--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: He who is affected by an insult is…" description: "\"He who is affected by an insult is infected by it.\" — Jean Cocteau" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e3/jean-cocteau-1181_affected_he-who-is-affected-by-an-insult-is-infec_2578451.jpg" --- # He who is affected by an insult is infected by it. ![“He who is affected by an insult is infected by it.” quote by Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e3/jean-cocteau-1181_affected_he-who-is-affected-by-an-insult-is-infec_2578451.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e3/jean-cocteau-1181_affected_he-who-is-affected-by-an-insult-is-infec_2578451.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e3/jean-cocteau-1181_affected_he-who-is-affected-by-an-insult-is-infec_2578451.jpg) > “He who is affected by an insult is infected by it.” [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. An insult spreads like infection, affecting both giver and receiver. **In simple terms:** Insults infect both sides. Key Takeaway Choose words carefully. Themes communication insult psychology Mood cautious thoughtful Type advice reflective When to use this quote - family discussions - workplace feedback - social media - therapy - public speaking Key Concepts relationships emotions conflict resolution Questions to Reflect On - How do you respond to insults? - What prevents an insult from spreading? A Different Perspective Some insults are harmless. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [“Love is a serious infection. You get infected by the attractive force of thought, perception, and imagination.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debasish-mridha/love-is-a-serious-infection-you-get-infected-by-the-attractive-force/) [Debasish Mridha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debasish-mridha/) > [My aunt took me to see 'Salad Days' when I was seven. This story of a magic piano that infects everyone who hears it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-mackintosh/my-aunt-took-me-to-see-salad-days-when-i-was-seven-this-story-of-a/) [Cameron Mackintosh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-mackintosh/) > [“I was infected head to toe. Resistant to any medicine, immune to anything he might do. In fact, I knew that even if the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/l-j-shen/i-was-infected-head-to-toe-resistant-to-any-medicine-immune-to/) [L.J. Shen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/l-j-shen/) > [“Complete. What an awful word for an infected people, that final, animal stage that was the future of all of them. Chels swallowed, unsure…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-ausema/complete-what-an-awful-word-for-an-infected-people-that-final-animal/) Daniel Ausema > [“If you become impressed by someone, you will become infected by his disease. Then you will become impressed by his attributes and his powers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dada-bhagwan/if-you-become-impressed-by-someone-you-will-become-infected-by-his/) [Dada Bhagwan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dada-bhagwan/) > [“The concern was an infected getting sucked into an engine. ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dirk-patton/the-concern-was-an-infected-getting-sucked-into-an-engine/) [Dirk Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dirk-patton/) > [A lot of the Warp stuff has infected people's minds 'cause they're at the point where they can put tracks out, 'cause electronics are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sean-booth/a-lot-of-the-warp-stuff-has-infected-people-s-minds-cause-they-re-at/) [Sean Booth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sean-booth/) > [“Infected minds to their deaf pillows will discharge their secrets.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/infected-minds-to-their-deaf-pillows-will-discharge-their-secrets/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [You're feeling infected](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-van-dyk/you-re-feeling-infected/) [Paul Van Dyk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-van-dyk/) > [You will not even have enough time to go online and download all the patches to your computer before it is infected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikko-hypponen/you-will-not-even-have-enough-time-to-go-online-and-download-all-the/) [Mikko Hypponen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikko-hypponen/) > [I've thought a lot about the moment when I was infected with Ebola.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kent-brantly/i-ve-thought-a-lot-about-the-moment-when-i-was-infected-with-ebola/) [Kent Brantly](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kent-brantly/) > [I hear that Brooke Ashley is also pressing charges. I don't know how she can prove anything. How can they prove anything, whether it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marc-wallice/i-hear-that-brooke-ashley-is-also-pressing-charges-i-don-t-know-how/) [Marc Wallice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marc-wallice/) > [“It’s complete madness! There are cars on fire, shops being looted by teenagers, people rioting and protesting over something they have no control over.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-medina/it-s-complete-madness-there-are-cars-on-fire-shops-being-looted-by/) [Jason Medina](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-medina/) > [Thy food is such As hath been belch'd on by infected lungs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/thy-food-is-such-as-hath-been-belch-d-on-by-infected-lungs/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [My mother is the reason I'm in fashion. She worshiped it. Unfortunately, she infected me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vera-wang/my-mother-is-the-reason-i-m-in-fashion-she-worshiped-it-unfortunately/) [Vera Wang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vera-wang/) ## More by Jean Cocteau > [What is history after all? History is facts which become lies in the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-is-history-after-all-history-is-facts-which-become-lies-in-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I am happy to exhibit, but not to put myself on exhibition.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-am-happy-to-exhibit-but-not-to-put-myself-on-exhibition/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Love is mainly an affair of short spasms. If these spasms disappoint us, love dies. It is very seldom that it weathers the experience…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/love-is-mainly-an-affair-of-short-spasms-if-these-spasms-disappoint/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I believe in luck: how else can you explain the success of those you dislike?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-believe-in-luck-how-else-can-you-explain-the-success-of-those-you/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I have a piece of great and sad news to tell you: I am dead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-have-a-piece-of-great-and-sad-news-to-tell-you-i-am-dead/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Fight any instinct to be humorless, for humorlessness is the worst of all absurdities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/fight-any-instinct-to-be-humorless-for-humorlessness-is-the-worst-of/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Lying is the only art form that the public sanctions and instinctively prefers to reality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/lying-is-the-only-art-form-that-the-public-sanctions-and/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [The dead drug leaves a ghost behind. At certain hours it haunts the house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/the-dead-drug-leaves-a-ghost-behind-at-certain-hours-it-haunts-the/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [“Vivre est une chute horizontale”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/vivre-est-une-chute-horizontale/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [I expect a black silence that is almost as violent as laughter.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/i-expect-a-black-silence-that-is-almost-as-violent-as-laughter/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [My method is simple: not to bother about poetry. It must come of its own accord. Merely whispering its name drives it away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/my-method-is-simple-not-to-bother-about-poetry-it-must-come-of-its/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [If a poet has a dream, it is not of becoming famous, but of being believed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/if-a-poet-has-a-dream-it-is-not-of-becoming-famous-but-of-being/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Lack of manners is the sign of a hero.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/lack-of-manners-is-the-sign-of-a-hero/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [What the public criticizes in you, cultivate. It is you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/what-the-public-criticizes-in-you-cultivate-it-is-you/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) > [Here I am trying to live, or rather, I am trying to teach the death within me how to live.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/here-i-am-trying-to-live-or-rather-i-am-trying-to-teach-the-death/) [Jean Cocteau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) [Explore all 255 Jean Cocteau quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/) ## More Affected quotes > [To tell you the truth I am hard put to think of anyone who's career was affected significantly by making all those phone calls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dabney-coleman/to-tell-you-the-truth-i-am-hard-put-to-think-of-anyone-who-s-career/) [Dabney Coleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dabney-coleman/) > [First, climate change is the greatest long-term threat faced by humanity. It could cause more human and financial suffering than the two world wars…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-miliband/first-climate-change-is-the-greatest-long-term-threat-faced-by/) [David Miliband](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-miliband/) > [Be a pattern to others, and then all will go well; for as a whole city is affected by the licentious passions and vices…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-carlyle/be-a-pattern-to-others-and-then-all-will-go-well-for-as-a-whole-city/) [Thomas Carlyle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-carlyle/) > [At first I thought I would have to put on an English accent and try a sort of affected Shakespeare thing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leonardo-dicaprio/at-first-i-thought-i-would-have-to-put-on-an-english-accent-and-try-a/) [Leonardo DiCaprio](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leonardo-dicaprio/) > [Every culture, if its natural development is not too much affected by political restrictions, experiences a perpetual renewal of the formative urge, and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rudolf-rocker/every-culture-if-its-natural-development-is-not-too-much-affected-by/) [Rudolf Rocker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rudolf-rocker/) > [Don't show them that you are affected.. Instead, show them that you are happy even without them.. To put a sad face on your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sharlene05/don-t-show-them-that-you-are-affected-instead-show-them-that-you-are/) Sharlene05 > [I wish we could go back to the time when the private lives of our public figures were relevant only if they directly affected…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-kearns-goodwin/i-wish-we-could-go-back-to-the-time-when-the-private-lives-of-our/) [Doris Kearns Goodwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-kearns-goodwin/) > [Don't be intimidated by people who seem to be experts. Hear their points of view and get their judgements. But at the end of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-dallek/don-t-be-intimidated-by-people-who-seem-to-be-experts-hear-their/) [Robert Dallek](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-dallek/) > [Who what am I? My answer: I am the sum total of everything that went before me, of all I have been seen done,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/who-what-am-i-my-answer-i-am-the-sum-total-of-everything-that-went/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [I have wondered why is it that some people are less affected and torn by the verities of life and death that others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/i-have-wondered-why-is-it-that-some-people-are-less-affected-and-torn/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [Then, the other thing that affected my interest in choices growing up was the fact that I was going blind and that meant that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheena-iyengar/then-the-other-thing-that-affected-my-interest-in-choices-growing-up/) [Sheena Iyengar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheena-iyengar/) > [I don't think Wayne Rooney would be affected if you booed him, that's just how he is, but others go under. They really suffer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-lampard/i-don-t-think-wayne-rooney-would-be-affected-if-you-booed-him-that-s/) [Frank Lampard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-lampard/) > [I'm not good at standing on platforms and persuading people to my political point of view. Nor would I seek to. My gift is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/i-m-not-good-at-standing-on-platforms-and-persuading-people-to-my/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [I was trying to hold up a mirror to this country, to reflect the past years or so, and the varying degrees in which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/said-sayrafiezadeh/i-was-trying-to-hold-up-a-mirror-to-this-country-to-reflect-the-past/) [Said Sayrafiezadeh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/said-sayrafiezadeh/) > [We know COVID-19 hasn't affected communities equally.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roy-cooper/we-know-covid-19-hasn-t-affected-communities-equally/) [Roy Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roy-cooper/) Browse all 1,050 Affected quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "He who is affected by an insult is infected by it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Jean Cocteau" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/he-who-is-affected-by-an-insult-is-infected-by-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Affected" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/he-who-is-affected-by-an-insult-is-infected-by-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e3/jean-cocteau-1181_affected_he-who-is-affected-by-an-insult-is-infec_2578451.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e3/jean-cocteau-1181_affected_he-who-is-affected-by-an-insult-is-infec_2578451.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2e3/jean-cocteau-1181_affected_he-who-is-affected-by-an-insult-is-infec_2578451.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“He who is affected by an insult is infected by it.” — Jean Cocteau", "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": "Jean Cocteau", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-cocteau/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "He who is affected by an...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/he-who-is-affected-by-an-insult-is-infected-by-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-cocteau/he-who-is-affected-by-an-insult-is-infected-by-it/#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 } } ] } ```