--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: It is better to give love. Hatred is a…" description: "\"It is better to give love. Hatred is a low and degrading motion and is so poisonous that no man is strong enough to use it safely. The hatred we think ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc0/thomas-dreier-24901_affection_it-is-better-to-give-love-hatred-is-a-lo_1669843.jpg" --- # It is better to give love. Hatred is a low and degrading… ![“It is better to give love. Hatred is a low and degrading motion and is so poisonous that no man is strong enough to use it safely. The hatred we think we are directing against some person or thing or system has a devilish way of turning back upon us. When we seek revenge we administer slow poison…” quote by Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc0/thomas-dreier-24901_affection_it-is-better-to-give-love-hatred-is-a-lo_1669843.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc0/thomas-dreier-24901_affection_it-is-better-to-give-love-hatred-is-a-lo_1669843.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dc0/thomas-dreier-24901_affection_it-is-better-to-give-love-hatred-is-a-lo_1669843.jpg) > “It is better to give love. Hatred is a low and degrading motion and is so poisonous that no man is strong enough to use it safely. The hatred we think we are directing against some person or thing or system has a devilish way of turning back upon us. When we seek revenge we administer slow poison to ourselves. When we administer affection it is astonishing what magical results we obtain.” [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Hatred harms the hater; love yields positive, transformative effects. **In simple terms:** Hate damages you; love brings good results. Key Takeaway Choose love over hatred to improve wellbeing. Themes emotions ethics psychology Mood hopeful inspirational Type philosophical ethical When to use this quote - relationships - conflict resolution - personal growth Key Concepts reciprocity toxicity self‑care Questions to Reflect On - What steps can you take to cultivate genuine affection? - How do you protect yourself from toxic emotions? A Different Perspective Love can be misused or superficial. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Astonishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astonishing/) [Degrading](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/degrading/) [Devilish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/devilish/) [Enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/enough/) [Giving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/giving/) [Hate](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hate/) [Hatred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred/) [Hatred for love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred-for-love/) [Hatred Low](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred-low-846065/) [Hatred Think](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred-think-846064/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Love Hatred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love-hatred/) [Lows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lows/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Poison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poison/) [Poisonous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poisonous/) [Results](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/results/) [Revenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revenge/) [Safely Hatred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/safely-hatred-846063/) [Strong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong/) [Strong enough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strong-enough/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) [Use](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/use/) [Way](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/way/) ## Related quotes > [You don't love hatred and evil, of course. You have to practice and see the real gull, the good in every one of them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bach/you-don-t-love-hatred-and-evil-of-course-you-have-to-practice-and-see/) [Richard Bach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bach/) > [Why does the Destroyer hate Artemis? (Cassandra) Love. Why else? Love, hatred, and revenge are the most powerful emotions on earth. Apollymi wants revenge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherrilyn-kenyon/why-does-the-destroyer-hate-artemis-cassandra-love-why-else-love/) [Sherrilyn Kenyon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherrilyn-kenyon/) > [Hatred, I think, is an organism that penetrates our skin in a mythic fashion and does not leave.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/svetlana-alexievich/hatred-i-think-is-an-organism-that-penetrates-our-skin-in-a-mythic/) [Svetlana Alexievich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/svetlana-alexievich/) > [Sometimes we depersonalize people who we don't agree with or who we see as targets for hatred. If you think of anything as having…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/measha-brueggergosman/sometimes-we-depersonalize-people-who-we-don-t-agree-with-or-who-we/) [Measha Brueggergosman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/measha-brueggergosman/) > [The Opposite of Love is not hate, but power](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/c-s-lewis/the-opposite-of-love-is-not-hate-but-power/) [C. S. Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/c-s-lewis/) > [Hate is too great a burden to bear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/coretta-scott-king/hate-is-too-great-a-burden-to-bear/) [Coretta Scott King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/coretta-scott-king/) > [We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-must-develop-and-maintain-the-capacity-to-forgive-he-who-is-devoid-3/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The opposite of love is not hate. It is fear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-zukav/the-opposite-of-love-is-not-hate-it-is-fear/) [Gary Zukav](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-zukav/) > [Like an image in a dream the world is troubled by love, hatred, and other poisons. 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After…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paulo-coelho/the-great-problem-with-poisoning-by-bitterness-was-that-the-passions/) [Paulo Coelho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paulo-coelho/) > [Love and hatred don't take turns; they exist side by side at the same time. And one's duty, one's obligation every day, is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/love-and-hatred-don-t-take-turns-they-exist-side-by-side-at-the-same/) [Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/) > [Do you know that every great thing in the history of art and every beautiful thing in life is actually what you call nasty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-fowles/do-you-know-that-every-great-thing-in-the-history-of-art-and-every/) [John Fowles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-fowles/) ## More by Thomas Dreier > [Before a painter puts a brush to his canvas, he sees his picture mentally… If you think of yourself in terms of a painting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/before-a-painter-puts-a-brush-to-his-canvas-he-sees-his-picture/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [Because you lack a noble and successful past is no reason why you should lack a noble and successful future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/because-you-lack-a-noble-and-successful-past-is-no-reason-why-you/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [You can get what you desire and in just the measure of that desire.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/you-can-get-what-you-desire-and-in-just-the-measure-of-that-desire/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [Whenever I hear a man or women express hatred for any race, I wonder just what it is in themselves they hate so much.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/whenever-i-hear-a-man-or-women-express-hatred-for-any-race-i-wonder/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [The world is a great mirror. 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Men and women go about the world unaware of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/a-greater-poverty-than-that-caused-by-lack-of-money-is-the-poverty-of/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [Our beliefs in a rich future life are of little importance unless we coin them into a rich present life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/our-beliefs-in-a-rich-future-life-are-of-little-importance-unless-we/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [The world is a great mirror. It reflects back to you what you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/the-world-is-a-great-mirror-it-reflects-back-to-you-what-you-are/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [No is always a door-closing word; Yes is a door-opening word.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/no-is-always-a-door-closing-word-yes-is-a-door-opening-word/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [You create yourself in the image you hold in your mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/you-create-yourself-in-the-image-you-hold-in-your-mind/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [You cannot add to the peace and good will of the world if you fail to create an atmosphere of harmony and love right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/you-cannot-add-to-the-peace-and-good-will-of-the-world-if-you-fail-to/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [The life each of us lives is the life within the limits of our own thinking. 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Pray for a task that will call forth your faith,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/send-the-harmony-of-a-great-desire-vibrating-through-every-fiber-of/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) > [It is especially appropriate to say that the greatest command, the most condensed philosophy, the wisest success-achieving advice ever given was given by a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-dreier/it-is-especially-appropriate-to-say-that-the-greatest-command-the/) [Thomas Dreier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) [Explore all 23 Thomas Dreier quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-dreier/) ## More Affection quotes > [My team and I have reunited two elements that coexist with diffiulty: respect and affection, because when they love you they don't respect you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shakira/my-team-and-i-have-reunited-two-elements-that-coexist-with-diffiulty/) [Shakira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shakira/) > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [“It is to build a house with affection, even as if your beloved were to dwell in that house.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kahlil-gibran/it-is-to-build-a-house-with-affection-even-as-if-your-beloved-were-to/) [Kahlil Gibran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kahlil-gibran/) > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [I, measuring his affections by my own, Which then most sought where most might not be found, Being one too many by my weary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/i-measuring-his-affections-by-my-own-which-then-most-sought-where/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [There are a number of qualities which are important for mental peace, but from the little experience I have, I believe that one of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dalai-lama/there-are-a-number-of-qualities-which-are-important-for-mental-peace/) [Dalai Lama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dalai-lama/) > [A lost love. Deny it who will, ridicule it, treat it as mere imagination and sentiment, the thing is and will be; and women…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/a-lost-love-deny-it-who-will-ridicule-it-treat-it-as-mere-imagination/) [Dinah Maria Murlock Craik](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-maria-murlock-craik/) > [Affection! Affection is false.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-i/affection-affection-is-false/) [Elizabeth I](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-i/) > [We are a spectacular, splendid manifestation of life. We have language. . . . We have affection. We have genes for usefulness, and usefulness…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lewis-thomas/we-are-a-spectacular-splendid-manifestation-of-life-we-have-language/) [Lewis Thomas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lewis-thomas/) > [Listen, I have a great affection and respect for Joe Biden. I think he's been a great vice president. He's taken on a lot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-axelrod/listen-i-have-a-great-affection-and-respect-for-joe-biden-i-think-he/) [David Axelrod](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-axelrod/) > [The still affection of the heart Became an outward breathing type, That into stillness past again, And left a want unknown before; Although the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-lord-tennyson/the-still-affection-of-the-heart-became-an-outward-breathing-type/) [Alfred Lord Tennyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-lord-tennyson/) > [I am persuaded that there is no affection of the human heart more exquisitely pure, than that which is felt by a grateful son…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-more/i-am-persuaded-that-there-is-no-affection-of-the-human-heart-more/) [Hannah More](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-more/) > [If you live in a material universe where acquiring things is very important to you, then family is an absolute deterrent to maintaining that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-taylor-gatto/if-you-live-in-a-material-universe-where-acquiring-things-is-very/) [John Taylor Gatto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-taylor-gatto/) > [Our sweetest experiences of affection are meant to be suggestions of that realm which is the home of the heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-ward-beecher/our-sweetest-experiences-of-affection-are-meant-to-be-suggestions-of/) [Henry Ward Beecher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-ward-beecher/) > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) [Browse all 2,465 Affection quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "It is better to give love. 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