Emily Thornberry Quotes

It is, of course, the first recourse of every elitist to see social barbarism in others.

All the people I know have been conditioned by snobbery.

I had been in a film, playing a young British aristocrat. My wife told me that she was invited to a dinner and she invited me to dinner and the hostess had seen me and said, 'You cannot bring him.' but I think that I've done enough to shatter the image.

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

... more snobbish than their English butlers.

Class is a big issue here. And some people get picked on more than others. I think we probably do. I mean, it doesn't help that we wear waistcoats and tweed the whole time. But there is a reverse snobbishness in England towards that sort of stuff. And I think that's one of the reasons we really enjoy America, 'cos we're classless.

Inverted snobbery is just as dangerous as snobbery itself, you know - that pride in having nothing.

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

Maybe I'm an elitist, but I don't feel like I am.

England is obsessed with where you came from, and they are determined to keep you in that place, be it in a drawing room or in the gutter.

Is class snobbery a social reality in the United States? Absolutely, and the kind that's codified by meritocracy is probably more toxic than the old-fashioned kind based on bloodlines.

I'm attacking the pomposity that says this is more valuable than that. I'm sick of that.

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

Doesn't make any difference who we are or what we are, there's always somebody to look down on.

I've been misconstrued because I speak in a certain way. I find it obnoxious how it defines you, somehow limits your ability to understand the human condition. You can't be allowed near emotions; you play these curling-lipped, haughty characters. This awful label - 'the posh Toby Stephens' - I'm not posh!

Discounting the ineffably repetitive homophobic barbs that I receive most days, Twitter trolls' most common gripe against me appears to be that I am 'posh.' Contrary to their unshakeable view, I was not born into the upstairs world.

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.

Racism is the snobbery of the poor.

I'm not posh or common, I'm in between.

Being a posh actor in England you cannot escape the class-typing from whatever side you look at it.

My wife thinks I have an obsession with social class. So I guess I have an obsession with social class. It probably stems from feeling like an outcast.

And understand: class differences will not save you.

There's no snobbery in me.

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

Whether you like the look or not, that tailcoat is a tough shell, a suit of armour. The posh boy is a hardy species.