Indifference Quotes to Motivate the Readers

By Norbert Juma

Master quote curator and editor on a mission to inspire

Published May 27, 2023

If you are searching for the most shared indifference quotes, you can rely on us.

Here, we have created a list of the top indifference quotes worthy of sharing via social media.

In addition to our quotes section, you can also look at the section below.

In this section, we have explained the term indifference and its various associated aspects.

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So, without any further ado, let’s dive in!

What is Meant by the term Indifference?

Indifference is a term linked with a lack of interest, sympathy, or concern.

It is a kind of neutral behavior, which means someone is apathetic towards a person, situation, or issue.

On the other hand, indifference could also serve as a defense mechanism against emotional pain.

However, in some cases, it can lead to negative consequences with reference to societal or personal relationships.

What are the Causes of Indifference?

There are numerous reasons become indifferent, including:

Past experiences
Personality traits
Societal norms

If a person has experienced trauma, it is possible that he/she could develop a behavior of indifference.

There are some individuals with specific personality traits like detachment or introversion.

Such people are more prone to experience indifference.

On the other hand, cultural values and societal norms could also add to the development of this behavior.

Impacts of Indifference

There are various negative impacts connected with indifference.

Most of them are linked to social or personal relationships.

Indifference can lead to feelings like abandonment or neglect.

This is usually seen in personal relationships.

As a result, the person starts to feel emotional distress.

Regarding societal relationships, indifference could cause systemic issues to grow, like injustice or social inequality.

So, indifference proves to be critical when it comes to causing distrust in society.

How to Overcome Indifference

Although indifference could be a difficult-to-overcome mindset, there are certain ways to deal with it.

Here are some of the most recommended ways to combat indifference:

Practicing empathy and compassion is among the best ways to overcome indifference.
If you are comfortable with engaging in social activism, it also helps your fight against your indifferent behavior.
You can understand the struggles and challenges of other people by putting yourself in their shoes, which helps to combat indifference.
It is possible to improve by connecting with others.

By following these tips, it is possible to move to a position of caring more.

Top 10 Indifference Quotes

Now, let’s read the top 10 best indifference quotes.

1. “Nothing is so fatal to religion as indifference.” — Edmund Burke

2. “Indifference is what death is for us as fighters.” — Frank Mir

3. “After the first blush of sin comes its indifference.” — Henry David Thoreau

4. “Despair is a narcotic. It lulls the mind into indifference.” — Charlie Chaplin

5. “At the bottom of enmity between strangers lies indifference.” — Soren Kierkegaard

6. “I prefer the folly of enthusiasm to the indifference of wisdom.” — Anatole France

7. “I regard you with an indifference closely bordering on aversion.” — Robert Louis Stevenson

8. “Rebellion has its roots in government’s indifference and incompetence.” — Mike Barnicle

9. “Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike.” — J. K. Rowling

10. “Love turns, with a little indulgence, to indifference or disgust; hatred alone is immortal.” — William Hazlitt

You will also enjoy our article on incompetence quotes.

Indifference Quotes Related to Facts

A collection of quotes that explore the theme of indifference towards facts, truth, and knowledge and their consequences on society and individuals.

11. “Whoever incites anger has a strong insurance against indifference.” — Philip Stanhope

12. “Love gratified is love satisfied, and love satisfied is indifference begun.” — Samuel Richardson

13. “The accomplice to the crime of corruption is frequently our own indifference.” — Bess Myerson

14. “Vanity is as ill at ease under indifference as tenderness is under a love which it cannot return.” — George Eliot

15. “At first, I assumed hate was the opposite of love. But it isn’t. The opposite of love is indifference.” — Helen Fisher

16. “The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others.” — Dag Hammarskjold

17. “The effect of violent dislike between groups has always created an indifference to the welfare and honor of the state.” — Thomas Babington Macaulay

18. “Relativism is not indifference; on the contrary, passionate indifference is necessary in order for you not to hear the voices that oppose your absolute decrees.” — Karel Capek

19. “I have nothing against rich brothers and sisters. Pray for ’em every day. But callousness and indifference, greed, and avarice is something that’s shot through all of us.” — Cornel West

20. “Until we all start to take responsibility, until we do all we can to improve the character of our communities, we’ll never break the cycle of violence and indifference.” — Carrie P. Meek

Indifference Quotes Related to Emotions

Below are the indifference quotes with a slight blend of emotions.

21. “Politeness is organized indifference.” — Paul Valery

22. “Real nobility is based on scorn, courage, and profound indifference.” — Albert Camus

23. “Perhaps misguided moral passion is better than confused indifference.” — Iris Murdoch

24. “Love cannot endure indifference. It needs to be wanted.” — Henry Ward Beecher

25. “The sensitivity of men to small matters, and their indifference to great ones, indicates a strange inversion.” — Blaise Pascal

26. “Passion must be concealed in a society where cold reserve and indifference are the signs of good breeding.” — Anton Chekhov

27. “The individual is capable of both great compassion and great indifference. He has it within his means to nourish the former and outgrow the latter.” — Norman Cousins

28. “Not the torturer will scare me, nor the body’s final fall, nor the barrels of death’s rifles, nor the shadows on the wall, nor the night when to the ground the last dim star of pain, is hurled but the blind indifference of a merciless, unfeeling world.” — Roger Waters

29. “The chief symptom of adolescence is a state of expectation, a tendency towards creative work, and a need for the strengthening of self-confidence. Suddenly, the child becomes very sensitive to the rudeness and humiliations which he had previously suffered with patient indifference.” — Maria Montessori

30. “Our worst instincts as human beings have to do with our carelessness with natural resources, and when the body itself becomes just one more of those resources, how will we treat it?” — Laeta Kalogridis

Indifference Quotes Exposing Global Phenomenon

Here are indifference quotes that show different things happening globally (some have metaphors too).

31. “The most destructive criticism is indifference.” — E. W. Howe

32. “If moderation is a fault, then indifference is a crime.” — Jack Kerouac

33. “All politics are based on the indifference of the majority.” — James Reston

34. “The true evil is not the weakening of the body, but the indifference of the soul.” — Andre Maurois

35. “The death of democracy is not likely to be an assassination from ambush. It will be a slow extinction from apathy, indifference, and undernourishment.” — Robert M. Hutchins

36. “We live in an age of technology and science that demands proof, yet we desire mystery. But when God gives us mystery, we seek to destroy it by gross indifference or childish reasoning.” — Mother Angelica

37. “To correct a natural indifference, I was placed halfway between misery and the sun. Misery kept me from believing that all was well under the sun, and the sun taught me that history wasn’t everything.” — Albert Camus

38. “Perfect political ignorance must be accompanied by indifference to the general interests of society, and thus one of the most powerful motives which can act on the human mind is destroyed.” — Benjamin Robbins Curtis

39. “The Holocaust illustrates the consequences of prejudice, racism, and stereotyping in society. It forces us to examine the responsibilities of citizenship and confront the powerful ramifications of indifference and inaction.” — Tim Holden

40. “Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” — Haile Selassie

Additional Indifference Quotes

Here are some more indifference quotes that are also very interesting to read.

41. “We believe in compassion, not indifference. We believe in love, but we are not timid.” — Betsy Hodges

42. “The older I get, the more aware I am of the banality and indifference of a place like Trinidad to any development of the arts.” — Derek Walcott

43. “Being seen means that your being is held by the other person without comment, without praise or blame or indifference – just with some kind of open care.” — Timothy Morton

44. “If it turns out that there are emotions and values that are more numerous and more vibrant than indifference and hatred, things are going to be okay. That depends on us.” — Timothy D. Snyder

45. “The inertia of the governed cannot be disentangled from the indifference of the government.” — Samantha Power

46. “A great JRPG captures that feeling of going on an unusual adventure, of bringing a ragtag group of heroes from famine to fortune or steering cold-hearted villagers away from indifference.” — Jason Schreier

47. “I have nine children. It breaks my heart to think that it might be their blood is needed to redeem something, to reclaim something that we, through our apathy and our indifference, have given away.” — Matt Bevin

48. “I think that society is aspiring towards racial indifference, but the reality of life is not that.” — Jay Chandrasekhar

49. “It must have been awful for a teacher to have a bright boy who’s giving them his undivided indifference.” — Robert Rinder

50. “They claim brains or talent or indifference to mores in desperate attempts to deny their own mediocrity.” — Katherine Dunn