Mahabharata 5.70.63

5.70.63

na cāpi vairaṃ vaireṇa keśava vyupaśāmyati |
haviṣāgniryathā kṛṣṇa bhūya evābhivardhate || 63 ||

In hopes of terminating the dispute, one often seeketh to exterminate the foe. Thus victory createth animosity, and he that is defeated liveth in sorrow. He that is peaceful, sleepeth in happiness, giving up all thoughts of victory and defeat, whereas he that hath provoked hostility always sleepeth in misery, with, indeed, an anxious heart, as if sleeping with a snake in the same room. He that exterminates seldom winneth fame. On the other hand, such a person reapeth eternal infamy in the estimation of all. Hostilities, waged over so long, cease not; for if there is even one alive in the enemy's family, narrators are never wanted to remind him of the past. Enmity, O Kesava, is never neutralised by enmity; on the other hand, it is fomented by enmity, like fire fed by clarified butter. Therefore, there can be no peace without the annihilation of one party, for flaws may always be detected of which advantage may be taken by one side or other. They that are engaged in watching for flaws have this vice. Confidence in one's own prowess troubleth the core of one's heart like an incurable disease. Without either renouncing that at once, or death, there can be no peace. It is true, O slayer of Madhu, that exterminating the foe by the very roots, may lead to good result in the shape of great prosperity, yet such an act is most cruel.