we carry our greatest enemies within us
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Our own thoughts and feelings can be our worst enemies
Literally: we carry our greatest enemies inside ourselves
Examples
He finally realized that we carry our greatest enemies within us, and his self-doubt was holding him back
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31). Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “we carry our greatest enemies within us” mean?
Our own thoughts and feelings can be our worst enemies Literally: we carry our greatest enemies inside ourselves
Is “we carry our greatest enemies within us” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.