Bitterness imprisons life; love releases it.
--Harry Emerson Fosdick – American Clergyman 1878-1969

Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns it all clean.
--Maya Angelou – American Poet Born 1928

Hurt leads to bitterness, bitterness to anger, travel too far that road and the way is lost.
--Terry Brooks – American Writer Born 1944

I am sorry to think that you do not get a man's most effective criticism until you provoke him. Severe truth is expressed with some bitterness.
--Henry David Thoreau – American Author 1817-1862

I realize that patriotism is not enough. I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone.
--Edith Cavell – American Public Servant 1865-1915

I've purged myself of bitterness and anger and remained open to love.
--Tatum O'Neal – American Actress Born 1963

It is hardly possible to build anything if frustration, bitterness and a mood of helplessness prevail.
--Lech Walesa – Polish Activist Born 1943

It is only hope which is real, and reality is a bitterness and a deceit.
--William Makepeace Thackeray – English Novelist 1811-1863

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
--Martin Luther King, Jr. – American Leader 1929-1968

Not too much, though there's a certain amount of rancour and bitterness when someone tries to fire you.
--Donald Sutherland – Canadian Actor Born 1935

Satire is focused bitterness.
--Leo Rosten – American Novelist 1908-1997

You can't climb up to the second floor without a ladder. When you set your aim too high and don't fulfill it, then your enthusiasm turns to bitterness. Try for a goal that's reasonable, and then gradually raise it.
--Emil Zatopek - Czechoslovakian Athlete 1922-2000⁶