RETALIATION

  
The straightforward tendency to retaliate is seldom encountered ... Most adults display their pleasure in vindictiveness vicariously: by reading crime stories, or following court proceedings, or indulging in righteousness, or pushing the execution of revenge onto God or fate. Admittedly, revengefulness is not one of the pleasant characteristics of humanity, but being convicted at one's own expense produces inhibitions which leave situations incomplete; where retaliation, if it is taken in the form of gratitude or revenge, definitely closes an account.

-- Fritz Perls