingly-give-fifty-thousand-crowns-to-be-able-to-say-that-i/) [Henry IV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-iv/) > [I want there to be no peasant in my kingdom so poor that he cannot have a chicken in his pot every Sunday.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-iv/i-want-there-to-be-no-peasant-in-my-kingdom-so-poor-that-he-cannot/) [Henry IV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-iv/) > [Religion is not changed as easily as a shirt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-iv/religion-is-not-changed-as-easily-as-a-shirt/) [Henry IV](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-iv/) [Explore all 6 Henry IV quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-iv/) ## More Enemies quotes > [“Never let your Enemies become your Advocates.” by A. K. Hasan”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-k-hasan/never-let-your-enemies-become-your-advocates-by-a-k-hasan/) A.K. Hasan > [I don't see why we and the Chinese should have to be enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/i-don-t-see-why-we-and-the-chinese-should-have-to-be-enemies/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [“If it takes night to make day, pain to know pleasure, black to make white, then doesn't it stand to reason that the depth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-snyder/if-it-takes-night-to-make-day-pain-to-know-pleasure-black-to-make/) Michael Snyder > [“Enemies Teach. Friends Preach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tapan-ghosh/enemies-teach-friends-preach/) [Tapan Ghosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tapan-ghosh/) > [Your greatest weapon is your enemies mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/buddha/your-greatest-weapon-is-your-enemies-mind/) [Buddha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/buddha/) > [“THE UNFORGIVEN Tell me if you've ever had to deal with these kinds of people: The kind who take and don't give. The kind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzy-kassem/the-unforgiven-tell-me-if-you-ve-ever-had-to-deal-with-these-kinds-of/) [Suzy Kassem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzy-kassem/) > [Sometimes even paranoids have enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delmore-schwartz/sometimes-even-paranoids-have-enemies/) [Delmore Schwartz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delmore-schwartz/) > [When a husband brings his wife flowers for no reason, there's a reason.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molly-mcgee/when-a-husband-brings-his-wife-flowers-for-no-reason-there-s-a-reason/) Molly McGee > [You should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. Everyone has something good about them. You have to find the redeeming quality and love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeannette-walls/you-should-never-hate-anyone-even-your-worst-enemies-everyone-has/) [Jeannette Walls](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeannette-walls/) > [“Anyone who is portraying Israel as a friend is a servant of Israel. I warn some sides against turning enemies into friends and friends…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sayed-hassan-nasrallah/anyone-who-is-portraying-israel-as-a-friend-is-a-servant-of-israel-i/) [Sayed Hassan Nasrallah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sayed-hassan-nasrallah/) > [No accurate thinker will judge another person by that which the other person's enemies say about him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-hill/no-accurate-thinker-will-judge-another-person-by-that-which-the-other/) [Napoleon Hill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-hill/) > [Whoever will not love his enemies cannot know the Lord and the sweetness of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches us to love…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/silouan-the-athonite/whoever-will-not-love-his-enemies-cannot-know-the-lord-and-the/) [Silouan the Athonite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/silouan-the-athonite/) > [I play basketball hard-nosed and if you're not on my team, during that 48 minutes we're enemies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matt-barnes/i-play-basketball-hard-nosed-and-if-you-re-not-on-my-team-during-that/) [Matt Barnes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matt-barnes/) > [“Enemies are people who's story you haven't heard, or who's face you haven't seen.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irene-butter/enemies-are-people-who-s-story-you-haven-t-heard-or-who-s-face-you/) Irene Butter > [A sweet thing, perspective - a chance to see your enemies so small.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/a-sweet-thing-perspective-a-chance-to-see-your-enemies-so-small/) [Stanislaw Jerzy Lec](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-jerzy-lec/) [Browse all 1,888 Enemies quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemies/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I had rather be plundered by my enemies than by my friends.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Henry IV" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-iv/i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies-than-by-my-friends/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Enemies" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-iv/i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies-than-by-my-friends/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/556/henry-iv-55287_enemies_i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies_3017153.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/556/henry-iv-55287_enemies_i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies_3017153.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/556/henry-iv-55287_enemies_i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies_3017153.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I had rather be plundered by my enemies than by my friends.” — Henry IV", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Henry IV", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-iv/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I had rather be plundered by...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-iv/i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies-than-by-my-friends/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-iv/i-had-rather-be-plundered-by-my-enemies-than-by-my-friends/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```