Retribution Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old retribution quotes, retribution sayings, and retribution proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

An eye for an eye, and the whole world would be blind. Kahlil Gibran
The noblest kind of retribution is not to become like your enemy. Marcus Aurelius
Retribution often means that we eventually do to ourselves what we hav Eric Hoffer
Men may not get all they pay for in this world; but they must certainly pay for all they get. Frederick Douglas
There are some duties we owe even to those who have wronged us. There is, after all, a limit to retribution and punishment. Marcus Tullius Cicero
Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way. Martin Luther King Jr.
Retribution is a dog chasing its tail. Libba Bray
The Government is a servant and never should be anything but a servant. The moment the people become adjuncts to government, then the law of retribution begins to work, for such a relation is unnatural, immoral, and inhuman. Henry Ford
On him that takes revenge, revenge shall be taken, and by a real evil he shall dearly pay for the goods that are but airy and fantastical; it is like a rolling stone, which, when a man hath forced up a hill, will return upon him with a greater violence, and break those bones whose sinews gave it motion. Jeremy Taylor
People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead. James Baldwin
Get what start the sinner may, Retribution, for all her lame leg, never quits his track. Horace
Punishment is justice for the unjust. Saint Augustine
Vengeance and retribution require a long time; it is the rule. Charles Dickens
There is such a thing as tempting the gods. Talking too much, too soon and with too much self-satisfaction has always seemed to me a sure way to court disaster. The forces of retribution are always listening. They never sleep. Meg Greenfield
Before a thunderstorm there is a build-up of tension which is only relieved by the explosive force of thunder and lightning. In human affairs there must be a clear distinction between the penalties for small and great crimes. Retribution for wrongdoing must be swiftly and surely applied if greater problems are to be prevented. I Ching
That death is not to be judged an evil which is the end of a good life; for death becomes evil only by the retribution which follows it. Saint Augustine
Though the mills of God grind slowly, yet they grind exceeding small; Though with patience He stands waiting, with exactness grinds He all. Henry Wadsworth Longellow
On many issues, empathy can pull us in the wrong direction. The outrage that comes from adopting the perspective of a victim can drive an appetite for retribution. Paul Bloom
Vengeance, retaliation, retribution, revenge are deceitful brothers; vile, beguiling demons promising justifiable compensation to a pained soul for his losses. Yet in truth they craftily fester away all else of worth remaining. Richelle E. Goodrich
God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation. John Calvin
Justice can span years. Retribution is not subject to a calendar. Rod Serling
Heaven never defaults. The wicked are sure of their wages, sooner or later. Edwin Hubbel Chapin
Disease is the retribution of outraged Nature. Hosea Ballou
There is a law of retribution in all things, direct or indirect, visible or invisible. Miles Franklin
The punishment which the wise suffer who refuse to take part in the government, is to live under the government of worse men. Plato
The ways of the gods are long, but in the end they are not without strength. Euripides
In every life, there comes a day of reckoning - a time when unsettled scores demand retribution, and our own lies and transgressions are finally laid bare. Emily Thorne
If you step on people in this life, you're going to come back as a cockroach. Willie Davis
Laws are sand, customs are rock. Laws can be evaded and punishment escaped but an openly transgressed custom brings sure punishment. Mark Twain
The first and greatest punishment of the sinner is the conscience of sin. Lucius Annaeus Seneca