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As a feeling of connection and a feeling of esteem, or worth, are the two most basic psychological needs, their negation—abandonment and humiliation, respectively—are the two most profound psychological injuries. “Revenge is sweet” in response to these injuries. “Getting even” is an attempt to restore esteem and/or connection (even if only in death). Personal, historical and clinical anecdotes illustrate these points, and demonstrate how the revenge motive may be defused, diverted into fantasy, or directed into constructive action.