Insolence Quotes

• Wit is educated insolence.

  Aristotle

  Inspirational, Witty, Humorous

  Aristotle (1909). “The Rhetoric of Aristotle: A Translation”

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• Your depression is connected to your insolence and refusal to praise.

  Rumi

  Inspirational, Depression, Praise

  Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī (Maulana), Jelaluddin Rumi, Kabir Helminski, Andrew Harvey (2005). “The Rumi Collection: An Anthology of Translations of Mevlâna Jalâluddin Rumi”, p.122, Shambhala Publications

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• Prosperity is the surest breeder of insolence I know.

  Mark Twain

  Inspiration, Prosperity, Breeders

  Mark Twain, Caroline Thomas Harnsberger (2009). “Mark Twain at Your Fingertips: A Book of Quotations”, p.385, Courier Corporation

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• The stupidity of men always invites the insolence of power.

  Ralph Waldo Emerson

  Stupid, Power, Men

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• He grew weary of this condescension, and began to treat the opinions of his wife with that haughtiuess and insolence, which none but those who deserve some contempt themselves can bestow, and those only who deserve no contempt can bear.

  Henry Fielding

  Literature, Bears, Contempt

  "The Works of Henry Fielding: Complete in One Volume".

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• Insolence is not logic; epithets are the arguments of malice.

  Robert Green Ingersoll

  Logic, Argument, Epithet

  Robert Green Ingersoll (1907). “The works of Robert G. Ingersoll”, p.1647, Library of Alexandria

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• Someone who is reluctant to say what he needs to say, often ends up doing so with an insolence whose crassness is proportionate tohis fear, once he gathers the necessary courage.

  Franz Grillparzer

  Courage, Fear, Needs

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• We prefer a person with vivacity and high spirits, though bordering upon insolence, to the timid and pusillanimous; we are fonder of wit joined to malice than of dullness without it.

  William Hazlitt

  Spirit, Vivacity, Wit

  William Hazlitt (2015). “Delphi Collected Works of William Hazlitt (Illustrated)”, p.1486, Delphi Classics

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• Mistaking insolence for freedom has always been the hallmark of the slave.

  Wilhelm Reich

  Slave, Hallmark

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• The insolence of office.

  William Shakespeare

  Office

  'Hamlet' (1601) act 3, sc. 1, l. 56

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• Callousness and insolence bring to bare unanimous social condemnation, while the simple efforts of politeness are admired; even in those who are otherwise despised.

  Bryant H. McGill

  Simple, Effort, Social

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• Begin each day by telling yourself: Today I shall be meeting with interference, ingratitude, insolence, disloyalty, ill-will, and selfishness – all of them due to the offenders’ ignorance of what is good or evil.

  Marcus Aurelius

  Ignorance, Ill Will, Evil

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• The insolence of wealth will creep out.

  Samuel Johnson

  Disrespect, Wealth, Creeps

  In James Boswell 'The Life of Samuel Johnson' (1791) vol. 3, p. 316 (18 April 1778)

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• Wit is cultured insolence.

  Aristotle

  Humor, Wit

  Aristotle (1959). “Aristotle, with an English Translation: The "Art" of Rhetoric”

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• The scum of the People are most Tyrannical when they get the Power, and treat their Betters with the greatest Insolence.

  Mary Astell

  People, Scum, Treats

  Mary Astell, Patricia Springborg (1996). “Astell: Political Writings”, p.51, Cambridge University Press

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• We appreciate frankness from those who like us. Frankness from others is called insolence.

  Andre Maurois

  Self Esteem, Appreciate, Frankness

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• Success is the space one occupies in the newspaper. Success is one day's insolence.

  Elias Canetti

  Success, Space, One Day

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• Flattery in courtship is the highest insolence, for whilst it pretends to bestow on you more than you deserve, it is watching an opportunity to take from you what you really have.

  Sarah Fielding

  Opportunity, Flattery, Courtship

  Sarah Fielding, Jane Collier (1754). “The Cry: A New Dramatic Fable”, p.45

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• However much I have frequented the mystics, deep down I have always sided with the Devil; unable to equal him in power, I have tried to be worthy of him, at least, in insolence, acrimony, arbitrariness and caprice.

  Emile M. Cioran

  Devil, Acrimony, Caprice

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• The insolence of authority is endeavoring to substitute money for ideas.

  Frank Lloyd Wright

  Ideas, Disrespect, Authority

  Frank Lloyd Wright, Bruce Brooks Pfeiffer (1995). “1949-1959”, Rizzoli International Publications

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• To certain temperaments, especially when previously agitated by any deep feeling, there is perhaps nothing more exasperating, andwhich sooner explodes all self-command, than the coarse, jeering insolence of a porter, cabman, or hack-driver.

  Herman Melville

  Self, Feelings, Jeering

  Herman Melville (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Herman Melville (Illustrated)”, p.2530, Delphi Classics

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• The insolence of the vulgar is in proportion to their ignorance. They treat everything with contempt which they do not understand.

  William Hazlitt

  Ignorance, Treats, Proportion

  William Hazlitt (1837). “Characteristics: in the manner of Rochefoucault's Maxims [by W. Hazlitt].”, p.118

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• Wit is well-bred insolence.

  Aristotle

  Wit, Wells

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• If now, after the collapse, should any of these lackeys of Adolf Hitler have the insolence to claim they were merely harmless onlookers, let them feel the scourge of avenging mankind .... Whoever cries about having lost the Nazi system or wants to resurrect National Socialism is to be treated as a lunatic.

  Friedrich Kellner

  Avenging, Want, Cry

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• Near this spot are deposited the remains of one who possessed beauty without vanity, strength without insolence, courage without ferocity, and all the virtues of man, without his vices. This praise, which would be unmeaning flattery if inscribed over human ashes, is but a just tribute to the memory of Botswain, a dog.

  Lord Byron

  Dog, Memories, Men

  George Gordon Byron, “Epitaph To A Dog”

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