Ziglar, Zig -- See You at the Top, Segment 2, ch. 2 “Causes of a Poor Self Image” (1974)

Dave — Mon, 20 Jun 2022 17:37:02 +0000

The usual devastating put-downs imply that a person is basically bad, rather than that he is a person who sometimes does bad things. Obviously, there is a vast difference between a “bad” person and a person who does something bad.

Hilary Hinton "Zig" Ziglar (1926–2012) American author, salesperson, motivational speaker
See You at the Top, Segment 2, ch. 2 “Causes of a Poor Self Image” (1974)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Comment (1935-03-26), White House Press Conference

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

A snub is the effort of a person who feels superior to make someone else feel inferior. To do so, he has to find someone who can be made to feel inferior.

Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962) American politician, diplomat, activist; First Lady of the US (1933–45)
Comment (1935-03-26), White House Press Conference

When asked about an incident where Frances Perkins, US Secretary of Labor, was chosen speaker at the Charter Day at the University of California, Berkeley, and alumna Martha Ijams refused to act as hostess for the alumni banquet because she felt the honor should not have been given to a "mere politician."

Roosevelt was the first First Lady to give White House press conferences, which she initiated in 1933, inviting otherwise-excluded female reporters to the events.

This comment appears to be the source of the much more common (and a bit more victim-blaming) quotation attributed to Roosevelt:

No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.

This latter, which first seems to show up in Reader's Digest (1940-09) as a stand-alone "quotable," has not been found in Roosevelt's writings or news coverage of her. While sometimes cited to one or another of her memoirs, it is not present there.

For more information into this research, see: Quote Origin: No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent – Quote Investigator®.

WIST Quotations

Ziglar, Zig -- See You at the Top, Segment 2, ch. 2 “Causes of a Poor Self Image” (1974)

Roosevelt, Eleanor -- Comment (1935-03-26), White House Press Conference