Robert Lacey Quotes

Elites quite naturally define as the most important and admired qualities for a citizen those on which they themselves have concentrated.

Language does not make one an elite.

The parson knows enough who knows a Duke.

There's no Peter York Foundation, and you're no one without one.

You know, I always say white is not a colour, white is an attitude, and if you haven't got trillions of dollars in the bank that you don't need, you can't be white.

There are only two classes - first class and no class.

Aristocracy is naturally abhorrent to me, and adored equality is my idol.

The great families have their privileges.

Essentially, Louis XIV created exclusivity. If we look at how we live our lives today, many of us are members of clubs or gyms. We search out exclusivity. He created the world of fashion at Versailles.

It's the Met Gala - everyone is huge. It feels very hierarchical, and I get really nervous in hierarchical spaces because I feel like everyone deserves to feel just as special as everyone else, but that's just not the way it is in this business.

People don't find the personal lives of people with much, much more power than any celebrity would have - don't find their personal lives interesting.

There's an unhealthy obsession in America with royalty and the class system.

I deeply detest social distinction and snobbery, and in that lies my strong aversion to titular honours.

Those who are able to climb up the ladder will find ways to pull it up after them, or selectively lower it down to allow their friends, allies, and kin to scramble up. In other words: 'Who says meritocracy says oligarchy.'

I think Hollywood has a class system. The actors are like the inmates, but the truth is they're running the asylum.

As equality increases, so does the number of people struggling for predominance.

It is the dissimilarities and inequalities among men which give rise to the notion of honor; as such differences become less, it grows feeble; and when they disappear, it will vanish too.

It doesn't matter how much wisdom you have. If you don't have position, you have nothing. That's the tragedy of India.

Civilization is unbearable, but it is less unbearable at the top.

I don't believe in social equality, and they know it.

I want nothing to do with privilege.

I think snobbery is one of the oldest customs in the world, and the rich will always find ways to rank each other and make themselves feel more special than others.

A court is an assembly of noble and distinguished beggars.

Having been a head of state gives you the possibility of getting into places others can't go.

Class is more important than a game.