Boris Pasternak
Poet, Novelist
"They don't ask much of you. They only want you to hate the things you love and to love the things you despise."
Despise quotes
Despise
138 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Marcus Aurelius
Philosopher, Emperor
"If any man despises me, that is his problem. My only concern is not doing or saying anything deserving of contempt."
Mencius
Philosopher
"A man must first despise himself, and then others will despise him."
Pythagoras
Philosopher, Mathematician
"Do not despise anyone: an atom shadowing."
Pythagoras
Philosopher, Mathematician
"Despise all those things which when liberated from the body you will not want; invoke the Gods to become your helpers."
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Despise quotes (page 1 of 7)
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"Ay, do despise me, I'm the prouder for it; I like to be despised."
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"I despise the opinion of the press and the so-called critics."
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"You will only injure yourself if you take notice of despicable enemies."
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"When you locate good in yourself, approve of it with determination. When you locate evil in yourself, despise it as something detestable."
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"Men despise one another and flatter one another; and men wish to raise themselves above one another, and crouch before one another."
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"Authority is never without hate."
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"Nothing will demoralize the nation so much as that we should learn to despise labour."
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"We do not despise all those who have vices, but we do despise those that have no virtue."
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"Perhaps the only true dignity of man is his capacity to despise himself."
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"He who despises himself esteems himself as a self-despiser."
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"There are more things to admire in men than to despise."
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"I despise my own hypersensitiveness, which requires so much reassurance. It is certainly abnormal to crave so much to be loved and understood."
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"Nothing is more hateful to wisdom than to much cunning."
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"One criticizes in others what one recognizes and despises in oneself. For example, an artist who is revolted by another’s ambitiousness."
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"I despise my own nation most. Because I know it best. Because I still love it, suffering from Hope. For me, that's patrotism."
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"To supervise people, you must either surpass them in their accomplishments or despise them."
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"It is easy to despise what you cannot get"
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"Because, to despise money, one must have plenty of it."
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"That's the trouble with the world. We all despise ourselves."
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"People generally despise where they flatter."
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