--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Brian darling, I’m really not such an…" description: "\"“Brian darling, I’m really not such an idiot that I don’t realize that if a man calls me a nigger it’s his fault the first time, but mine if he has the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dd/nella-larsen-16508_first-time_brian-darling-i-m-really-not-such-an-idi_39593.png" --- # Brian darling, I’m really not such an idiot that I don’t… ![“Brian darling, I’m really not such an idiot that I don’t realize that if a man calls me a nigger it’s his fault the first time, but mine if he has the opportunity to do it again.” quote by Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dd/nella-larsen-16508_first-time_brian-darling-i-m-really-not-such-an-idi_39593.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dd/nella-larsen-16508_first-time_brian-darling-i-m-really-not-such-an-idi_39593.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/0dd/nella-larsen-16508_first-time_brian-darling-i-m-really-not-such-an-idi_39593.png) > ““Brian darling, I’m really not such an idiot that I don’t realize that if a man calls me a nigger it’s his fault the first time, but mine if he has the opportunity to do it again.”” [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker asserts personal agency in confronting repeated racial slurs, emphasizing that responsibility for the insult shifts to the offender when it recurs. **In simple terms:** Ownership of response to repeated racism Key Takeaway Repeated slurs become the offender's burden Themes Racism Personal agency Responsibility Power dynamics Identity Mood Defiant Empowered Resentful Type Statement Social commentary When to use this quote - Experiencing repeated harassment - Confronting a repeat offender - Navigating workplace racism Key Concepts Racial slur Self-assertion Moral accountability Practical Applications - Developing assertive communication strategies - Educating on the impact of repeated slurs Questions to Reflect On - How does repeated exposure to slurs affect the victim's sense of agency? - What strategies can shift responsibility onto the offender? ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Idiot](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/idiot/) ## Related quotes > [“I'm not such an idiot that I don't realize that if a man calls me a nigger it's his fault the first time, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/i-m-not-such-an-idiot-that-i-don-t-realize-that-if-a-man-calls-me-a/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“When someone calls you a 'nigger', then you feel sorry for him... You have to pity him because his mind has such a sorry…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-makos/when-someone-calls-you-a-nigger-then-you-feel-sorry-for-him-you-have/) [Adam Makos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-makos/) > [“The art of rap is deceptive. It seems so straightforward and personal and real that people read it completely literally, as raw testimony or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-z/the-art-of-rap-is-deceptive-it-seems-so-straightforward-and-personal/) [Jay-Z](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-z/) > [MINSTREL, adj. Formerly a poet, singer or musician; now a nigger with a color less than skin deep and a humor more than flesh…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ambrose-bierce/minstrel-adj-formerly-a-poet-singer-or-musician-now-a-nigger-with-a/) [Ambrose Bierce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ambrose-bierce/) > [“This is just a nigger talkin', an' a busted-back nigger. So it don't mean nothing, see? You couldn't remember it anyways. I seen it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/this-is-just-a-nigger-talkin-an-a-busted-back-nigger-so-it-don-t-mean/) [John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/) > [“it was worth half-cent to kill a "nigger", and a half-cent to bury one.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-douglass/it-was-worth-half-cent-to-kill-a-nigger-and-a-half-cent-to-bury-one/) [Frederick Douglass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-douglass/) > [“I Ain't Got No Quarrel With The VietCong...No VietCong Ever Called Me Nigger.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-ali/i-ain-t-got-no-quarrel-with-the-vietcong-no-vietcong-ever-called-me/) [Muhammad Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-ali/) > [“Beloved, there is something black folk fear, whether you can see it or not, whether some of us black folk will say it or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/beloved-there-is-something-black-folk-fear-whether-you-can-see-it-or/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [“Nigger-eye Berries cast dark Hooks -- Black sweet blood mouthfuls, Shadows.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/nigger-eye-berries-cast-dark-hooks-black-sweet-blood-mouthfuls-shadows/) [Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/) > [“Stagolee was, undoubtedly and without question, the baddest nigger that ever lived. Stagolee was so bad that the flies wouldn't even fly around his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-lester/stagolee-was-undoubtedly-and-without-question-the-baddest-nigger-that/) [Julius Lester](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-lester/) > [“Both Richard and I sat silent and watched Jennifer Lee . She came across the room and over to us and swept our chess…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cecil-brown/both-richard-and-i-sat-silent-and-watched-jennifer-lee-she-came/) Cecil Brown > [“Dear Momma―Wherever you are, if ever you hear the word "nigger" again, remember they are advertising my book.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dick-gregory/dear-momma-wherever-you-are-if-ever-you-hear-the-word-nigger-again/) [Dick Gregory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dick-gregory/) > [“Why was "nigger" bleeped out? I mean, "nigger" is a word that exists. People use it. It is part of America. It has caused…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/why-was-nigger-bleeped-out-i-mean-nigger-is-a-word-that-exists-people/) [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/) > [“He never denied it. He never did anything. He never acted like either a nigger or a white man. That was it. That was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-faulkner/he-never-denied-it-he-never-did-anything-he-never-acted-like-either-a/) [William Faulkner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-faulkner/) > [Nigger Money talks trust me I know what I'm saying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trunxbeats/nigger-money-talks-trust-me-i-know-what-i-m-saying/) Trunxbeats ## More by Nella Larsen > [“You knew what his opinion of you was, while he -- Well, 'twas ever thus. We know, always have. They don't. Not quite. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/you-knew-what-his-opinion-of-you-was-while-he-well-twas-ever-thus-we/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“No, certainly he didn’t. Not actually. He couldn’t, not very well, since he didn’t know. But he would have. It amounts to the same…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/no-certainly-he-didn-t-not-actually-he-couldn-t-not-very-well-since/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [These people yapped loudly of race, of race consciousness, of race pride, and yet suppressed its most delightful manifestations, love of color, joy of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/these-people-yapped-loudly-of-race-of-race-consciousness-of-race/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“And mingled with her disbelief and resentment was another feeling, a question. Why hadn’t she spoken that day? Why, in the face of Bellew’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/and-mingled-with-her-disbelief-and-resentment-was-another-feeling-a/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“But there was, she knew, something else. Happiness, she supposed. Whatever that might be. What, exactly, she wondered, was happiness. Very positively she wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/but-there-was-she-knew-something-else-happiness-she-supposed-whatever/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [If sex isn't a joke, what is it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/if-sex-isn-t-a-joke-what-is-it/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“she regarded with an astonishment that had in it a mild degree of amusement the violence of the feelings which it stirred in her.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/she-regarded-with-an-astonishment-that-had-in-it-a-mild-degree-of/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“This, Irene told her, was the year 1927 in the city of New York, and hundreds of white people of Hugh Wentworth’s type came…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/this-irene-told-her-was-the-year-1927-in-the-city-of-new-york-and/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [that's what everybody wants, just a little more money, even the people who have it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/that-s-what-everybody-wants-just-a-little-more-money-even-the-people/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“Not so lonely that that old, queer, unhappy restlessness had begun again within him; that craving for some place strange and different, which at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/not-so-lonely-that-that-old-queer-unhappy-restlessness-had-begun/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [“After all these years to still blame her like this. Hadn’t his success proved that she’d been right in insisting that he stick to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/after-all-these-years-to-still-blame-her-like-this-hadn-t-his-success/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [Have you ever stopped to think how much unhappiness and downright cruelty are laid to the loving kindness of the Lord? And always by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/have-you-ever-stopped-to-think-how-much-unhappiness-and-downright/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [I feel like the oldest person in the world with the longest stretch of life before me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/i-feel-like-the-oldest-person-in-the-world-with-the-longest-stretch/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [I think being a mother is the cruelest thing in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/i-think-being-a-mother-is-the-cruelest-thing-in-the-world/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) > [Lies, injustice, and hypocrisy are a part of every ordinary community. Most people achieve a sort of protective immunity, a kind of callousness, toward…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nella-larsen/lies-injustice-and-hypocrisy-are-a-part-of-every-ordinary-community/) [Nella Larsen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) [Explore all 39 Nella Larsen quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nella-larsen/) ## More First time quotes > [A man walks down the street. It's a street in a strange world. Maybe it's the third world. Maybe it's his first time around.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-simon/a-man-walks-down-the-street-it-s-a-street-in-a-strange-world-maybe-it/) [Paul Simon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-simon/) > [“I’m so stressed that a weird Olympic-style commentary starts up in my head. 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For the first time in my life, I’ve found something worth fighting for, someone more important than me.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chelle-bliss/i-won-t-break-your-heart-for-the-first-time-in-my-life-i-ve-found/) [Chelle Bliss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chelle-bliss/) > [Life is like a parachute jump: you have to get it right the first time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ritu-ghatourey/life-is-like-a-parachute-jump-you-have-to-get-it-right-the-first-time/) [Ritu Ghatourey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ritu-ghatourey/) > [When I was in my twenties and just so sexually prolific, the first time I went to Machu Picchu, this guy, a spiritual teacher,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woody-harrelson/when-i-was-in-my-twenties-and-just-so-sexually-prolific-the-first/) [Woody Harrelson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woody-harrelson/) > [When my kids were in the school play for the first time, I decided I had to make the costumes from scratch and bought…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-alexander/when-my-kids-were-in-the-school-play-for-the-first-time-i-decided-i/) [Sarah Alexander](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-alexander/) > [“I will run every mile, i will save every line, i will say i reached the top and i will fall back down standing.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mennah-al-refaey/i-will-run-every-mile-i-will-save-every-line-i-will-say-i-reached-the/) Mennah al refaey > [“Or maybe your magic isn't that destructive after all. 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