Misanthropy

Le Misantrope, 1719 ad.

Misanthropy is a hatred or distrust of the human race, or a disposition to dislike and mistrust other people.

Quotes

• I hate mankind, for I think myself one of the best of them, and I know how bad I am.
  • Giuseppe Baretti, February 13, 1766. The Samuel Johnson Sound Bite Page, retrieved 24 October 2018

• Humans may exceed other animals in their sapient capacities, but we also surpass other species on our destructiveness. Many animals cause harm, but we are the most lethal species ever to have inhabited our planet. It is revealing that we do not refer to this superlative property in identifying ourselves. There is ample evidence that we are Homo pernicious – the dangerous, destructive human.
  • David Benatar, The Misanthropic Argument for Anti-natalism, 2015, p. 38

• Few prospective procreators consider the asthetic impact of their potential children. But how many more producers of excrement and urine, flatulence, menstrual blood and semen, sweat, mucus, vomit, and pus do we really need? How much more human waste do we need to process? How many more corpses do we need to dispose of? It would be an aesthetic improvement if there were fewer people.
  • David Benatar, The Misanthropic Argument for Anti-natalism, 2015, p. 58

• I am now quite cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town. A sensible man ought to find sufficient company in himself.
  • Mr. Lockwood in Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights (Ch. III).

• My hate is general, I detest all men;
  Some because they are wicked and do evil,
  Others because they tolerate the wicked,
  Refusing them the active vigorous scorn
  Which vice should stimulate in virtuous minds.
  • Molière, in The Misanthrope (1666)

• I am misanthropos, and hate mankind
  For thy part, I do wish thou wert a dog
  That I might love thee something.
  • William Shakespeare, in Timon of Athens, Act IV, Scene III, Timon to Alcibiades

• Timon will to the woods; where he shall find
  The unkindest beast more kinder than mankind.
  The gods confound — hear me, you good gods all —
  The Athenians both within and out that wall!
  And grant, as Timon grows, his hate may grow
  To the whole race of mankind, high and low!
  Amen.
  • William Shakespeare, in Timon of Athens, Act IV, Scene I

Disputed

• I don't have prejudice, I hate everyone equally.
  • Attributed to H. L. Mencken, in The Mammoth Book of Jokes (2006) edited by Geoff Tibbals; no earlier citation yet located.