Backhanded Compliment Quotes

“She isn't stupid. She's intelligent enough in a purely feminine way. Eighteenth-century France would have been a marvellous setting for her, or the old South if she hadn't made the mistake of being born a Negro.”
― Nella Larsen, Passing

“[I]f I suffered only one fool gladly, I assure you it would be you.”
― Iain M. Banks, Look to Windward

“Her eyelashes lay on her cheek, but they were not extraordinarily thick or long. Her eyebrows would benefit from plucking, but they were elegantly curved.”
― Jo Beverley, The Secret Duke

“They’re surrounding us,” he grunted against my neck. “But they won’t go near your fire. Thanks for that, by the way. You’re not the most subtle when it comes to magic, so I knew it had to be you.”
― Jane Washington, A City of Whispers

“Aldo might be the only one who belongs in SCS-8. But he’s come a long, long way. He passed that science test—and the fact that he did isn’t half as amazing as the fact that he even bothered to try.”
― Gordon Korman, The Unteachables

“Aren’t you just one in a melon,” she muttered.”
― Lynn Byk, The Fearless Moral Inventory of Elsie Finch