Cornel West Quotes

One of the surest signs of the Philistine is his reverence for the superior tastes of those who put him down.

I think clever people think that poor people are stupid.

We love wealth, and we hate poor people. I know people who work in TV news who have actually been told to do stand-ups rather than put interviews with poor people on the air. We physically don't want to look at them.

There will always be those people who are just backward and ignorant. There will always be those people. They need somebody to feel superior to.

…an aristocratic, arbitrary ass.

Those who are privileged have little regard for history.

Government posts are for sale, preventing some poor people with abilities from serving in those positions.

If you're white working class, it's very easy to caricature the elites, and if you're elite, it's very easy to caricature the white working class.

Tradition has it that whenever a group of people has tasted the lovely fruits of wealth, security, and prestige, it begins to find it more comfortable to believe in the obvious lie and accept that it alone is entitled to privilege.

There's always been a nasty strain of class prejudice ingrained in the condemnation of football's 'undeserving rich,' as if the working class is uniquely susceptible to being corrupted by money, and as if they deserve their wealth less than those born to it.

I come from an Irish working-class background but went to a posh school, and any type of pretension was quickly mocked at home. I've always had a keen eye for pretension.

However democratic and egalitarian we kid ourselves into thinking society might be, I think that sense of entitlement operates as basically and viciously as it always did.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

Amateurism is the strongest form of discrimination in sports. Because it discriminates against the underprivileged, it discriminates against the poor. If we want sports to go back to the wealthy, let's make it amateur again.

It's horrible how money and fame can make you acceptable while, if you're not famous or rich, you're not acceptable.

We have two evils to fight, capitalism and racism. We must destroy both racism and capitalism.

And understand: class differences will not save you.

Capitalism and democracy are the opposite of each other. Capitalism is a system that guarantees that a few are going to do very well, and everybody else is going to serve the few. Democracy means everybody has a seat at the table. Everybody.

It really is disgusting when a guy in a ball cap with a high school education is the one asking the tough questions.

One of the strengths I derive from my class background is that I am accustomed to contempt.

The ignorant classes are the dangerous classes.

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.

But I think what Liam said just kind of hit it spot on, that the people in the capital are brainwashed and such a disconnect with what's actually happening. They don't realize what if it was their kids that were being put into the games? They just don't have the mindset to have that kind of compassion for people.

Candidates don't want to be associated with poor people, people who have jobs or are ugly; they want to be associated with a certain middle class demographic, so as a result they leave those others out completely.

We must never confuse elegance with snobbery.