--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Their arrogance protected them against…" description: "\"“Their arrogance protected them against any liking for their fellow-man, against the slightest interest in the strangers sitting all about them, amidst..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/marcel-proust-114_arrogance_their-arrogance-protected-them-against-a_1557340.jpg" --- # Their arrogance protected them against any liking for… ![“Their arrogance protected them against any liking for their fellow-man, against the slightest interest in the strangers sitting all about them, amidst whom M. de Stermaria adopted the manner one has in the buffet-car of a train, grim, hurried, stand-offish, brusque, fastidious and spiteful…” quote by Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/marcel-proust-114_arrogance_their-arrogance-protected-them-against-a_1557340.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/marcel-proust-114_arrogance_their-arrogance-protected-them-against-a_1557340.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/marcel-proust-114_arrogance_their-arrogance-protected-them-against-a_1557340.jpg) > ““Their arrogance protected them against any liking for their fellow-man, against the slightest interest in the strangers sitting all about them, amidst whom M. de Stermaria adopted the manner one has in the buffet-car of a train, grim, hurried, stand-offish, brusque, fastidious and spiteful, surrounded by other passengers whom one has never seen before, whom one will never see again and towards whom the only conceivable way of behaving is to make sure that they keep away from one's cold chicken and stay out of one's chosen corner-seat.”” [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. People isolate themselves socially, treating strangers as threats to their personal space and comfort. **In simple terms:** People keep strangers at a distance. Key Takeaway Respect others’ space and be open to connection. Themes isolation social distance elitism Mood detached critical Type observational literary When to use this quote - public transport - waiting rooms - conference networking - social events Key Concepts psychology human behavior social anxiety Questions to Reflect On - Why do you keep others at arm’s length? - How might openness improve your experience? A Different Perspective Such behavior can stem from fear or past trauma, not just arrogance. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Arrogance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogance/) [Misanthropy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/misanthropy/) [Nobility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nobility/) [Selfishness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/selfishness/) ## Related quotes > [“Nobility is often no more than the inner aspect which our egotistical feelings assume when we have not yet named and classified them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/nobility-is-often-no-more-than-the-inner-aspect-which-our-egotistical/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“But, don’t you see, since we happened to have M. de Cambremer here, and he is a Marquis, while you are only a Baron.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-don-t-you-see-since-we-happened-to-have-m-de-cambremer-here-and/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The opinions of the misanthropical rest upon this very partial basis, that they adopt the bad faith of a few as evidence of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christian-nestell-bovee/the-opinions-of-the-misanthropical-rest-upon-this-very-partial-basis/) [Christian Nestell Bovee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christian-nestell-bovee/) > [From the poetry of Lord Byron they drew a system of ethics compounded of misanthropy and voluptuousness,-a system in which the two great commandments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-b-macaulay/from-the-poetry-of-lord-byron-they-drew-a-system-of-ethics-compounded/) [Thomas B. Macaulay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-b-macaulay/) > [Out of the ashes of misanthropy benevolence rises again; we find many virtues where we had imagined all was vice, many acts of disinterested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/out-of-the-ashes-of-misanthropy-benevolence-rises-again-we-find-many/) [Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bulwer-lytton-1st-baron-lytton/) > [Landscape painting is the obvious resource of misanthropy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-hazlitt/landscape-painting-is-the-obvious-resource-of-misanthropy/) [William Hazlitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-hazlitt/) > [“There is nothing I detest so much as the contortions of these great time-and-lip servers, these affable dispensers of meaningless embraces, these obliging utterers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/moliere/there-is-nothing-i-detest-so-much-as-the-contortions-of-these-great/) [Molière](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/moliere/) > [Zombies are a great rhetorical prop to talk about people and paranoia, and they are a good vehicle for my misanthropy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/zombies-are-a-great-rhetorical-prop-to-talk-about-people-and-paranoia/) [Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/) > [“You are not special. You're just fucking not. You're a bland, boring motherfucker just like everybody else. You ever been to the mall and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/t-j-kirk/you-are-not-special-you-re-just-fucking-not-you-re-a-bland-boring/) [T.J. Kirk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-j-kirk/) > [The leech's kiss, the squid's embrace, The prurient ape's defiling touch: And do you like the human race? No, not much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aldous-huxley/the-leech-s-kiss-the-squid-s-embrace-the-prurient-ape-s-defiling/) [Aldous Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aldous-huxley/) > [“…in that moment, as he saw and smelled how irresistible its effect was and how with lightning speed it spread and made captives of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-s-skind/in-that-moment-as-he-saw-and-smelled-how-irresistible-its-effect-was/) [Patrick Süskind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-s-skind/) > [I could never find two people who are perfectly equal: one will always be more valuable than the other. And many people, as a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pentti-linkola/i-could-never-find-two-people-who-are-perfectly-equal-one-will-always/) [Pentti Linkola](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pentti-linkola/) > [He loved the people just as much as he feared and detested persons.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sinclair-lewis/he-loved-the-people-just-as-much-as-he-feared-and-detested-persons/) [Sinclair Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sinclair-lewis/) > [I'm interested in stories which insist on a dog fails-to-eat-dog kind of world. I hate misanthropy, want to believe that there's a possibility that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-minghella/i-m-interested-in-stories-which-insist-on-a-dog-fails-to-eat-dog-kind/) [Anthony Minghella](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-minghella/) > [A poet or philosopher should have no fault to find with his age if it only permits him to do his work undisturbed in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-schopenhauer/a-poet-or-philosopher-should-have-no-fault-to-find-with-his-age-if-it-2/) [Arthur Schopenhauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-schopenhauer/) ## More by Marcel Proust > [“machinery' of life at Versailles; and was able, too, to persuade herself that her silence, a shade of good humour or of arrogance on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/machinery-of-life-at-versailles-and-was-able-too-to-persuade-herself/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [ “For her \[Françoise\], wealth was like a necessary condition without which virtue would lack both merit and charm. She made so little distinction between… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/for-her-fran-oise-wealth-was-like-a-necessary-condition-without-which/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Knowing does not always allow us to prevent, but at least the things that we know, we hold them, if not in our hands,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/knowing-does-not-always-allow-us-to-prevent-but-at-least-the-things/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Death is in truth an illness from which we recover](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/death-is-in-truth-an-illness-from-which-we-recover/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [The bonds that unite another person to our self exist only in our mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/the-bonds-that-unite-another-person-to-our-self-exist-only-in-our-mind/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [...a writer's works, like the water in an artesian well, mount to a height which is in proportion to the depth to which suffering…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/a-writer-s-works-like-the-water-in-an-artesian-well-mount-to-a-height/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Then from those profound slumbers we awake in a dawn, not knowing who we are, being nobody, newly born, ready for anything, the brain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/then-from-those-profound-slumbers-we-awake-in-a-dawn-not-knowing-who/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Art extracted from the most familiar reality does indeed exist and its domain is perhaps the largest of any.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/art-extracted-from-the-most-familiar-reality-does-indeed-exist-and/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [I find very reasonable the Celtic belief that the souls of our dearly departed are trapped in some inferior being, in an animal, aplant,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/i-find-very-reasonable-the-celtic-belief-that-the-souls-of-our-dearly/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When you heard anyone in the middle of a talk which was being deliberately kept off the Affair announce furtively some piece of political…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-you-heard-anyone-in-the-middle-of-a-talk-which-was-being/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“We betroth ourselves by proxy, and then feel obliged to marry the intermediary.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/we-betroth-ourselves-by-proxy-and-then-feel-obliged-to-marry-the/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“But the old lady on the contrary, far from justifying her daughter’s fears, felt every time someone of her own age “disappeared” that she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/but-the-old-lady-on-the-contrary-far-from-justifying-her-daughter-s/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [Often it is just lack of imagination that keeps a man from suffering very much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/often-it-is-just-lack-of-imagination-that-keeps-a-man-from-suffering/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“When we are nice to others, we generally lose all claim to their respect.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/when-we-are-nice-to-others-we-generally-lose-all-claim-to-their/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) > [“Nobility is often no more than the inner aspect which our egotistical feelings assume when we have not yet named and classified them.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/nobility-is-often-no-more-than-the-inner-aspect-which-our-egotistical/) [Marcel Proust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) [Explore all 1,113 Marcel Proust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/) ## More Arrogance quotes > [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/) [Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/) > [wishes for sons by Lucille Clifton i wish them cramps. i wish them a strange town and the last tampon. I wish them no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucille-clifton/wishes-for-sons-by-lucille-clifton-i-wish-them-cramps-i-wish-them-a/) [Lucille Clifton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucille-clifton/) > [The structure of the Swiss ruling class is rock-hard, and unchanged since the time of Napoleon. They sit on their mountains and lecture the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-ziegler/the-structure-of-the-swiss-ruling-class-is-rock-hard-and-unchanged/) [Jean Ziegler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-ziegler/) > [What you see of me on TV and all of that, that is me - that's truly how I feel. I'm just multiplying it.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/baron-corbin/what-you-see-of-me-on-tv-and-all-of-that-that-is-me-that-s-truly-how/) [Baron Corbin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/baron-corbin/) > [I don't join the New Atheists. So, for example, I wouldn't have the arrogance to lecture some mother who hopes to see her dying…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/i-don-t-join-the-new-atheists-so-for-example-i-wouldn-t-have-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Never mistake someones quietness for their arrogance as you can surely miss out on an awsome personality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-mistake-someones-quietness-for-their-arrogance-as-you-can/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ezra-taft-benson/most-of-us-think-of-pride-as-self-centeredness-conceit-boastfulness/) [Ezra Taft Benson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ezra-taft-benson/) > [“I was consumed by a selfishness and arrogance that I didn't dare let go of until I found a new persona to hide behind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorothy-koomson/i-was-consumed-by-a-selfishness-and-arrogance-that-i-didn-t-dare-let/) [Dorothy Koomson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorothy-koomson/) > [Arrogance is the outgrowth of prosperity.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plautus/arrogance-is-the-outgrowth-of-prosperity/) [Plautus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plautus/) > [Timing and arrogance are decisive factors in the successful use of talent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marya-mannes/timing-and-arrogance-are-decisive-factors-in-the-successful-use-of/) [Marya Mannes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marya-mannes/) > [Some say work smarter, not harder, but the wisest are both. Whether you're more of a hard worker or a smart worker, if you're…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colby-tatem/some-say-work-smarter-not-harder-but-the-wisest-are-both-whether-you/) [Colby Tatem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colby-tatem/) > [Closed some doors, not because of pride, incapacity or arrogance, but simply because they no longer lead somewhere.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frenz-jeffrey/closed-some-doors-not-because-of-pride-incapacity-or-arrogance-but/) [Frenz Jeffrey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frenz-jeffrey/) > [My success isn't a result of arrogance - it's a result of belief.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/conor-mcgregor/my-success-isn-t-a-result-of-arrogance-it-s-a-result-of-belief/) [Conor McGregor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/conor-mcgregor/) > [“...a great man who is vicious will only be a great doer of evil, and a rich man who is not liberal will be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/miguel-cervantes/a-great-man-who-is-vicious-will-only-be-a-great-doer-of-evil-and-a/) Miguel Cervantes > [An increasing number of people are growing uncomfortable with the gulf between the world's rich and the poor. Ostentatiously splashing your money around simply…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kalle-lasn/an-increasing-number-of-people-are-growing-uncomfortable-with-the/) [Kalle Lasn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kalle-lasn/) [Browse all 1,418 Arrogance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/arrogance/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Their arrogance protected them against any liking for their fellow-man, against the slightest interest in the strangers sitting all about them, amidst whom M. de Stermaria adopted the manner one has in the buffet-car of a train, grim, hurried, stand-offish, brusque, fastidious and spiteful, surrounded by other passengers whom one has never seen before, whom one will never see again and towards whom the only conceivable way of behaving is to make sure that they keep away from one's cold chicken and stay out of one's chosen corner-seat.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Marcel Proust" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/their-arrogance-protected-them-against-any-liking-for-their-fellow/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Arrogance" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/their-arrogance-protected-them-against-any-liking-for-their-fellow/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/marcel-proust-114_arrogance_their-arrogance-protected-them-against-a_1557340.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/marcel-proust-114_arrogance_their-arrogance-protected-them-against-a_1557340.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/38d/marcel-proust-114_arrogance_their-arrogance-protected-them-against-a_1557340.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Their arrogance protected them against any liking for their fellow-man, against the slightest interest in…” — Marcel Proust", "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": "Marcel Proust", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-proust/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Their arrogance protected them against any...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/their-arrogance-protected-them-against-any-liking-for-their-fellow/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-proust/their-arrogance-protected-them-against-any-liking-for-their-fellow/#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 } } ] } ```