Quotes About Prejudice

People who begin sentences with "I may be old-fashioned but—" are usually not only old-fashioned but wrong.

That's the way girls were--they always laughed. Because they were bitches.

The characterization of entire groups as victims has underwritten the conviction that such groups may never be subjected to criticism of any kind.

If man were relieved of all superstition, and all prejudice, and had replaced these with a keen sensitivity to his real environment, and moreover had achieved a level of communication so simplified that one syllable could express his every thought, then he would have achieved the level of intelligence already achieved by his dog.

Everyone in a codependent society has to have someone to look down upon in order to feel good about themselves.

There were two sets of encyclopedias that had sections on rats. From them we learned that we were about the most hated animals on earth, except maybe snakes and germs. That seemed strange to us, and unjust. [...] But people think we spread diseases, and I suppose possibly we do, though never intentionally, and surely we never spread as many diseases as people themselves do.

It's understandable that we would believe many things as children that our parents and others in our society have passed on to us as if they were absolute truths, even though they may be nothing but traditional prejudices. But why do we cling to what Mencken called the "palpably false" after we're old enough to think for ourselves?

As for the charm and innocence I hoped to find -- it exists, it really does, but consider what it's buried in. Racism. Misogyny and homophobia so absolute as to be nearly universal. Hatred of the Irish, the Italians, the Chinese -- not that many of them are seen in these parts

One of the tenants here has a tumor on his face. It covers most of his right eye. Where I come from, it would have been treated and removed. So I find myself thinking, what if I get sick? Something as simple as appendicitis could kill me. I've had all the shots, but what happens when the vaccines wear off? As for the charm and innocence I hoped to find -- it exists, it really does, but consider what it's buried in. Racism. Misogyny and homophobia so absolute as to be nearly universal.

Understand: people will tend to judge you based on your outward appearance. If you are not careful and simply assume that it is best to be yourself, they will begin to ascribe to you all kinds of qualities that have little to do with who you are but correspond to what they want to see.

you must begin with the assumption that you are ignorant and that you have natural biases that will make you judge people incorrectly.

The Germans felt themselves superior to the Italians. The Italians thought the Germans vulgar.

A whore should be judged by the same criteria as other professionals offering services for pay — such as dentists, lawyers, hairdressers, physicians, plumbers, etc. Is she professionally competent? Does she give good measure? Is she honest with her clients? It is possible that the percentage of honest and competent whores is higher than that of plumbers and much higher than that of lawyers. And enormously higher than that of professors.

Is mixed-up place another way; they care about skin color--by making point of how they don't care.

A hundred years ago they'd have burned you as a witch… But I'm not a witch. I don't suppose any of them were.

And the quickest to harm a stranger are the soonest to think a stranger will harm them.

A hunter? You? You can not be a hunter. You are a GIRL. - Perin Ibarra to Faiel, in the Dragon Reborn

Light, women would believe anything about a man so long as it was bad. And the worse it was, the more they had to talk about it.

Who'd have thought an Aiel could bloody read?

a woman would kill you twice as fast as a man, and usually for half the reason!

Women always seemed to club together so a man never had a fair chance.

Then, too, it seems certain, in light of future events, simple racism was a factor; Ramanujan, after all, was a black man.

He taught me early in life to take people one at a time, based on their individual qualities and never as a member of a group. That led, he said, to hatred and bias; that was what the Nazis had done.

take people one at a time, based on their individual qualities and never as a member of a group. That led, he said, to hatred and bias; that was what the Nazis had done.