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Contemptuous Quotes

Disdain, authority, and double standards

These contemptuous quotes describe a long, uneasy relationship with authority, disdainful of blind obedience while still respecting the idea of better leadership done right.

Without knowing about flexibility, one cannot work out strategies to deal with the enemy and prepare for changes, and without knowing about the foundation of one's own culture, one would be contemptuous of the Confucian ethical codes.

Quotes by Zhang Zhidong

We're contemptuous of 'distracted' working mothers. We're contemptuous of 'selfish' rich mothers. We're contemptuous of mothers who have no choice but to work, but also of mothers who don't need to work and still fail to fulfill an impossible ideal...

Quotes by Kim Brooks

The pollution they produce, market, sell, and show to billions around the world is at its core contemptuous of the country that gave them better lives than nearly 100 percent of everybody who's ever lived. And they pass that contempt...

Quotes by John Ratzenberger

I've had a contemptuous relationship with authority throughout my life. I found myself at odds with authority, and I'm disdainful of blind authority.

Quotes by J. K. Simmons

About Quotes

A curious thing about this rarefied world is that bloggers are almost unfailingly contemptuous toward everyone except one another.

Quotes by George Packer

The whole tone of Church teaching in regard to women is, to the last degree, contemptuous and degrading.

Quotes by Elizabeth Cady Stanton

People are what you make them. A scornful look turns into a complete fool a man of average intelligence. A contemptuous indifference turns into an enemy a woman who, well treated, might have been an angel.

Quotes by Andre Maurois

Frequently Asked Questions

What does contemptuous mean in the context of these quotes?
It's used to describe disdain, whether toward blind authority, a country's pollution problem, or society's mixed judgment of mothers.
Is authority a recurring subject?
Yes, one quote describes a lifelong contemptuous relationship with authority, being disdainful of obedience without good reason.
How are working mothers discussed?
One quote points out a double standard, noting society is contemptuous of distracted working mothers and selfish rich mothers alike, no matter their circumstances.
Is any broader cultural criticism included?
Yes, one quote criticizes pollution and content exported globally as contemptuous of the very country that provided better opportunities.
Where can I read related quotes about society and judgment?
See the About quotes page for related themes.

Others point out a broader double standard, how society is often contemptuous of mothers no matter their choices, whether they work by need or by about anything else.