Humiliation

Humiliation is the abasement of pride, which creates mortification or leads to a state of being humbled or reduced to lowliness or submission. It is an emotion felt by a person whose social status has just decreased. It can be brought about through intimidation, physical or mental mistreatment or trickery, or by embarrassment if a person is revealed to have committed a socially or legally unacceptable act.

A

One man's transparency is another's humiliation.
- Gerry Adams, in Collaboration 2. 0: Technology and Best Practices for Successful ..., Happy About, 1 January 2008, p. 93.

The days of humiliation, of second-class citizens and of inequality are over and gone forever.
- Gerry Adams, in Text of a Speech by Gerry Adams, then President of Sinn Féin, to a Sinn Féin selection convention in Navan, County Meath, CAIN in the University of Ulster, 1 December 2004.

All the world wondered as they witnessed... a people lift themselves from humiliation to the greatest pride.
- Corazon Aquino, in Beatriz Romualdez Francia Imelda and the Clans: A Story of the Philippines, Solar Publishing Corporation, 1988, p. 510.

Art is born of humiliation.
- W. H. Auden, in Avishai Margalit, Avishai Margalit The Ethics of Memory, Harvard University Press, 30 June 2009, p. 122.

B

Friends, to me for years St. Louis represented a city of fear... humiliation... misery and terror... A city where in the eyes of the white man a Negro should know his place and had better stay in it.
- Josephine Baker, in Raymond Lawrence Lee Contemporary Social Issues, Crowell, 1955, p. 488.

We live in a world of communication - everyone gets information about everyone else. There is universal comparison and you don't just compare yourself with the people next door, you compare yourself to people all over the world and with what is being presented as the decent, proper and dignified life. It's the crime of humiliation.
- Zygmunt Bauman, in Madeleine Bunting Passion and pessimism, The Guardian, Saturday 5 April 2003.

Eastern Muslim countries, such as Indonesia and Malaysia, are relative success stories, as they are not afflicted by the Arab heritage of retreat and humiliation at the hands of the French, Spanish, British, Turks, and Persians.
- Conrad Black, in Making sense of the "Arab Spring, 7 April 2011, CBS NEWS

The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth: In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.
- Bible, in Alvah Hovey A Commentary on the Acts of the Apostles, American Baptist Publication Society, 1882, p. 114.

C

Warned by such evidences of their spiritual illness, believers profit by their humiliations. Robbed of their foolish confidence in the flesh, they take refuge in the grace of God. And when they have done so, they experience the nearness of the divine protection which is to them a strong fortress (Ps 30:6-7).
- John Calvin, Golden Booklet of the True Christian Life Page 51

Performers are so vulnerable. They're frightened of humiliation, sure their work will be crap. I try to make an environment where it's warm, where it's OK to fail - a kind of home, I suppose.
- Jane Campion, in Peter Conrad Jane Campion: 'I make films so I can have fun with the characters, The Guardian, 18 October 2009.

To those who despair of everything reason cannot provide a faith, but only passion, and in this case it must be the same passion that lay at the root of the despair, namely humiliation and hatred.
- Albert Camus, in Carol A. Dingle Memorable Quotations: Philosophers of Western Civilization, iUniverse, 1January 2000, p. 40.

With any recovery from morbidity there must go a certain healthy humiliation.
- Gilbert K. Chesterton, in The Man Who Was Thursday: And Related Pieces, Oxford University Press, 17 October 1996, p. 30.

American history contains much matter for pride and congratulation, and much matter for regret and humiliation.
- Herbert Croly, in Olivier Zunz Why the American Century?, University of Chicago Press, 1 June 2000, p. 178.

I appeal to you as a soldier to spare me the humiliation of seeing my regiment march to meet the enemy and I not share its dangers.
- George Armstrong Custer, in Ralph K. Andrist The Long Death: The Last Days of the Plains Indian, University of Oklahoma Press, 2001, p. 258.

D

For in all the world there are no people so piteous and forlorn as those who are forced to eat the bitter bread of dependency in their old age, and find how steep are the stairs of another man's house. Wherever they go they know themselves unwelcome. Wherever they are, they feel themselves a burden. There is no humiliation of the spirit they are not forced to endure. Their hearts are scarred all over with the stabs from cruel and callous speeches.
- Dorothy Dix, in Quotes about Age and Aging, Quotations Book, p. 19.

Humiliation is the beginning of sanctification.
- John Donne, in The Works of John Donne, D.D., Dean of Saint Paul's, 1621-1631 ..., Volume 1, John W. Parker, 1839, p. 149.

E

If your theory is found to be against the second law of theromodynamics, I give you no hope; there is nothing for it but to collapse in deepest humiliation.
- Arthur Eddington, in Hank Hanegraaff The Face That Demonstrates The Farce of Evolution, Thomas Nelson Inc, 16 February 2001, p. 86.

Israel claims it needs nuclear weapons as a deterrent against any threat to its existence. The Arab world in return feels that this is an imbalanced system; there is a sense of humiliation and impotence.
- Mohamed ElBaradei, in Time, Volumes 173-174, Time Incorporated, 2009, p. 70.

F

Your sweetheart calls you by another's name. His eyes linger too long on your best friend. He talks with excitement about a girl at work. And the fire catches. Jealousy - that sickening combination of possessiveness, suspicion, rage, and humiliation - can overtake your mind and threaten your very core as you contemplate your rival.
- Helen Fisher, in (OPRAH.com), CNN International TV, 20 August 2009.

Anything was better than nothing. Half-full was better than empty. Ignorance was the lowest form of humiliation and suffering.
- Becca Fitzpatrick, in Silence, Simon and Schuster, 4 October 2011, p. 113

What really helps me is being able to record my albums at home - I have more fun experimenting that way, as opposed to working with an engineer, in which case I have to deal with the humiliation of doing take after take, and that can get frustrating.
- John Frusciante, in John Frusciante: Dear Guitar Hero, Guitar World, 5 November 2009.

G

It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings.
- Mahatma Gandhi, in Peter T. Coleman, et al, The Handbook of Conflict Resolution: Theory and Practice, John Wiley & Sons, 28 February 2014, p. 293.

A great wind swept over the ghetto, carrying away shame, invisibility and four centuries of humiliation. But when the wind dropped people saw it had been only a little breeze, friendly, almost gentle.
- Jean Genet, in The selected writings of Jean Genet, HarperCollins Publishers, 1 October1993, p. 371.

You ask anybody what their number one fear is, and it's public humiliation. Multiply that on a global scale, and that's what I've been through.
- Mel Gibson, in John Hiscock Mel Gibson interview, The Telegraph 21 January 2010.

Flaws would not only bring death but, far worse, humiliation.
- William Goldman, in The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High ..., Bloomsbury Publishing, 1999, p. 354.

Avoiding humiliation is the core of tragedy and comedy.
- John Guare, in The Black Comedy of John Guare, University of Delaware Press, 01-Jan-2002, p. 14.

H

I see the at the humiliation of airport security checks.

I see the at the humiliation of airport security checks.
- Tom Hodgkinson, in Tom Hodgkinson: Why modern travel fills me with horror, Independent Voices, 15 July 2012.

I'm not sure if I could bear to go on an aeroplane again. It's not my concern for the welfare of the planet. It's not even the long check-in times and queuing. No, it's the humiliation of the security process that has finally done it for me.
- Tom Hodgkinson, in Just add water, The Guardian, 24 February 2007.

The greatest humiliation in life, is to work hard on something from which you expect great appreciation, and then fail to get it.
- E. W. Howe, in Zig Ziglar Top Performance, Baker Books, 01 September 2004, p. 64.

I

J

With no attempt there can be no failure; with no failure, no humiliation. So our self-feeling in this world depends entirely on what we back ourselves to be and do. . . .
- William James, in B. Hergenhahn, Tracy Henley An Introduction to the History of Psychology, Cengage Learning, 27 February 2013, 329.

With publicity comes humiliation.
- Tama Janowitz, in QFinance: The Ultimate Resource, Bloomsbury USA, 13 October 2009, p. 1818.

I came to poetry through the urgent need to denounce injustice, exploitation, humiliation. I know that's not enough to change the world. But to remain silent would have been a kind of intolerable complicity.
- Tahar Ben Jelloun, in Change the world, Modern Seers.

K

The holy book is implanted in the hearts and minds of all the Muslims. Humiliation of the holy book represents the humiliation of our people.
- Hamid Karzai, in 11 injured in protests against Qur’an burning, The Star.com, 26 May 2014.

The revival of Islam dates from the early years of the 20th century. It was brought about by their humiliation, by their sense of how low they'd fallen compared with the West.
- John Keegan, in Jennifer Byrne Interview with Sir John Keegan, Foreign Correspondent, 10 October 2001.

There is an element of anger among women who've been raped. There's certainly a major element of humiliation. But it really does seem like a medical condition of shock and horror.
- Nicholas D. Kristof, in Joel Whitney Nicholas Kristof: The Crisis of Our Times, Guernica, 28 June 2005.

L

Boxing is fascinating. It's good for the soul to be made to feel clumsy. I swank around during the week thinking I'm a big cheese, but you don't feel like that when you're in the ring with a chap who knows what he's doing. It's ritual humiliation. I'm going to be slugged about and probably killed, but I love it and have to do something to keep fit.
- Hugh Laurie, in Hugh Laurie, 4 December 2007.

M

What is the natural reaction when told you have a hopeless mental illness? That diagnosis does you in; that, and the humiliation of being there. I mean, the indignity you're subjected to. My God.

In a society in which equality is a fact, not merely a word, words of racial or sexual assault and humiliation will be nonsense syllables.
- Catharine A. MacKinnon, in Only Words, Harvard University Press, 1 January 1993, p. 109.

Those children who are beaten will in turn give beatings, those who are intimidated will be intimidating, those who are humiliated will impose humiliation, and those whose souls are murdered will murder.
- Alice Miller, in J. E. Norris-Bernal Forgiving Others and Trusting God . . . a Handbook for Survivors of Child ..., Xulon Press, 2011, p. 16.

What is the natural reaction when told you have a hopeless mental illness? That diagnosis does you in; that, and the humiliation of being there. I mean, the indignity you're subjected to. My God.
- Kate Millett, in Kerry Ryan-Kuhn Imagine, Dignity with Mental Illness-Much Work to Do, 12 June 2013.

There is no humiliation more abusive than hunger.
- Pranab Mukherjee, in No humiliation more abusive than hunger: President Pranab, CNN-IBN, 25 July 2012.

N

We did not start a fight with America, and we don't want a war with America. If someone launches an attack, though, we will respond. We will not take rejection or humiliation. We do not want to fight.
- Hassan Nasrallah, in Interview With Sheikh Hassan Nasrallah, CNN Sunday, 16 March 2003.

O

Football linemen are motivated by a more complicated, self- determining series of factors than the simple fear of humiliation in the public gaze, which is the emotion that galvanizes the backs and receivers.
- Merlin Olsen, in Steve Silverman Who's Better, Who's Best in Football?: Setting the Record Straight on the ..., Skyhorse Publishing Inc., 2009.

Some wars have been due to the lust of rulers for power and glory, or to revenge to wipe out the humiliation of a former defeat.
- Lord John Boyd Orr, in Frederick W. Haberman Nobel Lectures in Peace, World Scientific, 1999, p. 415.

P

Christianity is strange. It bids man recognise that he is vile, even abominable, and bids him desire to be like God. Without such a counterpoise, this dignity would make him horribly vain, or this humiliation would make him terribly abject.
- Blaise Pascal , in Thoughts, Letters, and Minor Works, p. F. Collier & Son, 1910, p. 175.

Q

R

The truth is, laughter always sounds more perfect than weeping. Laughter flows in a violent riff and is effortlessly melodic. Weeping is often fought, choked, half strangled, or surrendered to with humiliation.
- Anne Rice, in Quotes about Laughter, Quotations Book, p. 13.

S

Every attempt to make war easy and safe will result in humiliation and disaster.
- William Tecumseh Sherman, in Memoirs of General W.T. Sherman, Library of America, 1990, p. 898.

A history of perceived humiliation, after all, lurks behind many acts of terror. And competing narratives of victimhood and insults sustain conflicts in the Balkans, the Caucasus, the Middle East and many other regions.
- Serge Schmemann, in From the Editor, The New York Times, 2 December 2010.

With this sweet hope of ultimate acceptance with God, I have always enjoyed much cheerfulness before men; but I have at the same time laboured incessantly to cultivate the deepest humiliation before God.
- Charles Simeon, in Memoirs of the Life of the Rev. Charles Simeon, Late Senior Fellow of King's ..., J. Hatchard, 1848, p. 361.

T

I believe the Negro blood counts, and counts to my advantage - though it has caused me at times a life of great humiliation and sorrow.
- Henry Ossawa Tanner, in Marcia M. Mathews Henry Ossawa Tanner: American Artist, University of Chicago Press, 1969, p. 143.

We learn humility through accepting humiliations cheerfully.
- Mother Teresa, in Chaliha Joy In Loving : Guide To Daily Living Wi, Penguin Books India, 1 March 2003, p. 21.

Pride attaches undue importance to the superiority of one's status in the eyes of others; And shame is fear of humiliation at one's inferior status in the estimation of others. When one sets his heart on being highly esteemed, and achieves such rating, then he is automatically involved in fear of losing his status.
- Lao Tzu, in Tao Teh King (Google eBook), Jain Publishing Company, 1996, p. 20.

U

V

Latent in every man is a venom of amazing bitterness, a black resentment; something that curses and loathes life, a feeling of being trapped, of having trusted and been fooled, of being the helpless prey of impotent rage, blind surrender, the victim of a savage, ruthless power that gives and takes away, enlists a man, and crowning injury inflicts upon him the humiliation of feeling sorry for himself.
- Paul Valery, in R. L. Voyles Ransom for Justice, Hallmark Emporium, 1999, p. 13.

There had been an attempt to humiliate him. It had not succeeded. He had paid, but pain, like pleasure, has no duration. Pride was an entity more persistent.
- Jack Vance, in The Palace of Love, Hachette UK, 29 September 2011, p. 49.

W

Sarajevo, Bosnia, 1992 I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented. ~ Elie Wiesel

I was not popular in school, and I was definitely not a ladies' man. And I had a very painful adolescence, because it was all very strange to me. It wasn't like I got beat up, but the humiliation and isolation, and the existential 'God, I exist, and nobody cares' of being a teenager were extremely pronounced for me.
- Joss Whedon, in David Lavery, Cynthia Burkhead Joss Whedon: Conversations, Univ. Press of Mississippi, 2011, p. 25.

The only way into truth is through one's own annihilation; through dwelling a long time in a state of extreme and total humiliation.
- Simone Weil, in Laurence A. Blum, Victor Seidler A Truer Liberty (Routledge Revivals): Simone Weil and Marxism, Routledge, 15 October 2009, p. 179.

I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.
- Elie Wiesel, in his Nobel acceptance speech (10 December 1986).

X

Y

Z

Anonymous

Christianity is the only major religion to have as its central event the humiliation of its God.
- Anonymous, in Byron Forrest Yawn, Robin Yawn What Every Woman Wishes Her Father Had Told Her, Harvest House Publishers, 1 October 2013, p. 52.

External links

Media related to Humiliation on Wikimedia Commons
Encyclopedic article on Humiliation on Wikipedia
The dictionary definition of humiliation on Wiktionary

Emotions
Adoration ~ Affection ~ Agony ~ Amusement ~ Anger ~ Anguish ~ Anxiety ~ Apathy ~ Awe ~ Boredom ~ Calmness ~ Cheerfulness ~ Compassion ~ Contempt ~ Contentment ~ Depression ~ Desire ~ Disappointment ~ Discontent ~ Disgust ~ Ecstasy ~ Embarrassment ~ Empathy ~ Enthusiasm ~ Envy ~ Euphoria ~ Fear ~ Gratitude ~ Grief ~ Guilt ~ Happiness ~ Hatred ~ Hope ~ Hostility ~ Humiliation ~ Impatience ~ Indignation ~ Insecurity ~ Jealousy ~ Joy ~ Loneliness ~ Loss ~ Love ~ Lust ~ Malice ~ Melancholy ~ Nostalgia ~ Panic ~ Passion ~ Pity ~ Pride ~ Rage ~ Regret ~ Remorse ~ Resentment ~ Sadness ~ Shame ~ Sorrow ~ Suffering ~ Surprise ~ Sympathy ~ Wonder ~ Worry