I love Wagner, but the music I prefer is that of a cat hung up by its tail outside a window and trying to stick to the panes of glass with its claws.
—Charles Baudelaire (1821–67) French Poet, Art Critic, Essayist, Translator
Slander cannot destroy the man … when the flood recedes, the rock is there.
—Chinese Proverb
She looks as if butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
Even rabbits insult an dead lion.
—Common Proverb
Every one in a crowd has the power to throw dirt; none out of ten have the inclination.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
Write your injuries in dust, your benefits in marble.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
If a man could say nothing against a character but what he can prove, history could not be written.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
I have no right, by anything I do or say, to demean a human being in his own eyes. What matters is not what I think of him; it is what he thinks of himself. To undermine a man’s self-respect is a sin.
—Antoine de Saint-Exupery (1900–44) French Novelist, Aviator
I consider it a mark of great prudence in a man to abstain from threats or any contemptuous expressions, for neither of these weaken the enemy, but threats make him more cautious, and the other excites his hatred, and a desire to revenge himself.
—Niccolo Machiavelli (1469–1527) Florentine Political Philosopher
To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.
—Edgar Allan Poe (1809–49) American Poet
Obscenity is whatever happens to shock some elderly and ignorant magistrate.
—Bertrand A. Russell (1872–1970) British Philosopher, Mathematician, Social Critic
The first human being who hurled an insult instead of a stone was the founder of civilization.
—Sigmund Freud (1856–1939) Austrian Psychiatrist, Psychoanalytic
Let nobody speak mischief of anybody.
—Plato (428 BCE–347 BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher, Mathematician, Educator
The poorest way to face life is to face it with a sneer.
—Theodore Roosevelt (1858–1919) American Head of State, Political leader, Historian, Explorer
It was a book to kill time for those who like it better dead.
—Rose Macaulay (1881–1958) English Novelist, Essayist
There are two insults no human will endure: the assertion that he has no sense of humor and the doubly impertinent assertion that he has never known trouble.
—Sinclair Lewis (1885–1951) American Novelist, Short-Story Writer
Speak not injurious words, neither in jest nor earnest; scoff at none although they give occasion.
—George Washington (1732–99) American Head of State, Military Leader
A slander is like a hornet; if you can’t kill it dead the first time, better not strike at it.
—Josh Billings (Henry Wheeler Shaw) (1818–85) American Humorist, Author, Lecturer
Slander-mongers and those who listen to slander, if I had my way, would all be strung up, the talkers by the tongue, the listeners by the ears.
—Plautus (Titus Maccius Plautus) (c.250–184 BCE) Roman Comic Playwright
Some cause happiness wherever they go; others, whenever they go.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
It is a weakness of your human nature to hate those whom you have wronged.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
Insults are the arguments employed by those who are in the wrong.
—Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–78) Swiss-born French Philosopher
Rebukes are easy from our betters,
From men of quality and letters;
But when low dunces will affront,
What man alive can stand the brunt?
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
There is nothing that people bear more impatiently, or forgive less, than contempt: and an injury is much sooner forgotten than an insult.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
I am about courting a girl I have had but little acquaintance with. How shall I come to a knowledge of her faults, and whether she has the virtues I imagine she has? Answer. Commend her among her female acquaintances.
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–90) American Political Leader, Inventor, Diplomat
When any one has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it.
—Rene Descartes (1596–1650) French Mathematician, Philosopher
Slander expires at a good woman’s door.
—Danish Proverb
Our disputants put me in mind of the cuttlefish that, when he is unable to extricate himself, blackens the water about him till he becomes invisible.
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719) English Essayist, Poet, Playwright, Politician
Man is much more sensitive to the contempt of others than to self-contempt.
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900) German Philosopher, Scholar, Writer
Rudeness is better than any argument; it totally eclipses intellect.
—Arthur Schopenhauer (1788–1860) German Philosopher