Bell Hooks Quotes

Don't make an opinion on me if you don't know nothin' about me.

I know what people think I am. People think I'm dumb. People think I party all the time. People think I'm ignorant.

Stereotypes are fast and easy, but they are lies, and the truth takes its time.

The problem with labels is that they lead to stereotypes and stereotypes lead to generalizations and generalizations lead to assumptions and assumptions lead back to stereotypes. It’s a vicious cycle, and after you go around and around a bunch of times you end up believing that all vegans only eat cabbage and all gay people love musicals.

I don't believe in stereotypes. Most of the time, stereotypes are just that.

The mistake we make with many people is that we assume that we have the model. It is a type of condescension.

It's always nice when people discover I'm a normal person and not, because of my appearance, a half-crazed lunatic who may stab them with a Bic pen.

It doesn't make it any easier that people form opinions and make judgment calls and think I'm something that I'm not or do things that I don't.

Truth is too weak to combat prejudice.

They who, without any previous knowledge of us, think amiss of us, do us no harm; they attack not us, but the phantom of their own imagination.

People don't know. People are ignorant. They feel that if you stutter, then you're slow or whatnot.

The mystified idea I had of Israel - the demonization of Israel - it just wasn't true.

People expect me to be stupid. I'm not saying I'm Stephen Fry, but it is amazing the perception people have.

People hate me for whatever reasons they come up with, or they hate me because their friends said they should. What can I do about it? What can I do about people who look at things the wrong way? At the end of the day it's like, 'You're wrong, I'm just a skateboarder. How can I help you?'

It ain't ignorance that causes all the trouble in this world. It's the things people know that ain't so.

Sometimes stereotyping happens not because of any nefarious reasons but rather because people don't know who you are or where you come from, so they go for the broad strokes about you, your culture, your faith, all that.

People are so quick to judge and make decisions for themselves about situations they know absolutely nothing about.

I went to prep school, Eton and Oxford. When people hear that, they think they know you, and you think: 'No, you don't.'

People have a preconceived notion about who I am and it's interesting. It's like picking who you want to win for the Oscars and not seeing the movie. Before you make a statement about someone, get all the information and see everything before you make a judgment.

People look at me, and I dress a little unusually and they think, 'Oh you must be from California.' Of course, people in California think, 'Oh you must be from from Mars,' so, you know, your next-door neighbour is not necessarily the person that you are going to make a connection with.

Some of you think an Indian is like a wild animal. This is a great mistake.

Prejudice is an opinion without judgement.

The absolute basis of all prejudice is ignorance and generalization.

People just assume, over the years, that soccer players are not too intelligent. As with most assumptions, they're wrong.

When people dont know exactly what depression is, they can be judgmental.