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English
Etymology
From William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Act 3, Scene 4: "I must be cruel, only to be kind: / Thus bad begins and worse remains behind."
Verb
be cruel to be kind (third-person singular simple present is cruel to be kind, present participle being cruel to be kind, simple past was cruel to be kind, past participle been cruel to be kind)
- To act cruelly in order to achieve a positive outcome in the future.
c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, The Tragicall Historie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke: (Second Quarto), London: I R for N L , published 1604, →OCLC, [Act III, scene iv], signature , verso:I muſt be cruell only to be kinde, / This bad beginnes, and worſe remaines behind.
1884, James G. Wakley, editor, The Lancet, volume 127, page 72:It may perhaps be said of her, “She must be cruel to be kind.” In the discovery of anæsthesia and of various anæsthetics she may have inflicted some inconvenience, even actual pain, on a limited number of the inferior creation; but here is her return, even to inferior animals.
1909, Caleb Saleeby, Parenthood and Race Culture: An Outline of Eugenics, page 44:It is life, more life, and fitter life, that is her desire: the “murdering and being murdered,” the “blood and tears” are no part of her aim. But they are inevitable, though lamentable, if her aim is to be realized. She must be cruel to be kind.–a little cruel to be very kind.
1960 Sep., Thomas Templeton Murray, “Animals Protection Bill”, in parliamentary debates (House of Representatives), volume 324, page 2193:Many farm practices may seem to the outsider to be cruel, but you have to be cruel to be kind. Many times in farming practice we are cruel but we cannot avoid being cruel. In that cruelty there is a certain kindness, and that is what we are looking for all the time.
1976, M. M. Ahmed, Teenager, volume 7:Altho' I'm against cruelty to Animal life I must admit that sometimes, you have got to be cruel to be kind. I mean many animals have to be killed and destroyed for human benefit.
See also