A dish best served cold ??

Posted by Masakim on February 03, 2002

In Reply to: A dish best served cold ?? posted by Marian on February 03, 2002

: : : : : : : I have a question about the saying, "Revenge is a dish best served cold."

: : : : : : : I don't understand the phrase. What does it mean?

: : : : : : Time heals all wounds. And time wounds all heels. It is more satisfying to get on with your life and, with the passage of time, see the bad guy get what's coming to him.

: : : : :
: : : : : Gee, I thought it meant, you lay in wait till you are calm and collected and until the little toe rag isn't thinking about it anymore. THEN you strike. And because you are so calm cool and collected you can enjoy it all the more.

: : : : uhhh... Actually you lie in wait. What can I say? It's late.

: : : That sounds right -- wait until you're calm and collected, then strike.

: : I thought it meant wait until your anger subsides and by then chances are you won't strike at all: angry people punish too harshly. -- rb

: But then it would be a dish that wouldn't be served at all.

"Wait until you're calm and collected, then strike" sounds right.

C. Lowe, in _Prince Bismarck_ , wrote: "He [Bismarck] had defended Olmutz, it is true, but ... with a secret resolution to 'eat the dish of his revenge cold instead of hot.'"

"Invective can be used at any time; like vengenanve," wrote J. Payn, in _In Market Over_, , "it is a dish that can be eaten cold."

And an Icelandic proverb: "The revenge that is postponed is not forgotten."

Of course, there are proverbs for "wait until your anger subsides and by then chances are you won't strike at all":

To forget a wrong is best revenge.
The noblest revenge is to forgive.
Forgiveness is better than revenge.
If you want revenge, then dig two graves.

John Milton, in _Paradise Lost_ , wrote: "Revenge, at first, though sweet, Bitter ere long, back on itself recoils."