“I like offending people, because I think people who get offended should be offended.”
Linus Torvalds (1969) Finnish-American software engineer and hacker
2010s, Audience Q&A following interview panel at Aalto University Center, 2012
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Do you have more details about the quote "Alliteration seems to offend people." by Dean Koontz?
Dean Koontz157
American author 1945Related quotes
“Never offend people with style when you can offend them with substance.”
Sam Brown (1943) American diplomat
The Washington Post (26 January 1977)
“I’m all for offending people’s religion. I think it should be offended at every opportunity”
Richard Dawkins (1941) English ethologist, evolutionary biologist and author
“The secret of success is to offend the greatest number of people.”
George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish playwright
As quoted in Days with Bernard Shaw (1949) by Stephen Winsten
1940s and later
“Offending people is better than no reaction at all.”
Matthew Bellamy (1978) English singer-songwriter
«The world according to Matt Bellamy» — Kerrang! (April 2006) http://mapage.noos.fr/maa3/press/interviews_kerrangAPR06.html
“Charm is the ability to insult people without offending them; nerdiness the reverse.”
Nassim Nicholas Taleb book The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms
Source: The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (2010), p. 30
Kenan Malik (1960) English writer, lecturer and broadcaster
Free speech in an age of identity politics (2015)
Context: In plural societies, it is both inevitable and important that people offend the sensibilities of others. Inevitable, because where different beliefs are deeply held, clashes are unavoidable. Almost by definition such clashes express what it is to live in a diverse society. And so they should be openly resolved [rather] than suppressed in the name of ‘respect’ or ‘tolerance’. And important because any kind of social change or social progress means offending some deeply held sensibilities.
“Don’t go around offending people just because it can be done sitting down.”
Gracie Allen (1902–1964) American actress and comedienne
Source: How to Become President (1940), Ch. 6 : How not to offend anybody
Context: As a well-known great man would have said if he had thought of it, “Don’t go around offending people just because it can be done sitting down.”
