If you must hate, if hatred is the leaven of your life, which alone can give flavor, then hate what should be hated: falsehood, violence, selfishness.

Börne’s aphorism concedes that some temperaments are driven by antagonism, but it tries to discipline that energy ethically. If hatred is the “leaven” that makes life feel vivid, it should not be spent on persons, parties, or inherited prejudices; it should be redirected toward moral targets—lies, brutality, and egoism. The line thus reframes a destructive passion as a potential instrument of civic virtue: indignation becomes legitimate when it is aimed at abuses that corrode public life. The quote also implies a hierarchy of values: truth over falsehood, humane restraint over violence, and solidarity over selfishness.