--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Right it is to be taught even by the enemy." description: "\"Right it is to be taught even by the enemy.\" — Ovid" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a33/ovid-276_enemy_right-it-is-to-be-taught-even-by-the-ene_1541606.png" --- # Right it is to be taught even by the enemy. ![“Right it is to be taught even by the enemy.” quote by Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a33/ovid-276_enemy_right-it-is-to-be-taught-even-by-the-ene_1541606.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a33/ovid-276_enemy_right-it-is-to-be-taught-even-by-the-ene_1541606.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a33/ovid-276_enemy_right-it-is-to-be-taught-even-by-the-ene_1541606.png) > “Right it is to be taught even by the enemy.” [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Learning can come from any source, even adversaries, highlighting the value of openness to instruction regardless of the teacher’s identity. **In simple terms:** Even enemies can teach valuable lessons. Key Takeaway Stay open to learning from all sources. Themes education humility adversity learning wisdom Mood reflective cautious Type philosophical inspirational When to use this quote - conflict resolution - personal development - cross‑cultural exchange Key Concepts open‑mindedness critical thinking growth mindset Questions to Reflect On - What can you learn from a rival? - How do you discern useful advice? A Different Perspective Learning from opponents may risk adopting harmful ideas if not critically evaluated. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) [Learning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/learning/) ## Related quotes > [It is good to be taught even by an enemy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-good-to-be-taught-even-by-an-enemy/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is lawful to be taught by an enemy. Fas est ab hoste doceri.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-lawful-to-be-taught-by-an-enemy-fas-est-ab-hoste-doceri/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Going to LSU was the right move for me. It taught me to be independent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seimone-augustus/going-to-lsu-was-the-right-move-for-me-it-taught-me-to-be-independent/) [Seimone Augustus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seimone-augustus/) > [Conscience tells us that we ought to do right, but it does not tell us what right is - that we are taught by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-clay-trumbull/conscience-tells-us-that-we-ought-to-do-right-but-it-does-not-tell-us/) [Henry Clay Trumbull](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-clay-trumbull/) > [All the lessons you need to learn in life, he said, will be taught to you by your enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-johnson/all-the-lessons-you-need-to-learn-in-life-he-said-will-be-taught-to/) [Adam Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-johnson/) > [“If I want it that much, it cannot be right. This is what all of them have taught me”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-s-wrights/if-i-want-it-that-much-it-cannot-be-right-this-is-what-all-of-them/) [D.S. Wrights](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-s-wrights/) > [“Some wars are about bombing. For the people of the Baltics, this war was about believing. In 1991, after fifty years of brutal occupation,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ruta-sepetys/some-wars-are-about-bombing-for-the-people-of-the-baltics-this-war/) [Ruta Sepetys](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ruta-sepetys/) > [My knowledge of pain, learned with the sabre, taught me not to be afraid. And just as in dueling when you must concentrate on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/otto-skorzeny/my-knowledge-of-pain-learned-with-the-sabre-taught-me-not-to-be/) Otto Skorzeny > [I learned most, not from those who taught me but from those who talked with me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-learned-most-not-from-those-who-taught-me-but-from-those-who-talked/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I am always ready to learn although I do not always like being taught.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/i-am-always-ready-to-learn-although-i-do-not-always-like-being-taught/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [“One's past can't be erased, it can only be learned from, the child taught her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-balcomb/one-s-past-can-t-be-erased-it-can-only-be-learned-from-the-child/) [H. L. Balcomb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-balcomb/) > [My mother taught me three things, respect, knowledge-search for knowledge, it's an eternal journey. That's like my hair-cut, the line, 360 degrees, find knowledge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tupac-shakur/my-mother-taught-me-three-things-respect-knowledge-search-for/) [Tupac Shakur](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tupac-shakur/) > [It's like saying French shouldn't be taught because you don't understand it because it's new. Shakespeare is just like learning a new, exciting language.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-barnett/it-s-like-saying-french-shouldn-t-be-taught-because-you-don-t/) [Samuel Barnett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-barnett/) > [The big thing is, it's about learning which off-speed pitches to swing at. A lot of people say, 'Oh, this guy can't hit a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-judge/the-big-thing-is-it-s-about-learning-which-off-speed-pitches-to-swing/) [Aaron Judge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-judge/) > [I was learning to track rhinoceroses in Africa and tracked right up on an animal that really I thought was going to kill me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-beck/i-was-learning-to-track-rhinoceroses-in-africa-and-tracked-right-up/) [Martha Beck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-beck/) ## More by Ovid > [Every woman thinks herself attractive; even the plainest is satisfied with the charms she deems that she possesses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/every-woman-thinks-herself-attractive-even-the-plainest-is-satisfied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Suppressed grief suffocates, it rages within the breast, and is forced to multiply its strength.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/suppressed-grief-suffocates-it-rages-within-the-breast-and-is-forced/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Honesty, by evil fortune tried, Finds in adversity the seed of praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/honesty-by-evil-fortune-tried-finds-in-adversity-the-seed-of-praise/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is some alleviation to ills we cannot cure to speak of them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-some-alleviation-to-ills-we-cannot-cure-to-speak-of-them/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [ A mind conscious of right laughs at the falsehoods of rumour. \[Lat., Conscia mens recti famae mendacia risit.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/a-mind-conscious-of-right-laughs-at-the-falsehoods-of-rumour-lat/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Time is generally the best doctor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/time-is-generally-the-best-doctor/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [It is convenient that there be gods, and, as it is convenient, let us believe there are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/it-is-convenient-that-there-be-gods-and-as-it-is-convenient-let-us/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [I hate a woman who offers herself because she ought to do so, and cold and dry thinks of her sewing when making love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/i-hate-a-woman-who-offers-herself-because-she-ought-to-do-so-and-cold/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [The sea's vast depths lie open to the fish; Wherever the breezes blow the bird may fly; So to the brave man every land's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/the-sea-s-vast-depths-lie-open-to-the-fish-wherever-the-breezes-blow/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Rare is the virtue that's not ruled by Fortune, That stands unshaken even when Fortune flees.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/rare-is-the-virtue-that-s-not-ruled-by-fortune-that-stands-unshaken/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Thus all things altered. Nothing dies. And here and there the unbodied spirit flies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/thus-all-things-altered-nothing-dies-and-here-and-there-the-unbodied/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [How little is the promise of the child fulfilled in the man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/how-little-is-the-promise-of-the-child-fulfilled-in-the-man/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Judgement of beauty can err, what with the wine and the dark.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/judgement-of-beauty-can-err-what-with-the-wine-and-the-dark/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Leave war to others; 'tis Protesilaus' part of love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/leave-war-to-others-tis-protesilaus-part-of-love/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) > [Remove but the temptations of leisure, and the bow of Cupid will lose its effect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/remove-but-the-temptations-of-leisure-and-the-bow-of-cupid-will-lose/) [Ovid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) [Explore all 771 Ovid quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/) ## More Enemy quotes > [Shall there be truth between us, as two men? Not as friends, but as enemies and equals?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/shall-there-be-truth-between-us-as-two-men-not-as-friends-but-as/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) > [“Before you were my enemy, you were my best friend.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kresley-cole/before-you-were-my-enemy-you-were-my-best-friend/) [Kresley Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kresley-cole/) > [It is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy's one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-tzu/it-is-the-rule-in-war-if-our-forces-are-ten-to-the-enemy-s-one-to/) [Sun Tzu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-tzu/) > [Fear is a man's worst enemy, but love is a man's most powerful weapon against anything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fear-is-a-man-s-worst-enemy-but-love-is-a-man-s-most-powerful-weapon/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The surprise of an army is now next to an impossibility. ... Prearranged surprises are rare and difficult because in order to plan one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antoine-henri-jomini/the-surprise-of-an-army-is-now-next-to-an-impossibility-prearranged/) [Antoine-Henri Jomini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antoine-henri-jomini/) > [“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 > [The concept of humanity is an especially useful ideological instrument of imperialist expansion, and in its ethical-humanitarian form it is a specific vehicle of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-schmitt/the-concept-of-humanity-is-an-especially-useful-ideological/) [Carl Schmitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-schmitt/) > [Pain held no terror for him. Pain was, if not friend, then family, something he had grown up with in his crèche, learning to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paolo-bacigalupi/pain-held-no-terror-for-him-pain-was-if-not-friend-then-family/) [Paolo Bacigalupi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paolo-bacigalupi/) > [To achieve victory we must mass our forces at the hub of all power & movement. The enemy's 'Center of Gravity'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-achieve-victory-we-must-mass-our-forces-at-the-hub-of-all-power/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [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/) > [The invention of gunpowder and the constant improvement of firearms are enough in themselves to show that the advance of civilization has done nothing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-von-clausewitz/the-invention-of-gunpowder-and-the-constant-improvement-of-firearms/) [Carl von Clausewitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-von-clausewitz/) > [Perfection is the enemy of greatness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janelle-monae/perfection-is-the-enemy-of-greatness/) [Janelle Monae](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janelle-monae/) > [In this business, you find the enemy, then go after and destroy him. Everything else is rubbish!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-rickenbacker/in-this-business-you-find-the-enemy-then-go-after-and-destroy-him/) [Eddie Rickenbacker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-rickenbacker/) > [“Enemies Teach. Friends Preach.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tapan-ghosh/enemies-teach-friends-preach/) [Tapan Ghosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tapan-ghosh/) [Browse all 7,981 Enemy quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enemy/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Right it is to be taught even by the enemy.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Ovid" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/right-it-is-to-be-taught-even-by-the-enemy/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Enemy" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/right-it-is-to-be-taught-even-by-the-enemy/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a33/ovid-276_enemy_right-it-is-to-be-taught-even-by-the-ene_1541606.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a33/ovid-276_enemy_right-it-is-to-be-taught-even-by-the-ene_1541606.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a33/ovid-276_enemy_right-it-is-to-be-taught-even-by-the-ene_1541606.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Right it is to be taught even by the enemy.” — Ovid", "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": "Ovid", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ovid/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Right it is to be taught...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/right-it-is-to-be-taught-even-by-the-enemy/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ovid/right-it-is-to-be-taught-even-by-the-enemy/#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 } } ] } ```