--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Ressentiment is a self-poisoning of the…" description: "\"Ressentiment is a self-poisoning of the mind which has quite definite causes and consequences. It is a lasting mental attitude, caused by the systemati..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/max-scheler-21013_attitude_ressentiment-is-a-self-poisoning-of-the_2687459.jpg" --- # Ressentiment is a self-poisoning of the mind which has… ![“Ressentiment is a self-poisoning of the mind which has quite definite causes and consequences. It is a lasting mental attitude, caused by the systematic repression of certain emotions and affects which, as such are normal components of human nature. Their repression leads to the constant tendency…” quote by Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/max-scheler-21013_attitude_ressentiment-is-a-self-poisoning-of-the_2687459.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/max-scheler-21013_attitude_ressentiment-is-a-self-poisoning-of-the_2687459.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ce7/max-scheler-21013_attitude_ressentiment-is-a-self-poisoning-of-the_2687459.jpg) > “Ressentiment is a self-poisoning of the mind which has quite definite causes and consequences. It is a lasting mental attitude, caused by the systematic repression of certain emotions and affects which, as such are normal components of human nature. Their repression leads to the constant tendency to indulge in certain kinds of value delusions and corresponding value judgments. The emotions and affects primarily concerned are revenge, hatred, malice, envy, the impulse to detract, and spite.” [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Ressentiment is a toxic mindset where suppressed negative emotions turn into self‑destructive attitudes and distorted values. **In simple terms:** Suppressed anger creates harmful self‑beliefs. Key Takeaway Recognize and process negative emotions health. Themes psychology ethics self‑awareness Mood introspective critical Type analytical philosophical When to use this quote - workplace conflict - personal relationships - political rhetoric Key Concepts resentment value distortion emotional repression Questions to Reflect On - What emotions are you repressing? - How might confronting them change your judgments? A Different Perspective Ignoring underlying feelings can worsen resentment and bias. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude/) [Attitude Caused](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude-caused-2630973/) [Causes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/causes/) [Certain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/certain/) [Components](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/components/) [Concerned](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/concerned/) [Consequence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/consequence/) [Constant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/constant/) [Corresponding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/corresponding/) [Definite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/definite/) [Delusion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/delusion/) [Emotion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emotion/) [Envy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/envy/) [Hatred](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hatred/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) [Humans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humans/) [Impulse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/impulse/) [Indulge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indulge/) [Indulge in](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/indulge-in/) [Judgment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/judgment/) [Kind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kind/) [Lasting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasting/) [Malice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/malice/) [Mental attitude](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mental-attitude/) [Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mind/) [Normal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/normal/) [Poisoning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poisoning/) [Poisoning Mind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poisoning-mind-2630972/) [Psychology](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/psychology/) [Repression](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repression/) [Repression Leads](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/repression-leads-2630974/) [Ressentiment Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ressentiment-self-2630971/) [Revenge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/revenge/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Spite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spite/) [Systematic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/systematic/) [Tendencies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/tendencies/) [Values](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/values/) ## Related quotes > [I don't think sexual repression leads to violence, but I can see the situation where you're trying very hard to be very religious and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karan-mahajan/i-don-t-think-sexual-repression-leads-to-violence-but-i-can-see-the/) [Karan Mahajan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karan-mahajan/) > [Children, do not listen to those who malign masters and sages. Never listen to or indulge in derogatory talk about anyone. When we harbor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mata-amritanandamayi/children-do-not-listen-to-those-who-malign-masters-and-sages-never/) [Mata Amritanandamayi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mata-amritanandamayi/) > [ We \[U.S.S.R. and U.S.A.\] can exist peacefully together if we don't indulge in too much mutual fault-finding in all kinds of trifles. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-stalin/we-u-s-s-r-and-u-s-a-can-exist-peacefully-together-if-we-don-t/) [Joseph Stalin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-stalin/) > [What but education has advanced us beyond the condition of our indigenous neighbors? 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Patton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-s-patton/) > [It can be set down as a broad, general principle that we cannot indulge in idleness and abundance during both the first and second…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-forbes/it-can-be-set-down-as-a-broad-general-principle-that-we-cannot/) [B. C. Forbes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-forbes/) > [To expect happiness without giving up negative action is like holding your hand in a fire and hoping not to be burned. Of course,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/to-expect-happiness-without-giving-up-negative-action-is-like-holding/) [Dilgo Khyentse Rinpoche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dilgo-khyentse-rinpoche/) > [Let us dig our gardens and not be elsewhere; Let us take long walks in the open air... Let us bathe in the rivers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-linssen/let-us-dig-our-gardens-and-not-be-elsewhere-let-us-take-long-walks-in/) [Robert Linssen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-linssen/) > [The sickly cultural pathos which the whole of France indulges in, that fetishism of the cultural heritage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-baudrillard/the-sickly-cultural-pathos-which-the-whole-of-france-indulges-in-that/) [Jean Baudrillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-baudrillard/) > [Self-pity is, perhaps, the least becoming of all emotions, and we often indulge in it only beause we are too exhausted to resist.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ivy-baker-priest/self-pity-is-perhaps-the-least-becoming-of-all-emotions-and-we-often/) [Ivy Baker Priest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ivy-baker-priest/) > [Why will no man confess his faults? Because he continues to indulge in them; a man cannot tell his dream till he wakes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seneca-the-younger/why-will-no-man-confess-his-faults-because-he-continues-to-indulge-in/) [Seneca the Younger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seneca-the-younger/) > [If you indulge in long periods, you must be sure to have a snapper at the end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/if-you-indulge-in-long-periods-you-must-be-sure-to-have-a-snapper-at/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) ## More by Max Scheler > [“One of my principal theses is that in every case the nature of a being (contingent as well as essential nature) can, in principle,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/one-of-my-principal-theses-is-that-in-every-case-the-nature-of-a/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [Whenever convictions are not arrived at by direct contact with the world and the objects themselves, but indirectly through a critique of the opinions…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/whenever-convictions-are-not-arrived-at-by-direct-contact-with-the/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [“What is gained by the transcendence of the object is the identifiability of the object in a plurality of acts and the identifiability of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/what-is-gained-by-the-transcendence-of-the-object-is-the/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [ “Love loves and in loving always looks beyond what it has in hand and possesses. The driving impulse \[\*Triebimpuls\*\] which arouses may tire out;… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/love-loves-and-in-loving-always-looks-beyond-what-it-has-in-hand-and/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [ “Only after the concept of knowledge has been based on an ontological relation \[\*Seinsverhältnis\*\] can we work out the particular kind of being from… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/only-after-the-concept-of-knowledge-has-been-based-on-an-ontological/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [“There are two fundamentally different ways for the strong to bend down to the weak, for the rich to help the poor, for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/there-are-two-fundamentally-different-ways-for-the-strong-to-bend/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [“All ancient philosophers, poets, and moralists agree that love is a striving, an aspiration of the “lower” toward the “higher,” the “unformed” toward the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/all-ancient-philosophers-poets-and-moralists-agree-that-love-is-a/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [“We must reject entirely the frequently encountered assertion that consciousness is a "primal fact," that one ought not speak of an "origin" of consciousness.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/we-must-reject-entirely-the-frequently-encountered-assertion-that/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [If the awareness of our limitations begins to limit or to dim our value consciousness as well—as happens, for instance, in old age with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/if-the-awareness-of-our-limitations-begins-to-limit-or-to-dim-our/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [The purpose of art is... to press forward into the whole of the external world and the soul, to see and communicate those objective…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/the-purpose-of-art-is-to-press-forward-into-the-whole-of-the-external/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [ “All that is worthy of love \[\*die Liebenswürdigkeiten\*\], from the viewpoint of God's comprehensive love, might have been stamped and created by this act… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/all-that-is-worthy-of-love-die-liebensw-rdigkeiten-from-the-viewpoint/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [“Existential envy which is directed against the other person’s very nature, is the strongest source of ressentiment. It is as if it whispers continually:…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/existential-envy-which-is-directed-against-the-other-person-s-very/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [“Antiquity believed that the forces of love in the universe were limited. Therefore they were to be used sparingly,and everyone was to be loved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/antiquity-believed-that-the-forces-of-love-in-the-universe-were/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [Ressentiment is always to some degree a determinant of the romantic type of mind. At least this is so when the romantic nostalgia for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/ressentiment-is-always-to-some-degree-a-determinant-of-the-romantic/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) > [“The “noble” person has a completely naïve and non-reflective awareness of his own value and of his fullness of being, an obscure conviction which…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/max-scheler/the-noble-person-has-a-completely-na-ve-and-non-reflective-awareness/) [Max Scheler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) [Explore all 30 Max Scheler quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/max-scheler/) ## More Attitude quotes > [“WE CAN'T ALWAYS CONTROL OUR CIRCUMSTANCES BUT WE CAN CONTROL OUR ATTITUDE. WE MUST BE MORE CONCERNED WITH WHAT WE DO WITH WHAT HAPPENS…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marvin-j-ashton/we-can-t-always-control-our-circumstances-but-we-can-control-our/) [MARVIN J. ASHTON](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marvin-j-ashton/) > [It's not the method, it's the mindset.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-gilbert/it-s-not-the-method-it-s-the-mindset/) [Andy Gilbert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-gilbert/) > [The vision of the left, full of envy and resentment, takes its worst toll on those at the bottom - whether black or white…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-sowell/the-vision-of-the-left-full-of-envy-and-resentment-takes-its-worst/) [Thomas Sowell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-sowell/) > [Changes before your eyes, things you can do and things you can't. My attitude is always let it keep rolling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrence-malick/changes-before-your-eyes-things-you-can-do-and-things-you-can-t-my/) [Terrence Malick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrence-malick/) > [Vow to be valiant. Resolve to be radiant. Determine to be dynamic. Strive to be sincere. 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Gratitude is the Greatest Attitude that has no Substitute.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernard-kelvin-clive/good-seeds-gratitude-is-the-greatest-attitude-that-has-no-substitute/) [Bernard Kelvin Clive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernard-kelvin-clive/) > [Jeff Chu's pilgrimage across America to discover his own place as a gay man in the Christian church as well as attitudes about being…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-freitas/jeff-chu-s-pilgrimage-across-america-to-discover-his-own-place-as-a/) [Donna Freitas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-freitas/) > [One genuine reason to feel jealous of my parents:-) I will never ever have a kid as awesome as their's...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/one-genuine-reason-to-feel-jealous-of-my-parents-i-will-never-ever/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm optimistic Hong Kong will achieve universal suffrage - no matter the attitude of Beijing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-wong/i-m-optimistic-hong-kong-will-achieve-universal-suffrage-no-matter/) [Joshua Wong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-wong/) > [My attitude it that you don't give in.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/phil-taylor/my-attitude-it-that-you-don-t-give-in/) [Phil Taylor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/phil-taylor/) > [Transparency pertains to impartial behavior, implies openness, communication, and accountability. Inculcate transparency in attitude and experience a life free of controversy and blame](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-anil-kr-sinha/transparency-pertains-to-impartial-behavior-implies-openness/) [Dr Anil Kr Sinha](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-anil-kr-sinha/) > [And if the mind thinks with a believing attitude one can do amazing things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-vincent-peale/and-if-the-mind-thinks-with-a-believing-attitude-one-can-do-amazing/) [Norman Vincent Peale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-vincent-peale/) [Browse all 9,543 Attitude quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attitude/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Ressentiment is a self-poisoning of the mind which has quite definite causes and consequences. It is a lasting mental attitude, caused by the systematic repression of certain emotions and affects which, as such are normal components of human nature. 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