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The mass is all that which sets no value on itself—good or ill—based on specific grounds, but which feels itself “just like everybody,” and nevertheless is not concerned about it; is, in fact, quite happy to feel itself as one with everybody else.

— José Ortega y Gasset

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More quotes by José Ortega y Gasset

Nobility is defined by the demands it makes on us — by obligations, not by rights.

The Revolt of the Masses (1929)

Were art to redeem man, it could do so only by saving him from the seriousness of life and restoring him to an unexpected boyishness.

The Dehumanization of Art and Ideas about the Novel (1925)

Man is a substantial emigrant on a pilgrimage of being, and it is accordingly meaningless to set limits to what he is capable of being.

History as a System (1962)

Nationalism is always an effort in a direction opposite to that of the principle which creates nations. The former is exclusive in tendency, the latter inclusive.

The Revolt of the Masses (1929)

The form most contradictory to human life that can appear among the human species is the "self-satisfied man."

The Revolt of the Masses (1929)

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The wise treat self-respect as non-negotiable, and will not trade it for health or wealth or anything else.

Thomas Szasz The Second Sin (1973)

Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue.

John Herschel A Toolbox for Humanity : More Than 9000 Years of Thought (2004)

Nothing is better for self-esteem than survival.

Martha Gellhorn Travels with Myself and Another: A Memoir (1978)

If you want to be respected by others the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky The Insulted and the Injured (1861)

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: José Ortega y Gasset (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.