---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Worse than thieves, murderers, or…"
description: "\"Worse than thieves, murderers, or cannibals, those who offer compromise slow you and sap your vitality while pretending to be your friends. They are no..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/l-neil-smith-3636_cannibal_worse-than-thieves-murderers-or-cannibal_3110187.png"
---

#  Worse than thieves, murderers, or cannibals, those who…

![“Worse than thieves, murderers, or cannibals, those who offer compromise slow you and sap your vitality while pretending to be your friends. They are not your friends. Compromisers are the enemies of all humanity, the enemies of life itself. Compromisers are the enemies of everything important…” quote by L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/l-neil-smith-3636_cannibal_worse-than-thieves-murderers-or-cannibal_3110187.png)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/l-neil-smith-3636_cannibal_worse-than-thieves-murderers-or-cannibal_3110187.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/85d/l-neil-smith-3636_cannibal_worse-than-thieves-murderers-or-cannibal_3110187.png)

> “Worse than thieves, murderers, or cannibals, those who offer compromise slow you and sap your vitality while pretending to be your friends. They are not your friends. Compromisers are the enemies of all humanity, the enemies of life itself. Compromisers are the enemies of everything important, sacred, and true.”

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Compromise erodes integrity, turning allies into hidden threats.

**In simple terms:** Compromise can betray true values.

Key Takeaway

Guard against superficial agreements.

Themes

integrity trust authenticity

Mood

cautionary critical

Type

ethical political

When to use this quote

- politics
- business negotiations
- personal relationships

Key Concepts

moral hazard social manipulation

Questions to Reflect On

- When is compromise necessary?
- How to distinguish genuine allies?

A Different Perspective

Compromise can sometimes be pragmatic.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Cannibal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cannibal/) [Compromise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compromise/) [Compromise Slow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compromise-slow-5428999/) [Compromisers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compromisers-2445552/) [Compromisers Enemies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compromisers-enemies-5428996/) [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Friends Compromisers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/friends-compromisers-5428998/) [Humanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humanity/) [Important](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/important/) [Life Compromisers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-compromisers-5428997/) [Life itself](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-itself/) [Murderer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/murderer/) [Negotiation](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/negotiation/) [Offers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/offers/) [Pretending](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pretending/) [Sacred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sacred/) [Sap](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sap/) [Thieves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thieves/) [Vitality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vitality/)

## Related quotes

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> [Are there any vegetarians among cannibals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/are-there-any-vegetarians-among-cannibals/)

[Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/)

> [Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/most-of-the-people-will-have-died-and-the-rest-of-us-will-be-cannibals/)

[Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/)

> [It is easier for a cannibal to enter the Kingdom of Heaven through the eye of a rich man's needle that it is for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-easier-for-a-cannibal-to-enter-the-kingdom-of-heaven-through/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [“Cannibal: epicures who abstain from alcohol and tobacco. As moral guides, they are underutilized in the police forces of modern societies.  ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/cannibal-epicures-who-abstain-from-alcohol-and-tobacco-as-moral/)

[Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/)

> [“Don’t trust the cannibal just ’cos he’s usin’ a knife and fork!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/don-t-trust-the-cannibal-just-cos-he-s-usin-a-knife-and-fork/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [Cannibals prefer those who have no spines..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-lem/cannibals-prefer-those-who-have-no-spines/)

[Stanislaw Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-lem/)

> [Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/is-it-true-that-cannibals-don-t-eat-clowns-because-they-taste-funny/)

[Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/)

> [We are on strike against martyrdom—and against the moral code that demands it. We are on strike against those who believe that one man…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ayn-rand/we-are-on-strike-against-martyrdom-and-against-the-moral-code-that/)

[Ayn Rand](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ayn-rand/)

> [I spent years working in low-budget horror films. When you've done 'Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death,' you can handle anything!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-barbeau/i-spent-years-working-in-low-budget-horror-films-when-you-ve-done/)

[Adrienne Barbeau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adrienne-barbeau/)

> [You're just a cannibal and I'm afraid, I won't get out alive I won't sleep tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neon-trees/you-re-just-a-cannibal-and-i-m-afraid-i-won-t-get-out-alive-i-won-t/)

[Neon Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neon-trees/)

> [When I go home my mother and I play a cannibal game; we eat each other over the years, tender morsel by morsel until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-howard/when-i-go-home-my-mother-and-i-play-a-cannibal-game-we-eat-each-other/)

[Maureen Howard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-howard/)

## More by L. Neil Smith

> [Many individuals spend a considerable portion of their lifetimes in terror of one imagined catastrophe or another. The classic is that your immortal soul…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/many-individuals-spend-a-considerable-portion-of-their-lifetimes-in/)

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

> [Great men don't 'move to the center' - great men move the center!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/great-men-don-t-move-to-the-center-great-men-move-the-center/)

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

> [I suggest due process, speedy trials, and public hangings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/i-suggest-due-process-speedy-trials-and-public-hangings/)

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

> [Guns cause crime like flies cause garbage!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/guns-cause-crime-like-flies-cause-garbage/)

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> [I have a recurring daymare that when the Glorious People's SWAT Teams smash their way in, most of us - by which I mean…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/i-have-a-recurring-daymare-that-when-the-glorious-people-s-swat-teams/)

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

> [I'll remind you all, however, that for government, existence is a privilege, not a right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/i-ll-remind-you-all-however-that-for-government-existence-is-a/)

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

> [I propose a Constitutional Amendment providing that, if any public official, elected or appointed, at any level of government, is caught lying to any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/i-propose-a-constitutional-amendment-providing-that-if-any-public/)

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

> [Victim disarmament types are sick, sick people, who'd rather see a woman raped in an alley and strangled with her own pantyhose than see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/victim-disarmament-types-are-sick-sick-people-who-d-rather-see-a/)

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

> [Money, first and foremost, is a medium of communication, conveying the information we call 'price'. Government control of the money supply is censorship, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/money-first-and-foremost-is-a-medium-of-communication-conveying-the/)

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> [A libertarian is a person who believes that no one has the right, under any circumstances, to initiate force against another human being, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/a-libertarian-is-a-person-who-believes-that-no-one-has-the-right/)

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[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

> [Taxes are a barbaric remnant of ancient times in which early farmers, tied to the land, no longer able to roam freely, unable to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/taxes-are-a-barbaric-remnant-of-ancient-times-in-which-early-farmers/)

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

> [If conservatives really believed in individual liberty, as they endlessly claim and if they used both halves of their brains then they'd be libertarians.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/if-conservatives-really-believed-in-individual-liberty-as-they/)

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

> [You cannot force me to agree with you. You can force me to act as though I agree with you but then you'll have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-neil-smith/you-cannot-force-me-to-agree-with-you-you-can-force-me-to-act-as/)

[L. Neil Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

[Explore all 125 L. Neil Smith quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-neil-smith/)

## More Cannibal quotes

> [When I go home my mother and I play a cannibal game; we eat each other over the years, tender morsel by morsel until…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-howard/when-i-go-home-my-mother-and-i-play-a-cannibal-game-we-eat-each-other/)

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> [You're just a cannibal and I'm afraid, I won't get out alive I won't sleep tonight.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neon-trees/you-re-just-a-cannibal-and-i-m-afraid-i-won-t-get-out-alive-i-won-t/)

[Neon Trees](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neon-trees/)

> [I spent years working in low-budget horror films. When you've done 'Cannibal Women in the Avocado Jungle of Death,' you can handle anything!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adrienne-barbeau/i-spent-years-working-in-low-budget-horror-films-when-you-ve-done/)

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> [Is it true that cannibals don't eat clowns because they taste funny?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-wright/is-it-true-that-cannibals-don-t-eat-clowns-because-they-taste-funny/)

[Steven Wright](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-wright/)

> [Cannibals prefer those who have no spines..](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stanislaw-lem/cannibals-prefer-those-who-have-no-spines/)

[Stanislaw Lem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stanislaw-lem/)

> [“Don’t trust the cannibal just ’cos he’s usin’ a knife and fork!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/don-t-trust-the-cannibal-just-cos-he-s-usin-a-knife-and-fork/)

[Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/)

> [“Cannibal: epicures who abstain from alcohol and tobacco. As moral guides, they are underutilized in the police forces of modern societies.  ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bauvard/cannibal-epicures-who-abstain-from-alcohol-and-tobacco-as-moral/)

[Bauvard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bauvard/)

> [It is easier for a cannibal to enter the Kingdom of Heaven through the eye of a rich man's needle that it is for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-easier-for-a-cannibal-to-enter-the-kingdom-of-heaven-through/)

[Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/)

> [Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-turner/most-of-the-people-will-have-died-and-the-rest-of-us-will-be-cannibals/)

[Ted Turner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-turner/)

> [Are there any vegetarians among cannibals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-vaughan/are-there-any-vegetarians-among-cannibals/)

[Bill Vaughan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-vaughan/)

> [Whenever cannibals are on the brink of starvation, Heaven, in its infinite mercy, sends them a fat missionary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oscar-wilde/whenever-cannibals-are-on-the-brink-of-starvation-heaven-in-its/)

[Oscar Wilde](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oscar-wilde/)

> [Carrie the Cannibal:she was raised in a posh house, without any parents. she was a slave. She always had a strange tasting for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kaylee/carrie-the-cannibal-she-was-raised-in-a-posh-house-without-any/)

[Kaylee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kaylee/)

> [No. The moral of the story in so far as it has one is that cannibals can study logic, and that if you are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-harkaway/no-the-moral-of-the-story-in-so-far-as-it-has-one-is-that-cannibals/)

[Nick Harkaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-harkaway/)

> [“Victory will be ours!roared Joe Bob the Cannibal. "We will feast on your bones!" I wanted to tell him he was taking the dodgeball…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-riordan/victory-will-be-ours-roared-joe-bob-the-cannibal-we-will-feast-on/)

[Rick Riordan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-riordan/)

[Browse all 150 Cannibal quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cannibal/)

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