APAD: Revenge is better served cold.

Meaning:

  Vengeance is more satisfying when exacted some time after the harm that

  instigated it.

 

Background:

   The proverb "revenge is a dish best served cold" is not especially old but

   first appeared in English in the translation of Eug e Sue's novel Memoirs of

   Matilda in 1846.

 

   It has since been used in many works of popular culture, including Kind

   Hearts and Coronets, The Godfather, and Star Trek II, The Wrath of Kahn.  The

   proverb suggests that revenge is best taken when it is carefully planned and

   executed, rather than in the heat of the moment.

 

     - Kind Hearts and Coronets, 1949: "Revenge is a dish which people of taste

       prefer to eat cold."

     - The Godfather, 1972: Don Corleone nodded. "Revenge is a dish that tastes

       best when it is cold," he said.

     - Star Trek II, The Wrath of Kahn, 1982: Kirk, old friend, do you know the

       Klingon proverb, "Revenge is a dish best served cold"?

 

- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]

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The world is such a confusing place that the promise of revenge, served hot or

cold, sounds overrated. The Godfather, for whom vendettas are business, modus

viviendi, understands that hating the enemy clouds one's judgment. Sans hatred,

however, vengence would deliver a shoddy dish, like mapo tofu without sichuan

pepper.

 

There was no lack of loathing between Christians and Jews back in the days in

Venice, but would the curse on his nation be lifted and Shylock enter an eternal

bliss had he exacted his pound of flesh? All things considered, he might be

punished more by his burning quest than for it.