Hatred is a thing of the heart, contempt a thing of the head. Hatred and contempt are decidedly antagonistic towards one another and mutually exclusive. A great deal of hatred, indeed, has no other source than a compelled respect for the superior qualities of some other person; conversely, if you were to consider hating every miserable wretch you met you would have your work cut out: it is much easier to despise them one and all. True, genuine contempt, which is the obverse of true, genuine pride, stays hidden away in secret and lets no one suspect its existence: for if you let a person you despise notice the fact, you thereby reveal a certain respect for him, inasmuch as you want him to know how low you rate him — which betrays not contempt but hatred, which excludes contempt and only affects it. Genuine contempt, on the other hand, is the unsullied conviction of the worthlessness of another.

It is no secret that fear and hatred of homosexuals permeate our society. But the contempt for lesbians is distinct. It is directly rooted in the abhorrence of the self defined woman, the self-determining woman, the woman who is not controlled by male need, imperative, or manipulation. Contempt for lesbians is most often a political repudiation of women who organize in their own behalf to achieve public presence, significant power, visible integrity.

Wrongfully to be contemptuous of other human beings is inviting mental unhealth for oneself.

Others in the pursuits after happiness or pleasure must commonly seek those sources of it which they cannot enjoy without some inconvenience to the rest of their fellow creatures; hence they have their imaginary happiness so much soured by Envy, Jealousy, or self-disapprobation that they find themselves dissappointed.

There is a tendency to class such men with toreadors and gamblers. People extol their contempt for death. But I would not give a fig for anybody’s contempt for death. If its roots are not sunk deep in an acceptance of responsibility, this contempt for death is the sign either of an impoverished soul or of youthful extravagance.

The sorrow that arises from the displeasure of relatives is from disillusionment. It will be avoided by men with threats. The sorrow caused by slander and contempt of others is the root of one's own pride. No harm is done by actual blasphemy. Because there is no one who gives different results. And the sorrow that is due to the contempt of others, about the encounter, suppresses one's own arrogance and benefits. By keeping such thoughts in your mind, you will adopt peace.

Contempt

The contempt I feel for others — for myself different, less internal than guilt.

It’s not that I think (or have ever thought) I was bad — through and through. I think I’m unattractive, unloveable, because I’m incomplete. It’s not what I am that’s wrong, it’s that I’m not more (responsive, alive, generous, considerate, original, sensitive, brave etc.).

My profoundest experience is of indifference, rather than censure.

Hatred towards people on the basis of their background or faith is repugnant

To conceive of myself from the outside was my ruin – the ruin of my happiness. I saw myself as others see me, and I despised myself – not because I had character traits that made me worthy of contempt, but because I saw myself through the eyes of others, and felt the contempt they feel towards me. I experienced the humiliation of knowing myself.

It is the very pursuit of happiness that thwarts happiness.

Is it not enough that we cannot make one another happy, must we also rob one another of the pleasures that any heart may permit itself now and then? And name me a person who in a bad mood will be decent enough to hide it, to bear it alone, without destroying the joy around him. Is it not rather an inner dissatisfaction with our own unworthiness, a dislike of ourselves that is always associated with envy aggravated by foolish conceit? We see people happy and not made happy by us, and that is unbearable.

There are few things under heaven more unnerving than the silent, accumulating contempt and hatred of a people.

A person does not lightly elect to oppose his society. One would much rather be at home among one's compatriots than be mocked and detested by them. And there is a level on which the mockery of people, even their hatred, is moving, because it is so blind: It is terrible to watch people cling to their captivity and insist on their own destruction.

Those who have given themselves the most concern about the happiness of peoples have made their neighbors very miserable.