John Ruskin Quotes

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

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.

The true definition of a snob is one who craves for what separates men rather than for what unites them.

The parson knows enough who knows a Duke.

We must never confuse elegance with snobbery.

'Posh' is not really political. I didn't want to aim a brickbat at the system. Or to bash Old Etonians. It was always the class and privilege aspect of that world that I was most drawn to. There is something endlessly fascinating about imagining something you could never be involved in.

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

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

I'm not interested in classes ... Far be it from me to foster inferiority complexes among the workers by trying to make them think they belong to some special class.

The surface of American society is covered with a layer of democratic paint, but from time to time one can see the old aristocratic colors breaking through.

It was hugely helpful to me, being South African. I have never felt uncomfortable in posh society because I don't see what it is that I'm meant to be bowing the knee about.

Character and class are character and class. Either you have it or you don't.

England is the most class-ridden country under the sun. It is a land of snobbery and privilege, ruled largely by the old and silly.

The poor yield to the rich, the common people to the upper ten, the servants to their masters, the ignorant to the scholars; but there is nobody who does not imagine that he is really better than others.

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

Let them eat cake.

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

It is impossible, in our condition of Society, not to be sometimes a Snob.

Hypocrisy is the essence of snobbery, but all snobbery is about the problem of belonging.

I didn't go to the lectures. My valet, who was more distinguished than I, went instead.

Obama is the new kid with the weird name who people just sense is a little classier than his surroundings. He moved from a private school where he was class president and is now at the giant public high school with the metal detectors and the smoking lounge.

You can't not have feelings about country clubs, whichever side you're on.

Language does not make one an elite.

'Plutocracy.' It has a perfect nuance: chilly, inaccessible, icy-rich.

I always prided myself on being apart from the ruling class. I think it's always important, not just in Washington but in life, to be able to able to balance your sense of belonging with what it's like to be someone who doesn't belong.