revenge is sweet

Revenge is a potent source of satisfaction and pleasure. John had been bullying and humiliating us for the entire year, so a group of about 20 or so kids got together to peg him with dozens of rotten eggs at the senior prom. Revenge is sweet. Revenge was sweet for the team on Saturday, as they defeated their cross-town rivals for the first time in 10 years. He tormented me for being such a bookworm throughout high school. Now, I run a multi-billion-dollar company while he flips burgers at a fast food restaurant. Revenge is sweet, sometimes.

Prov. It is very pleasurable to revenge yourself on someone. Jill: Remember when Tom left me for another woman? Well, she just left him, and he asked me out on a date. I told him I had better things to do. Jane: Revenge is sweet, huh?

Retaliation is wonderfully satisfying. Occasionally put as vengeance is sweet, this observation was made by the ancients, from Homer in the Iliad to Juvenal in his Satires. In English it was voiced by Ben Jonson, Shakespeare, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, and countless others. Here is a misogynist version by Byron (Don Juan, 1819–24): “Sweet is revenge—especially to women.”