Arrogant Men Quotes

“Guthrie sat in silence for a moment, mulling over Barbara Berlingieri's purposely degrading offer and letting his mind wander a bit: What if he had stepped aside and let the surgeon at the hospital sew up her face instead of doing it himself? And what if the head surgeon, who had never performed plastic surgery before, had tightened the stitching of the muscles in her cheek a bit too much and left her wit ha sneer instead of her natural smile? What if he had sewn the vermilion border straight across, without first making a notch, so that it had a permanent pucker? No. It was better that Bob Guthrie had stepped into the breach. Because now and for the rest of her life, Barbara Berlingieri would look into her mirror upon rising, check her reflection as she passed shop windows, peer into her compact while refreshing her makeup, and in these and a dozen other ways every day confront her image and be reminded of Bob Guthrie's genius and of her own towering ingratitude.”
― John Berendt, The City of Falling Angels

“... but in the depths of their hearts, in that true and ultimate depth which is revealed to no one, there remained the memory of what had taken place and the consciousness that was has once been can be again; there remained too hope, a seneless hope, that great asset of the downtrodden. For those who rule and must oppress in order to rule must work according to reason; and if, carried away by their passions or driven by an adversary, they go beyond the limits of reasonable action, they start down the slippery slope and thereby reveal the commencement of their own downfall. Whereas those who are downtrodden and exploited make equal use of their reason and unreason for they are but two different kinds of arms in the continual struggle, now underground, now open, against the oppressor.”
― Ivo Andrić, The Bridge on the Drina

“As a young man, I was startled by the popularity of these “misogynistic” portrayals of women in literary works to begin with Nana, Miss Julie, Ulysses, Women, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf. Now, with some experience in life, I believe that it was fueled more by the true nature of men as arrogant, selfish, unfeeling swine in relationships with women rather than breaking down conventional idealization of women BS. If Circe is still alive, the continents would sink in the blue deep oceans under the weight of the pigs.”
― Vinko Vrbanic

“Can you move?" he says, pulling out five euros from his wallet. He holds the bill over my head. "Here, this should help."
My fantasy evaporates like dry ice on a summer day in the hottest of deserts. I shoot him daggers with my eyes and swat the bill. He actually thinks I'm homeless?
"I don't need money."
"Could have fooled me," he says, his eyes making an unabashed loop over my outfit, and then pockets the bill.
Under my breath, I mutter, "Quelle bite."
What a dick.
"I heard that," he says in English, his lips pressing together into a thin line. "Crazy tourist."
"You speak English?"
"Yes, and it's obviously more refined than your limited French."
The lilt in his affected voice, the precise English accent that would normally have me drooling, echoes in my head when I snap to. How dare he? He crashes into me and then launches insults like grenades? Bye-bye, meet-cute, this prince in disguise is as ugly as a toadfish.”
― Samantha Verant, The Spice Master at Bistro Exotique