quotations about contempt
Teach not thy lip such scorn, for it was made
For kissing, lady, not for such contempt.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
King Richard III
I know you want respect
But contempt is all you get from me
COVENANT
Unforgiven
It is fashionable to present hate and contempt for humanity as the exasperation and despair of compassion, but in that case rebellion should be against existence itself. When a man who is horrified by the basic evil of the world and his own existence, and who sees no God to rebel against, takes revenge on his fellow beings, he is a coward and a hypocrite. Perhaps the ugly, sordid, and horrifying things of which there is no end have always been produced by hypocritical and cowardly rebellion against existence.
GIOVANNI BALDELLI
Social Anarchism
I have a proud character that cannot bear contempt.
FYODOR DOSTOYEVSKY
The Brothers Karamazov
Contempt is the middle brother of the other-condemning family. It falls so squarely in between anger and disgust that it is sometimes said to be a blend of the two.
RICHARD J. DAVIDSON
Handbook of Affective Sciences
Unlike criticism, contempt is particularly toxic because it assumes a moral superiority in the speaker. Contempt is often directed at people who have been excluded from a group or declared unworthy its benefits. Contempt is often used by governments to provide rhetorical cover for torture or abuse.
SEBASTIAN JUNGER
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
Nothing is so contemptible as habitual contempt. It is impossible to remain long under its control without being dwarfed by its influence.
ELIAS LYMAN MAGOON
attributed, Day's Collacon