“I was laughed at by everyone upon every occasion.
But no one knew or guessed that if there was a man on this earth who knew better than anyone how ridiculous I was, that man was myself...”
― Fyodor Dostoyevsky, A Gentle Creature and Other Stories
A lion does not flinch at laughter coming from a hyena.
A gorilla does not budge from a banana thrown at it by a monkey.
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
A mother doesn't back down when her offspring ridicule her like a playground bully.
An author shouldn't let ridicule stop him or her from writing--although, sadly, I've seen people shut down by negative feedback and criticism unbalanced by positives. Ridicule is actually easier for me to dismiss because ridiculous is what people are when they resort to ridicule.
Affirmation. Positive Feedback.
A feeling that we are not alone, but others see and feel, think and hear, the way we do: that's one incentive for daring to use words to express ourselves--and even more boldly to put those words out there for the world to see.
From infancy I experienced a family dynamic where ridicule was the norm, and praise was withheld: if you can't say anything BAD about a person, don't say anything at all - the flipside of the conventional wisdom! I spent my childhood in a chair in a corner, reading books, escaping into a safer world where dragons roared and magic put them in their place.
Being "roasted" at the dinner table was one thing, but having an older sister laugh at your little "graphic novels" (hand written and illustrated on scratch paper) and then to RIP THEM UP... suffice to say, I survived.
“Unlike the world that points out your flaws to ridicule you,
when GOD point out your flaws, it's because He want to walk you out of it.”
― TemitOpe Ibrahim
Having been ridiculed by a close family member yesterday at a Christmas gathering, I had to take time out from the busy holiday schedule to find some words of wisdom others came up with on the subject of ridicule.
“As human beings, we crave love, acceptance, and belonging. As part of this, we fear the opposite: shame and ridicule.”
― JOEL ANNESLEY, Quiet Confidence: Breaking Up with Shyness
"The fact is, we are all authors. Just because you aren’t published yet, doesn’t mean your book isn’t more real than ever. In fact, what has helped me enormously is to print out my progress. To see the material work taking form is what increases your level of believability....The story you have inside of you is worth putting to paper, no matter how raw and unorganised the first version might look. Keep charging ahead!"
― JOEL ANNESLEY, Quiet Confidence: Breaking Up with Shyness
“Mockery developed as a conformity enforcer [...] A good dose of mockery can still shut down critical thinking and make us fall right in line.”
― Cracked.com, You Might Be a Zombie and Other Bad News
“We must be passionate and controlled but not reckless. Truth is not established by shame, guilt, or coercion or tribalism. It must be established by reason, evidence, presentation, compassion, and yes, faith. It cannot be established by ridicule, mocking, or insults of sacred icons or traditions but by disproving them or establishing their lack or veracity or usefulness.”
― Leviak B. Kelly, The Leprechaun Delusion
“REMEMBER THE LOTUS FLOWER"
Great people will always be mocked by those
Who feel smaller than them.
A lion does not flinch at laughter coming from a hyena.
A gorilla does not budge from a banana thrown at it by a monkey.
A nightingale does not stop singing its beautiful song
At the intrusion of an annoying woodpecker.
Whenever you should doubt your self-worth, remember the lotus flower.
Even though it plunges to life from beneath the mud,
It does not allow the dirt that surrounds it
To affect its growth or beauty.
Be that lotus flower always.
Do not allow any negativity or ugliness
In your surroundings,
Destroy your confidence,
Affect your growth,
Or make you question your self-worth.
It is very normal for one ugly weed
To not want to stand alone.
Remember this always.
If you were ugly,
Or just as small as they feel they are,
Then they would not feel so bitter and envious
Each and every time they are forced
To glance up at magnificently
Divine YOU.
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem
“Ridicule is a terrible witherer of the flower of the imagination. It binds us where we should be free.”
― Madeleine L'Engle, Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art
“It is never ridicule, but a compliment,
that knocks a philosopher off his feet. He is already positioned for every possible counter-attack, counter-argument, and retort...only to find a big bear hug coming his way.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy
“The crazy creatives are the creatives who never go completely mad. They aren't so easily disheartened by the seemingly endless amounts of scrutiny that creative individuals tend to receive because they, like insanity, are the ones who feed off of opposition and negative feedback and manage to continue along with a healthy ambition. It is the crazy that teaches us to use our gifts wisely and own all the attackers.”
― Criss Jami, Diotima, Battery, Electric Personality
“Some skeptics believe religious people are religious because they fear Hell. It's about as fair as saying skeptics are skeptics because they fear the ridicule of modern society.”
― Criss Jami, Healology
“A man does not have to feel less than human to realize his sin; oppositely, he has to realize that he gets no special vindication for his sin.”
― Criss Jami, Killosophy
“Take lightly what you hear about individuals. We need not distort trust for our paltry little political agendas. We tend to trust soulless, carried information more than we trust soulful human beings; but really most people aren't so bad once you sit down and have an honest, one-on-one conversation with them, once, with an open heart, you listen to their explanations as to why they act the way they act, or say what they say, or do what they do.”
― Criss Jami, Healology
“Satire's nature is to be one-sided, contemptuous of ambiguity, and so unfairly selective as to find in the purity of ridicule an inarguable moral truth.”
― E. L. Doctorow
“Sometimes the universe uses ridicule as a tool to turn you into a titan and tighten up all your loose screws.”
― Curtis Tyrone Jones
“What would you think of an engineer who expounded the art of flying without revealing the secrets of the engine and propeller? That's what you do, you engineer of the human soul. Just that. You're a coward. You want the raisins out of my cake but you don't want the thorns of my roses. Haven't you too, little psychiatrist, been cracking silly jokes about me? Haven't you ridiculed me as "the prophet of bigger and better orgasms"? Have you never heard the whimpering of a young wife whose body has been desecrated by an impotent husband? Or the anguished cry of an adolescent bursting with unfulfilled love? Does your security still mean more to you than your patient? How long will you go on valuing your respectability above your medical mission? How long will you refuse to see that your pussyfooting procrastination is costing millions their lives?”
― Wilhelm Reich, Listen, Little Man!
Ok, I feel all better now!
Sometimes I wonder how I can be a gray-haired grandma more than half a century old yet so lacking in the confidence and Teflon-coating or callouses that come with surviving years of all the ridiculous things life can dish out. But I do find affirmations where I can, even (yes) in goat videos on you-tube.
There were so many other great quotes
on ridicule, but I've been here at computer screen too long. I invite you to post your own favorites in the comment section. Maybe I'll post a "Best Of--" collection in response.
Thank you for reading!
Happy Holidays, and may your friends and family treat you with kindness and compassion, and if they satirize you or ridicule you, may the do it with humor and good will.
This one addresses religion vs writing, but I like the message to be revolutionary even in the face of hatred:
“On a social level, secularism is safe. As literally the world's most fundamental conformist, the secularist wants to call himself a revolutionary all in the same. In most parts of the present world, rebellion against Christianity is not really much of a rebellion if one is to consider 'rebellion' something of a courageous sort or a bold act. Long ago Christ was crucified, and in some form or another, to this day, the scorn continues for 'little Christs'. The world hates Christians, and according to Christ, it is supposed to hate Christians. A true Christianity is a true rebellion; and for one to be 'freed from Christianity' is for one to religiously conform to the pressures of the rest of the world, for one to be freed from freedom.”
― Criss Jami, Healology
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#affirmation #ridicule #mockery #selfesteem #confidence #kindness #compassion