Love, friendship and respect do not unite people as much as a common hatred for something.

The line observes a grim social truth: positive bonds (love, friendship, respect) can be fragile, negotiated, and slow to build, while shared hostility toward an outside target can create immediate solidarity. A “common hatred” supplies a simple story of who “we” are by defining who “they” are, and it can override differences within a group by redirecting attention outward. The quote also implies a warning: unity founded on animosity is powerful but unstable and morally corrosive, because it depends on sustaining an enemy and can easily slide into scapegoating or cruelty. It captures a recurring theme in realist literature—how communities cohere through exclusion as much as through affection.