"Those who suffer are not those at the top, but are the less privileged members of society"
About this Quote
The subtext is a challenge to the viewer’s empathy habits. Our culture is trained to watch the top closely: the scandals, the sacrifices, the “lonely at the summit” narratives. Jagger flips the camera. Suffering, she insists, isn’t a glamorous side effect of success; it’s concentrated, predictable, and largely borne by people with the fewest options. The quiet accusation is that we’ve been looking in the wrong direction on purpose, because looking down would demand policy, not pity.
Context sharpens the edge. Jagger’s public persona was built in proximity to wealth and celebrity, yet she became known for human rights advocacy. That juxtaposition is the point: she’s using insider credibility to puncture the self-serving idea that elites are the main protagonists of modern tragedy. It’s also a message about responsibility. If you’re “at the top,” the suffering you should be talking about isn’t your own image-management fatigue; it’s the structural fallout your comfort depends on.
Quote Details
| Topic | Equality |
|---|---|
| Source | Help us find the source |
| Cite | Cite this Quote |
Citation Formats
APA Style (7th ed.)
Jagger, Bianca. (n.d.). Those who suffer are not those at the top, but are the less privileged members of society. FixQuotes. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/those-who-suffer-are-not-those-at-the-top-but-are-47887/
Chicago Style
Jagger, Bianca. "Those who suffer are not those at the top, but are the less privileged members of society." FixQuotes. Accessed February 2, 2026. https://fixquotes.com/quotes/those-who-suffer-are-not-those-at-the-top-but-are-47887/.
MLA Style (9th ed.)
"Those who suffer are not those at the top, but are the less privileged members of society." FixQuotes, https://fixquotes.com/quotes/those-who-suffer-are-not-those-at-the-top-but-are-47887/. Accessed 2 Feb. 2026.










