--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Why not, in exchange for the pains and…" description: "\"“Why not, in exchange for the pains and humiliations of being superseded, at least exert the influence that the effete may always bring to bear upon th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/christopher-hitchens-117_quote_why-not-in-exchange-for-the-pains-and-hu_1582952.jpg" --- # Why not, in exchange for the pains and humiliations of… ![“Why not, in exchange for the pains and humiliations of being superseded, at least exert the influence that the effete may always bring to bear upon the brash?” quote by Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/christopher-hitchens-117_quote_why-not-in-exchange-for-the-pains-and-hu_1582952.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/christopher-hitchens-117_quote_why-not-in-exchange-for-the-pains-and-hu_1582952.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/christopher-hitchens-117_quote_why-not-in-exchange-for-the-pains-and-hu_1582952.jpg) > ““Why not, in exchange for the pains and humiliations of being superseded, at least exert the influence that the effete may always bring to bear upon the brash?”” [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Even those marginalized can wield influence over aggressive forces; leveraging subtle power can counter brute force. **In simple terms:** Minor voices can shape dominant narratives. Key Takeaway Use subtle influence wisely. Themes power dynamics influence subversion Mood provocative intellectual Type political philosophical When to use this quote - activism - journalism - academic debate - policy making Key Concepts cultural critique political strategy intellectual discourse Questions to Reflect On - How can the marginalized amplify their impact? - When does subtlety become ineffective? A Different Perspective Subtle influence may be ignored by the powerful. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Exert Influence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/exert-influence-1696196/) [Humiliations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humiliations-753579/) [Humiliations Superseded](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humiliations-superseded-5983131/) [Pains Humiliations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pains-humiliations-3628161/) [Superseded Exert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/superseded-exert-5983132/) ## Related quotes > [How could people like these, without words to put to their emotions and passions, manage? They could, at best, only suffer dumbly. Their pains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/how-could-people-like-these-without-words-to-put-to-their-emotions/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [USE this time of fresh beginnings. Use it as an impetus, the force or energy toward change. Become stronger, a better leader, more focused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-anne-radmacher/use-this-time-of-fresh-beginnings-use-it-as-an-impetus-the-force-or/) [Mary Anne Radmacher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-anne-radmacher/) > [A mother can exert an influence unequaled by any other person in any other relationship.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-todd-christofferson/a-mother-can-exert-an-influence-unequaled-by-any-other-person-in-any/) [D. Todd Christofferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-todd-christofferson/) > [You can exert no influence if you are not susceptible to influence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-jung/you-can-exert-no-influence-if-you-are-not-susceptible-to-influence/) [Carl Jung](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-jung/) > [Those who exert the first influence upon the mind have the greatest power.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/those-who-exert-the-first-influence-upon-the-mind-have-the-greatest/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [In order to exert influence over people, there were other things that could be used besides love. Knowledge seemed to be an equally strong…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-prange/in-order-to-exert-influence-over-people-there-were-other-things-that/) [Peter Prange](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-prange/) > [I have never, God or whatever knows, prostrated myself to be famous, but I would meander through all the sewers of the world, through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beckmann/i-have-never-god-or-whatever-knows-prostrated-myself-to-be-famous-but/) [Max Beckmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beckmann/) > [Let truth be told - women do as a rule live through such humiliations, and regain their spirits, and again look about them with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/let-truth-be-told-women-do-as-a-rule-live-through-such-humiliations/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [There is really no end to life's little humiliations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/there-is-really-no-end-to-life-s-little-humiliations/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [As patience leads to peace, and study to science, so are humiliations the path that leads to humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-of-clairvaux/as-patience-leads-to-peace-and-study-to-science-so-are-humiliations/) [Bernard of Clairvaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-of-clairvaux/) > [One's own vanities and humiliations I find a delicious subject for conversation. Things said of me behind my back I don't enjoy, and don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/one-s-own-vanities-and-humiliations-i-find-a-delicious-subject-for/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [The street is full of humiliations to the proud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-street-is-full-of-humiliations-to-the-proud/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [The opposite of esprit d'escalier is the way that life's embarrassments come back to haunt us even after they're long past. I could remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-doctorow/the-opposite-of-esprit-d-escalier-is-the-way-that-life-s/) [Cory Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-doctorow/) > [We learn humility through accepting humiliations cheerfully.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/we-learn-humility-through-accepting-humiliations-cheerfully/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [He was so excessively polite that Wallendar suspected he had endured many humiliations in his life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/he-was-so-excessively-polite-that-wallendar-suspected-he-had-endured/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) ## More by Christopher Hitchens > [“The spirit of our accurate and exact philosophy is outraged by conclusions that contradict each other so glaringly.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/the-spirit-of-our-accurate-and-exact-philosophy-is-outraged-by/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“Many governments employ torture but this was the first time that the element of Saturnalia and pornography in the process had been made so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/many-governments-employ-torture-but-this-was-the-first-time-that-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ It's \[Los Angeles\] mostly full of nonsense and delusion and egomania. They think they'll be young and beautiful forever, even though most of them… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-los-angeles-mostly-full-of-nonsense-and-delusion-and-egomania/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [To be against rationalization is not the same as to be opposed to reasoning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/to-be-against-rationalization-is-not-the-same-as-to-be-opposed-to/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [ \[Religion\] attacks us in our deepest integrity - the core of our self-respect. Religion says that we would not know right from wrong, we… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/religion-attacks-us-in-our-deepest-integrity-the-core-of-our-self/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“In the very recent past, we have seen the Church of Rome befouled by its complicity with the unpardonable sin of child rape, or,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/in-the-very-recent-past-we-have-seen-the-church-of-rome-befouled-by/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's surprising to me how many of my friends send Christmas cards, or holiday cards, including my atheist and secular friends.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-surprising-to-me-how-many-of-my-friends-send-christmas-cards-or/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Suppose there were groups of secularists at hospitals who went round the terminally ill and urged them to adopt atheism: 'Don't be a mug…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/suppose-there-were-groups-of-secularists-at-hospitals-who-went-round/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [There are, after all, atheists who say they wish the fable were true but are unable to suspend the requisite disbelief, or who have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/there-are-after-all-atheists-who-say-they-wish-the-fable-were-true/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“It isn’t so long since a test of Anglican orthodoxy was applied to anyone seeking to study or teach at Oxford and Cambridge universities.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-isn-t-so-long-since-a-test-of-anglican-orthodoxy-was-applied-to/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Gullibility and credulity are considered undesireable qualities in every department of human life - except religion ... Why are we praised by godly men…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/gullibility-and-credulity-are-considered-undesireable-qualities-in/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's much worse to see a woman drunk than a man: I don't know quite why this is true but it just is. Don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-much-worse-to-see-a-woman-drunk-than-a-man-i-don-t-know-quite/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [It's true that obscenity is a matter of taste and in the eye of the beholder.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/it-s-true-that-obscenity-is-a-matter-of-taste-and-in-the-eye-of-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [I worked out early on to give up things I couldn't do well at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/i-worked-out-early-on-to-give-up-things-i-couldn-t-do-well-at-all/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [Writing is what's important to me, and anything that helps me do that - or enhances and prolongs and deepens and sometimes intensifies argument…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/writing-is-what-s-important-to-me-and-anything-that-helps-me-do-that/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) [Explore all 1,241 Christopher Hitchens quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) ## More Humiliations quotes > [He was so excessively polite that Wallendar suspected he had endured many humiliations in his life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henning-mankell/he-was-so-excessively-polite-that-wallendar-suspected-he-had-endured/) [Henning Mankell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henning-mankell/) > [We learn humility through accepting humiliations cheerfully.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mother-teresa/we-learn-humility-through-accepting-humiliations-cheerfully/) [Mother Teresa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mother-teresa/) > [The opposite of esprit d'escalier is the way that life's embarrassments come back to haunt us even after they're long past. I could remember…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cory-doctorow/the-opposite-of-esprit-d-escalier-is-the-way-that-life-s/) [Cory Doctorow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cory-doctorow/) > [The street is full of humiliations to the proud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ralph-waldo-emerson/the-street-is-full-of-humiliations-to-the-proud/) [Ralph Waldo Emerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ralph-waldo-emerson/) > [One's own vanities and humiliations I find a delicious subject for conversation. Things said of me behind my back I don't enjoy, and don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/logan-pearsall-smith/one-s-own-vanities-and-humiliations-i-find-a-delicious-subject-for/) [Logan Pearsall Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/logan-pearsall-smith/) > [As patience leads to peace, and study to science, so are humiliations the path that leads to humility.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-of-clairvaux/as-patience-leads-to-peace-and-study-to-science-so-are-humiliations/) [Bernard of Clairvaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-of-clairvaux/) > [There is really no end to life's little humiliations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lev-grossman/there-is-really-no-end-to-life-s-little-humiliations/) [Lev Grossman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lev-grossman/) > [Let truth be told - women do as a rule live through such humiliations, and regain their spirits, and again look about them with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/let-truth-be-told-women-do-as-a-rule-live-through-such-humiliations/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [I have never, God or whatever knows, prostrated myself to be famous, but I would meander through all the sewers of the world, through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-beckmann/i-have-never-god-or-whatever-knows-prostrated-myself-to-be-famous-but/) [Max Beckmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-beckmann/) > [“Everything that happens, including humiliations, embarrassments, misfortunes, all has been given like clay, like material for one’s art. One must accept it. For this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/everything-that-happens-including-humiliations-embarrassments/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [You shouldn't bear humiliations.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-henrik-clarke/you-shouldn-t-bear-humiliations/) [John Henrik Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-henrik-clarke/) > [Life makes fools of all of us sooner or later. But keep your sense of humor and you'll at least be able to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-murray/life-makes-fools-of-all-of-us-sooner-or-later-but-keep-your-sense-of/) [Paul Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-murray/) > [Whether our feet are compressed in iron shoes, our faces hidden with veils and masks; whether yoked with cows to draw the plow through…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-cady-stanton/whether-our-feet-are-compressed-in-iron-shoes-our-faces-hidden-with/) [Elizabeth Cady Stanton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-cady-stanton/) > [All that happens to us, including our humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments, all is given to us as raw material, as clay, so that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jorge-luis-borges/all-that-happens-to-us-including-our-humiliations-our-misfortunes-our/) [Jorge Luis Borges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jorge-luis-borges/) > [A sensitive boy's humiliations may be very good fun for ordinary thick-skinned grown-ups; but to the boy himself theyareso acute, so ignominious, that he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-bernard-shaw/a-sensitive-boy-s-humiliations-may-be-very-good-fun-for-ordinary/) [George Bernard Shaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-bernard-shaw/) [Browse all 24 Humiliations quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humiliations-753579/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Why not, in exchange for the pains and humiliations of being superseded, at least exert the influence that the effete may always bring to bear upon the brash?”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Christopher Hitchens" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/why-not-in-exchange-for-the-pains-and-humiliations-of-being/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Humiliations" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/why-not-in-exchange-for-the-pains-and-humiliations-of-being/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/christopher-hitchens-117_quote_why-not-in-exchange-for-the-pains-and-hu_1582952.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/christopher-hitchens-117_quote_why-not-in-exchange-for-the-pains-and-hu_1582952.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7fe/christopher-hitchens-117_quote_why-not-in-exchange-for-the-pains-and-hu_1582952.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Why not, in exchange for the pains and humiliations of being superseded, at least exert the influence that…” — Christopher Hitchens", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Christopher Hitchens", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Why not, in exchange for the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/why-not-in-exchange-for-the-pains-and-humiliations-of-being/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/why-not-in-exchange-for-the-pains-and-humiliations-of-being/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```