50 Self-Righteous Quotes About Feeling Better Than Others

By Stephanie Kirby

Writer, Entrepreneur and Inspirational quote curator

Published September 14, 2023

These self-righteous quotes describe the people who think that they are better than anyone else.

It can be annoying and hurtful when dealing with people who think they are better than anyone else, but here are some suggestions on how to handle those people:

Make sure the self-righteous person is not staring back at you in the mirror – The first step is to make sure that you are not the person being self-righteous.
Don’t let their actions or words impact you – Too often, we let other people dictate how we feel about ourselves.
Don’t be pulled into an argument – State facts, stick to the truth, and if necessary, agree to disagree.
Be respectful but firm in your stance – If they can get you riled up and emotional, it will only confirm what they think in their mind: “that they are better than you.” Stay strong and be respectful, and if necessary, excuse yourself from the conversation

Take a look at these self-righteous quotes to learn more about how these people think and treat others.

Best Self-Righteous Quotes

Here are some of the best quotes about self-righteousness.

1. “Beware of self-righteousness.” — Charles Spurgeon

2. “The self-righteous never apologize.” — Leonard Ravenhill

3. “Beware of self-righteousness in every possible shape and form.” — J.C. Ryle

4. “The hardest ones to win for God are the self-righteous people.” — Charles L. Allen

5. “If we think we are usually good, then God is usually irrelevant.” — Edward T. Welch

6. “Righteousness cannot be born until self-righteousness is dead.” — Bertrand Russell

7. “Self-righteousness is the devil’s masterpiece to make us think well of ourselves.” — Thomas Adams

8. “I’ve had enough of the blowhards on cable TV and the self-righteous anger I hear from people.” — James Carville

9. “The greatest enemy to human souls is the self-righteous spirit which makes men look to themselves for salvation.” — Charles Spurgeon

10. “In order to turn around and do something better, we must first escape the vicious circle of self-righteousness and denial.” — Desmond Tutu

Interesting Self-Righteous Quotes

Check out these interesting quotes centered around self-righteousness.

11. “If you love me, keep my commands.” — John 14:15

12. “Some people get as much harm from their “virtues” as others do from their sins.” — J.C. Ryle

13. “Human self-righteousness denies the need for the saving, enabling grace of Christ.” — Paul David Tripp

14. “Thankfully, while our self-righteousness reaches far, God’s grace reaches farther.” — Tullian Tchividjian

15. “The mind governed by the flesh is hostile to God; it does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so.” — Romans 8:7

16. “Beware the self-righteous man, for he will destroy the world many times over before he sees his folly.” — Stewart Stafford

17. “Those who condemn the self-righteous for the sake of self-discovery do so with ironic self-righteousness.” — Timothy Keller

18. “I was a very self-righteous 15-25 year old. Anyway, I wake up every morning and thank God I’m not a kid anymore.” — Annie Baker

19. “You will never overcome your self-righteousness if you continue to believe that God prefers you over other people.” — Shannon L. Alder

20. “Oh, that we fully understood how very opposite our self-righteousness is to the designs of God!” — Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon

Self-Righteous Quotes For Christians

Self-righteousness is a dangerous and misleading thing, as shown in these Biblical quotes.

21. “Those who are pure in their own eyes and yet are not cleansed of their filth;” — Proverbs 30:12

22. “The fatuous idea that a person can be holy by himself denies God the pleasure of saving sinners.” — Martin Luther

23. “And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words.” — Matthew 6:7

24. “Since they did not know the righteousness of God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God’s righteousness.” — Romans 10:3

25. “Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.” — Romans 12:19

26. “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” — Matthew 7:21

27. “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works so that no one can boast.” — Ephesians 2:8-9

28. “he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.” — Titus 3:5

29. “God must therefore first take the sledge-hammer of the Law in His fists and smash the beast of self-righteousness and its brood of self-confidence, self-wisdom, and self-help.” — Martin Luther

30. “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” — 1 John 4:20

Thought-Provoking Self-Righteous Quotes

As you read these quotes about self-righteousness, allow yourself to ponder on them.

31. “Self-righteousness is the inevitable fruit of simple moral judgments.” — Reinhold Niebuhr

32. “Self-righteousness is a loud din raised to drown the voice of guilt within us.” — Eric Hoffer

33. “I don’t want to sound self-righteous, and I don’t want to act like I have it all put together.” — Ainsley Earhardt

34. “Self-righteousness exclaims, “I will not be saved in God’s way; I will make a new road to heaven.”” — Charles Spurgeon

35. “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.” — 1 John 1:9

36. “No one listens willingly to someone who speaks to them from a position of self-righteousness and judgment.” — Pope Francis

37. “Self-righteous people can talk themselves into forgetting they are part of a civilization. They can then feed on that culture, bringing it down.” — David Brin

38. “Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.” — 1 Timothy 5:8

39. “Anger, and the self-righteousness that is both the cause and consequence of anger, tends to be easier on the psyche than personal responsibility.” — Barry Eisler

40. “A lot of superheroes today are a little self-righteous, and what’s cool about ‘Deadpool‘ is that he seems like a guy that you could meet at the 7-Eleven down the street.” — Brianna Hildebrand

More Self-Righteous Quotes and Sayings

Enjoy some more of these quotes all about self-righteousness.

41. “Be determined to live in the light.” — Lailah Gifty Akita

42. “Heaven has no room for the self-righteous.” — C. Robert Cargill

43. “The true cure for self-righteousness is self-knowledge.” — J.C. Ryle

44. “It turns out I do okay just playing an angry self-righteous woman.” — Zoe Bell

45. “A daughter of God knows that insecurity is not an excuse for doing evil to others.” — Shannon L. Alder

46. “Self-righteousness….is the largest idol of the human heart – the idol which man loves most and God hates most.” — Robert Murray M’Cheyne

47. “I wish I could say that when I didn’t agree with a director, I defer to him, but I think sometimes I’m a little self-righteous.” — Billy Crudup

48. “A taste of righteousness can be easily perverted into an overweening sense of self-righteousness and judgmentalism.” — R. Kent Hughes

49. “When your sin is exposed, you will run toward confession and forgiveness or self-righteousness and self-justification.” — Paul David Tripp

50. “As a journalist, I know what it is like to incur the self-righteous wrath of people who denounce you for things you didn’t say or didn’t mean.” — Anne Applebaum