Petty Sayings and Quotes

Below you will find our collection of inspirational, wise, and humorous old petty quotes, petty sayings, and petty proverbs, collected over the years from a variety of sources.

Deceit is the game of petty spirits, and that is by nature a woman's quality. Pierre Corneille
Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Zhuangzi
You don't have to knock anyone off their game to win yours. It doesn't build you up to tear others down. Mandy Hale
When we are unhurried and wise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence, that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of the reality. Henry David Thoreau
Gossips are only sociologists upon a mean and petty scale. Woodrow Wilson
One will seldom go wrong if one attributes extreme actions to vanity, average ones to habit, and petty ones to fear. Friedrich Nietzsche
Revenge is always the delight of a little weak and petty mind; of which you may straightway draw proof from this, that no one so rejoices in revenge as a woman. Juvenal
When we are unhurried and unwise, we perceive that only great and worthy things have any permanent and absolute existence,— that petty fears and petty pleasures are but the shadow of the reality. Walden
The learning of a petty man enters his ear and comes out his mouth. Congie Liang
It is not true that suffering ennobles the character; happiness does that sometimes, but suffering, for the most part, makes men petty and vindictive. W. Somerset Maugham
The petty misfortune that vex us every hour may be regarded as intended to keep us in practice so that the strength to endure great misfortunes may not wholly be dissipated in prosperity. Arthur Schopenhauer
Life is too short for drama and petty things, so kiss slowly, laugh insanely, love truly, and forgive quickly. Susan Chapman Melanson
We hang the petty thieves and appoint the great ones to public office. Aesop
We...are no petty people. We are one of the great stocks of Europe. We are the people of Burke; we are the people of Swift, the people of Emmet, the people of Parnell. We have created most of the modern literature of this country. We have created the best of its political intelligence. W.B. Yeats
The friendship between two superior people is clear as shallow water; interaction between petty people is sweet as honey. Chinese Proverb
A superior person knows what is moral; a petty person only knows what is profitable. Chinese Proverb
I want to play a real man in all my films and I define manhood simply; men should be tough fair and courageous; never petty, never looking for a fight, but never backing down from one either. John Wayne
No more, you petty spirits of region low offend our hearing. Cymbeline
You're so, you're so, you're so / Petty, petty, petty ain't the word for you / You got something else that you always do / Petty, petty, petty ain't the word for you. Jessie J
I'm just more ready than petty nowadays / Young and in control, even when they stoop low / But I already know that. Jahron Brathwait
Tiny, tiny, a little thief / A petty, pretty little criminal / Tiny, tiny, a little thief / You know you've got to concentrate. Cleo Mathews
A family on the throne is an interesting idea. It brings down the pride of sovereignty to the level of petty life. Walter Bagehot
My life is full of drama, and I don't have time to worry about something as petty as what I look like. Adele
Great wisdom is generous; petty wisdom is contentious. Great speech is impassioned, small speech cantankerous. Zhuangzi
I don't want to be a politician. I don't like politics. It's petty; it fights dirty. John Mellencamp
If there is one realm in which it is essential to be sublime, it is in wickedness. You spit on a petty thief, but you can't deny a kind of respect for the great criminal. Denis Diderot
Who among us has the strength to oppose petty egoism, those petty good feelings, pity, and remorse? Ivan Turgenev
There's no room for petty grievances in politics. Sergei Lavrov
Don't let the pettiness of life prevent you from enjoying God's plenty. Bernard Kelvin Clive
He'd rather wish for his neighbour's cow to die than have his own cow brought back to life. It's peasant mentality. Juliet Butler