"Don't get the impression that you arouse my anger. You see, one can only be angry with those he respects"
About this Quote
Nixon’s line is a velvet-gloved shiv: a denial that lands as an insult, designed to reframe conflict as hierarchy. On its face, he’s claiming calm detachment. Underneath, he’s announcing that the target isn’t worth the emotional expenditure. Anger, usually framed as loss of control, becomes in Nixon’s hands a kind of tribute - proof that someone matters enough to disrupt you. If you’re not angry, you’re not above it; you’re above them.
The intent is tactical. Nixon was a lawyerly communicator who often treated public life as a contest of positioning rather than confession. This is the language of a man who wants to win the moment without looking petty: it lets him dismiss an adversary while posing as disciplined. It also reverses the expected moral order. Instead of anger being a flaw, it’s recast as respect; instead of calm being maturity, it becomes a vehicle for contempt. That inversion is the engine of the quote.
Context matters because Nixon’s brand was perpetually shadowed by grievance and suspicion - the sense that he was surrounded by enemies and elites who never granted him legitimacy. In that light, the line reads as self-protective theater: if you can’t control the narrative around your resentments, you can at least rename them. The subtext is not serenity; it’s dominance. He’s telling you, in effect: you’re not my equal, so you don’t get the privilege of my anger.
The intent is tactical. Nixon was a lawyerly communicator who often treated public life as a contest of positioning rather than confession. This is the language of a man who wants to win the moment without looking petty: it lets him dismiss an adversary while posing as disciplined. It also reverses the expected moral order. Instead of anger being a flaw, it’s recast as respect; instead of calm being maturity, it becomes a vehicle for contempt. That inversion is the engine of the quote.
Context matters because Nixon’s brand was perpetually shadowed by grievance and suspicion - the sense that he was surrounded by enemies and elites who never granted him legitimacy. In that light, the line reads as self-protective theater: if you can’t control the narrative around your resentments, you can at least rename them. The subtext is not serenity; it’s dominance. He’s telling you, in effect: you’re not my equal, so you don’t get the privilege of my anger.
Quote Details
| Topic | Respect |
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