--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There are two kinds of people I cannot…" description: "\"There are two kinds of people I cannot abide: bigots and any well-organized ethnic group.\" — Edward Abbey" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/edward-abbey-254_bigotry_there-are-two-kinds-of-people-i-cannot-a_555503.png" --- # There are two kinds of people I cannot abide: bigots and… ![“There are two kinds of people I cannot abide: bigots and any well-organized ethnic group.” quote by Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/edward-abbey-254_bigotry_there-are-two-kinds-of-people-i-cannot-a_555503.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/edward-abbey-254_bigotry_there-are-two-kinds-of-people-i-cannot-a_555503.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/edward-abbey-254_bigotry_there-are-two-kinds-of-people-i-cannot-a_555503.png) > “There are two kinds of people I cannot abide: bigots and any well-organized ethnic group.” [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Bigotry and organized ethnic groups both threaten individual freedom; both are intolerable. **In simple terms:** Reject bigotry and oppressive group power. Key Takeaway Stand against hate. Themes freedom bigotry group dynamics Mood critical analytical Type philosophical social When to use this quote - community activism - policy making - personal relationships Key Concepts individualism social justice ethnic solidarity Questions to Reflect On - How do you differentiate between cultural pride and oppression? - When is group solidarity harmful? A Different Perspective Some groups may be marginalized, not oppressive; nuance needed. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Bigotry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigotry/) [Bigots](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigots/) [Ethnic groups](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ethnic-groups/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) ## Related quotes > [Every ethnic group thinks they are the chosen ones. …](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/harvey-pekar/every-ethnic-group-thinks-they-are-the-chosen-ones/) [Harvey Pekar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/harvey-pekar/) > [There's no such thing as a race and barely such a thing as an ethnic group. If we were dogs, we'd be the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-j-o-rourke/there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-race-and-barely-such-a-thing-as-an-ethnic/) [P. J. O'Rourke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-j-o-rourke/) > [The Jews cannot be classed as a 'race' per se, they are an ethnic group. '...the Jews form an ethnic group; that like all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carleton-s-coon/the-jews-cannot-be-classed-as-a-race-per-se-they-are-an-ethnic-group/) Carleton S. Coon > [I was an equal opportunity eater. Every ethnic group got a shot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/i-was-an-equal-opportunity-eater-every-ethnic-group-got-a-shot/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [That is the American experiment. An ethnic group arriving on America's shores, to be reviled and hazed, living in squalor, or if they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jon-stewart/that-is-the-american-experiment-an-ethnic-group-arriving-on-america-s/) [Jon Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jon-stewart/) > [Caprice, independence and rebellion, which are opposed to the social order, are essential to the good health of an ethnic group. We shall measure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-dubuffet/caprice-independence-and-rebellion-which-are-opposed-to-the-social/) [Jean Dubuffet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-dubuffet/) > [I don't believe any particular ethnic group is smarter than any other group.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-steinberg/i-don-t-believe-any-particular-ethnic-group-is-smarter-than-any-other/) [David Steinberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-steinberg/) > [We're the only ethnic group that says, 'Hey, if you go to jail, it gives you street cred.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-barkley/we-re-the-only-ethnic-group-that-says-hey-if-you-go-to-jail-it-gives/) [Charles Barkley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-barkley/) > [People are all exactly alike. There's no such thing as a race and barely such a thing as an ethnic group. If we were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/people-are-all-exactly-alike-there-s-no-such-thing-as-a-race-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Every ethnic group has this where people within it will try and tell each other how they should be. So what I would say…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aisha-tyler/every-ethnic-group-has-this-where-people-within-it-will-try-and-tell/) [Aisha Tyler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aisha-tyler/) > [“My favorite ethnic group is smart.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dagoberto-gilb/my-favorite-ethnic-group-is-smart/) Dagoberto Gilb > [It's more about the music and doing good shows than it is about our ethnicities. We're not trying to label ourselves as the all-around…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taboo/it-s-more-about-the-music-and-doing-good-shows-than-it-is-about-our/) [Taboo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taboo/) > [The British are the last national group who can be insulted by Hollywood without any comeback. These days if you depict Italians as gangsters,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-hoggart/the-british-are-the-last-national-group-who-can-be-insulted-by/) [Simon Hoggart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-hoggart/) > [Every ethnic group has a mythology... Until 'Roots'... there was nothing in the popular culture to refute the paragraph in elementary school history class…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-lelia-bundles/every-ethnic-group-has-a-mythology-until-roots-there-was-nothing-in/) [A'Lelia Bundles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/a-lelia-bundles/) > [“No other ethnic group has even come close to matching the abilities and accomplishments of Jews.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-w-charles/no-other-ethnic-group-has-even-come-close-to-matching-the-abilities/) [H.W. Charles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-w-charles/) ## More by Edward Abbey > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Apuleius married a rich widow, then wrote \_The Golden Ass\_.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/apuleius-married-a-rich-widow-then-wrote-the-golden-ass/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Except for the scale of the operation, there was nothing unusual about Hitler's massacre of the Jews. Genocide's an old tradition, as human as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/except-for-the-scale-of-the-operation-there-was-nothing-unusual-about/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [By the age of eighteen, a human has acquired enough joy and heartache to provide the food of reflection for a century.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/by-the-age-of-eighteen-a-human-has-acquired-enough-joy-and-heartache/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Our institutions are too big; they represent not the best but the worst characteristics of human beings. By submitting to huge hierarchies of power,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/our-institutions-are-too-big-they-represent-not-the-best-but-the/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [No man-made structure in all of American history has been hated so much, by so many, for so long, with such good reason, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/no-man-made-structure-in-all-of-american-history-has-been-hated-so/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Where all pretend to be thinking alike, it's likely that no one is thinking at all.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/where-all-pretend-to-be-thinking-alike-it-s-likely-that-no-one-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Nobody has so many friends that he can afford to lose one.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/nobody-has-so-many-friends-that-he-can-afford-to-lose-one/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“But why, the questioner insists, why do people like you pretend to love uninhabited country so much? Why this cult of wilderness? Why the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/but-why-the-questioner-insists-why-do-people-like-you-pretend-to-love/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Civilization is a youth with a molotov cocktail in his hand. Culture is the Soviet tank or L.A. cop that guns him down.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/civilization-is-a-youth-with-a-molotov-cocktail-in-his-hand-culture/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [All revolutions have failed? Perhaps. But rebellion for good cause is self- justifying -- a good in itself. Rebellion transforms slaves into human beings,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/all-revolutions-have-failed-perhaps-but-rebellion-for-good-cause-is/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Me, I'm living under a sword too, as Jack may have told you. An old wino's disease, which could lay me in the grave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/me-i-m-living-under-a-sword-too-as-jack-may-have-told-you-an-old-wino/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“Look here, I want to say, for godsake folks get out of them there machines, take off those fucking sunglasses and unpeel both eyeballs,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/look-here-i-want-to-say-for-godsake-folks-get-out-of-them-there/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Reason has seldom failed us because it has seldom been tried.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/reason-has-seldom-failed-us-because-it-has-seldom-been-tried/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [“What is the essence of the art of writing? Part One: Have something to say. Part Two: Say it well.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/what-is-the-essence-of-the-art-of-writing-part-one-have-something-to/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) [Explore all 807 Edward Abbey quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) ## More Bigotry quotes > [“The mission is, not to replace old world mindlessness with new world mindlessness, but to put an end to all forms of brainless authoritarianism.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/the-mission-is-not-to-replace-old-world-mindlessness-with-new-world/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [To take up half on trust, and half to try, Name it not faith but bungling bigotry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-dryden/to-take-up-half-on-trust-and-half-to-try-name-it-not-faith-but/) [John Dryden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-dryden/) > [ What are you for? It may be, to a degree, consoling that white brothers and sisters did not vote for \[Donald\] Trump, and do… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/what-are-you-for-it-may-be-to-a-degree-consoling-that-white-brothers/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [Bigoted people are just scholars who lack any sort of legitimate credentials to answer why they're bigoted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doctavius/bigoted-people-are-just-scholars-who-lack-any-sort-of-legitimate/) Doctavius > [Sadly, we can't eliminate bigotry. But that doesn't mean we have to tolerate it, much less give it a platform on which to thrive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-viner/sadly-we-can-t-eliminate-bigotry-but-that-doesn-t-mean-we-have-to/) [Katharine Viner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-viner/) > [Ideological bigotry has become the norm on even our most prestigious campuses, where students can go for years without reading or hearing anything that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/ideological-bigotry-has-become-the-norm-on-even-our-most-prestigious/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [“People talk about history and things like slavery, genocide, and religious persecution as horrors that happened in the past because we were ignorant. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-matthew-nespoli/people-talk-about-history-and-things-like-slavery-genocide-and/) [J. Matthew Nespoli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-matthew-nespoli/) > [“Remember who you are. This creature wants to take it from you. Do not let him.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-butcher/remember-who-you-are-this-creature-wants-to-take-it-from-you-do-not/) [Jim Butcher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-butcher/) > [“Oh Beautiful For A Land That's Free Where All Can Congregate Together Live With No Degree Of Bigotry And Hate”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathy-bee/oh-beautiful-for-a-land-that-s-free-where-all-can-congregate-together/) Kathy Bee > [“That’s the problem with indoctrination—the whole point of the First Order’s kind of education is to stop someone from thinking and instead kick their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/delilah-s-dawson/that-s-the-problem-with-indoctrination-the-whole-point-of-the-first/) [Delilah S. Dawson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/delilah-s-dawson/) > [Too small is our world to allow discrimination, bigotry and intolerance to thrive in any corner of it, let alone in the United States…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliot-engel/too-small-is-our-world-to-allow-discrimination-bigotry-and/) [Eliot Engel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliot-engel/) > [... happily the Government of the United States... gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-washington/happily-the-government-of-the-united-states-gives-to-bigotry-no/) [George Washington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-washington/) > [“This book would be a great addition to a classroom library, especially considering its emphases on timeless and critical topics like discrimination and prejudice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharon-lovejoy/this-book-would-be-a-great-addition-to-a-classroom-library-especially/) [Sharon Lovejoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sharon-lovejoy/) > [Pat Buchanan... was fired by MSNBC for doing nothing more than voicing his rock-solid conservative thoughts on the otherwise failing network... The real message…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-nugent/pat-buchanan-was-fired-by-msnbc-for-doing-nothing-more-than-voicing/) [Ted Nugent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-nugent/) > [Fear and Bigotry are bred fom isolation and ignorance. -Shekinah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/fear-and-bigotry-are-bred-fom-isolation-and-ignorance-shekinah/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 661 Bigotry quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/bigotry/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There are two kinds of people I cannot abide: bigots and any well-organized ethnic group.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Edward Abbey" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-i-cannot-abide-bigots-and-any-well/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Bigotry" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-i-cannot-abide-bigots-and-any-well/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/edward-abbey-254_bigotry_there-are-two-kinds-of-people-i-cannot-a_555503.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/edward-abbey-254_bigotry_there-are-two-kinds-of-people-i-cannot-a_555503.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/04b/edward-abbey-254_bigotry_there-are-two-kinds-of-people-i-cannot-a_555503.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There are two kinds of people I cannot abide: bigots and any well-organized ethnic group.” — Edward Abbey", "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": "Edward Abbey", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There are two kinds of people...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-i-cannot-abide-bigots-and-any-well/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/there-are-two-kinds-of-people-i-cannot-abide-bigots-and-any-well/#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 } } ] } ```