proverb · Words worth keeping
Malice is mindful.
Malice is mindful.
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
Resentment can keep a grievance active long after the original occasion. The saying draws attention to remembered hostility and its effects, while leaving room to distinguish malice from legitimate concern about an unresolved wrong.
Example
A club member repeatedly brings up an old disagreement to embarrass another organiser, instead of discussing what would resolve the remaining concern.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
Mindful gives malice a memory in the proverb. The point is that hostile intent may preserve an old grievance and look for another occasion to act on it. In a useful reading, the question concerns a pattern of conduct rather than whether someone simply remembers a difficult event. Recollection can support accountability, repair or a sensible boundary; none of those necessarily amounts to malice. The saying can help someone notice when a grievance is being renewed for the sake of hurting another person. It should not demand forgetting an unresolved wrong or turn a refusal to reconcile into evidence of bad character.
When to use it
Use it when remembered hostility is repeatedly shaping present conduct.
Keep in mind
Distinguish a wish to injure from legitimate memory, accountability and protective boundaries.
An interpretation of the words, not a claim about their earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Date unknown
- Culture
- English