In light of the Trump hate tirade this past week I offer wisdom from across the centuries on the corrosive effect of hatred on the human heart and soul:

“Thou shalt not hate another in one’s heart.” –Leviticus 19:18

“In hatred as in love, we grow like the thing we brood upon. What we loathe, we graft into our very soul.” –Mary Renault

“I feel fairly certain that my hatred harms me more than the people whom I hate.” –Max Frisch

“I can forgive the whites in America for hating the blacks; I cannot forgive them, however, for making the blacks believe that they are worthy of being hated.” –James Baldwin

“Never let yourself hate any person. It is the most devastating weapon of one’s enemies.” –Katherine Hepburn’s father

“Hatred is the most accessible and comprehensive of all the unifying agents. Mass movements can rise and spread without belief in a God, but never without belief in a devil.” –Eric Hoffer

“Love, friendship, respect, do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something.” –Anton Chekhov

“One of the reasons people cling to their hate so stubbornly is because they sense that once hate is gone they will be forced to deal with pain.” –James Baldwin

“In time we hate that which we often fear.” –William Shakespeare

“Hatred is the coward’s revenge for being intimidated.” –George Bernard Shaw

“Never waste a minute thinking about people you don’t like.” –Dwight D. Eisenhower

“I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.” –Booker T. Washington

“No one is born hating another person because of the colour of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to their human heart than its opposite.” –Nelson Mandela

“We must admit to ourselves that our own future cannot be built on the misfortunes of others. We must recognize that this short life can neither be ennobled nor enriched by hatred or revenge.” –Robert F. Kennedy

“Hate, it has caused a lot of problems in the world, but has not solved one yet.” –Maya Angelou

“If you understand each other you will be kind to each other. Knowing a person well never leads to hate and almost always leads to love.” –John Steinbeck

“I have decided to stick to love…Hate is too great a burden to bear.” –Martin Luther King Jr.