Top 100 Really Mean Quotes
#1. When children say it's time to leave, they mean, "It's time to leave." When grownups say so, they really mean, "It's time to begin thinking about leaving sometime in the near future.
Andrew Peterson
#2. Most Americans would say that they disapproved of violence. But what they really mean is that they believe it should be the monopoly of the state.
Edgar Friedenberg
#3. Genius. It's a word. What does it really mean? If I win I'm a genius. If I don't, I'm not.
Bobby Fischer
#4. Early on, I was so impressed with Charles Dickens. I grew up in the South, in a little village in Arkansas, and the whites in my town were really mean, and rude. Dickens, I could tell, wouldn't be a man who would curse me out and talk to me rudely.
Maya Angelou
#5. When you say you don't think we should have public schools, they can't believe you mean that. You must mean that they should be smaller. But you can't really mean no public schools.
Dave Barry
#6. Did you really mean what you said?" she asked softly. "If God Himself were waiting at Gloucester, you would not relinquish me?" He did not meet her gaze, but the muscles in his arms bunched beneath her hands as he pulled her close again. "I meant it, he whispered, burying his lips in her hair.
Marsha Canham
#7. Executives will talk about the importance of passion, but what they really mean is finding somebody who will work nights and weekends on their assigned task but predictably and reliably follow orders and just work harder.
John Hagel III
#8. When people say that German or any other language is romantic ... all they really mean is that they've enjoyed a past in the language.
John Irving
#9. I think what I really mean is that [she] won't be WANTING things to happen. She will want things to say just as they are. She will never have the fun of hoping something wonderful and exciting may be just round the corner.
Dodie Smith I Capture The Castle
#10. Whenever anyone says, 'theoretically,' they really mean, 'not really.'
Dave Parnas
#11. Let's face it: Most girls are annoying. I mean, most humans are annoying, so it's not specific to girls. Also, I don't really mean "annoying." I guess I mean that most humans like to try to fuck up your plans.
Jesse Andrews
#12. You ask me if I love you and what you really mean is will I devour you, envelope you, obliterate life for you and worse, will I allow you to do that to me. That's why I never answer you, because I do love you, but not in the way you want, and I never will.
Rona Jaffe
#14. Yeah, well, when they say 'You know it's a long way, don't you?' what they really mean is: 'You know it'd be faster if you just rode a kangaroo, don't you?
Elle Lothlorien
#15. You ready?" Evan asks, and he's looking at me, and I love his hair, I love his smile, I lo
"I Love You," I say, and as I watch his smile bloom I finally get how great those three little words are. I finally get what they really mean.
Elizabeth Scott
#16. Almost every girl in the world says what they really want is a nice guy, but only handful really mean it.
Heather Havenwood
#17. A bit of a dirty fighter, quick with cutting words that he later regrets and doesn't really mean. Then again, I wonder if there isn't always a grain of truth in them, somewhere
Emily Giffin
#18. Socialists cry "Power to the people", and raise the clenched fist as they say it. We all know what they really mean - power over people, power to the State.
Margaret Thatcher
#19. You know what Adage means?"
She asked me.
I shook my head no.
"It's a beautiful word," she said.
"People will tell you it means the purest love in the world, or love that consumes you, but I know what it really mean. It means love beyond reason, and that is the best love in the world.
Cameron Jace
#20. I really think that I don't mind people sleeping during my films, because I know that some very good films might prepare you for sleeping or falling asleep or snoozing. It's not to be taken badly at all. This is something I really mean.
Abbas Kiarostami
#21. After you have made your commitment to say no to what no longer serves you, you will probably be invited to demonstrate that you really mean it.
Alan Cohen
#22. One thing about failing repeatedly: If you're still doing it after you've failed that much, you really mean it.
Alice Sebold
#23. We use important words too frequently and they lose value; for instance, charm and great. An actor or musician often is proclaimedgreat when we really mean he is outstanding.
Eleanor Robson Belmont
#24. It couldn't be a simpler answer. Marriage doesn't really mean anything to me. I feel like in many ways marriage is more for the families of the couple than for the people involved, so I don't gravitate to it.
Jon Hamm
#26. If you're too overcome to even finish your sentence then you must be sincere, you must really mean what you're not saying, you must ... I'm sorry. I cannot type. My fingers are crying.
Mark Forsyth
#27. I really mean it when I say I love you."
"Love you too, dude. Still not doing you."
"Not doing you either, buddy.
Tymber Dalton
#28. Aside from cutting off her head, though, I didn't really mean to kill her."
Granuaile laughed. "You know I'm on your side, but to an objective listener, that sounds like a less than convincing argument.
Kevin Hearne
#29. I have to ask, because in my experience, women will tell you to do something and then slit your fucking throat when you actually do it. Since you were supposed to know they didn't really want you to do it. That they don't really mean what they say.
Emma Chase
#30. We are wont to condemn self-love; but what we really mean to condemn is contrary to self-love. It is that mixture of selfishness and self-hate that permanently pursues us, that prevents us from loving others, and that prohibits us from losing ourselves.
Paul Valery
#31. I will sit in the car on the way to a meeting and just smile. I really mean that. It helps you get through life. If you have nothing to say, smile. Look up at the sky and smile. Just be grateful.
Andre Leon Talley
#32. Too often, shared visions really mean, "I have a vision; you share it!"
Andy Hargreaves
#33. Without words meaning anything, we stop meaning anything. It's getting to the point where nobody means what they say or says what they really mean.
Suzy Kassem
#34. Thoroughly read all your contracts. I really mean thoroughly.
Bret Michaels
#35. If you smile when you are alone, then you really mean it, or you're up to something.
Saleem Sharma
#36. Nothing lasts forever. That is the only truth we are guaranteed in life. When someone says they will love you forever, what does that really mean? Then again, what really is love? I think that's why we're here. For each of us to discover what love means to us.
Jewel E. Ann
#37. The communitarians may say you've been enjoying too much individual freedom, and that you must give up some of that for the benefit of the community. But they really mean that they want more power over your life - to force you to subsidize, obey and conform to their choices.
Harry Browne
#38. Rappers tend to use words sometimes that just rhyme and don't really mean nothing.
Trick Daddy
#39. Often when he was teaching me to write in Greek, the Fox would say, "Child, to say the very thing you really mean, the whole of it, nothing more or less or other than what you really mean; that is the whole art and joy of words." A glib saying.
C.S. Lewis
#40. By deepening the spiritual dialogue between the spiritual traditions of the various religions in a spirit of friendship, one begins to understand just what the classical terms of the various spiritual traditions really mean.
Thomas Keating
#41. When people say that animal rescuers are crazy, what they really mean is that animal rescuers share a number of fundamental beliefs that makes them easy to marginalize. Among those is the belief that Rene Descartes was a jackass.
Steven Kotler
#42. It can't be any new note. When you look at the keyboard, all the notes are there already. But if you mean a note enough, it will sound different. You got to pick the notes you really mean!
Thelonious Monk
#43. Peabody pursed her lips. "You're really mean today."
"Yes. Yes, I am." Eve took a deep gulp of hideous air, and smiled. "I feel good about that.
J.D. Robb
#44. All of a sudden I felt invisible. Forgotten. Like the universe had played a really mean practical joke on me, even though I've never done anything to deserve it.
Jess Rothenberg
#45. Everyone has the attitude that movies aren't just disposable entertainment - they can really mean something. I love that, because that's the way I feel about films.
Joseph Gordon-Levitt
#46. Brains. Brains. What do we really mean by the term? In your idiom you would say that Jane Wilkinson has the brains of a rabbit. That is a term of disparagement. But consider the rabbit for a moment. He exists and multiplies, does he not? That, in Nature, is a sign of mental superiority.
Agatha Christie
#47. Of course, I loved the Spice Girls. I loved Geri and Baby, but who liked Posh Spice? They said I looked like her, and I said: 'That's not cool, that's really mean.'
Cara Delevingne
#48. I really mean it what do I say, unless I won't say.
M.F. Moonzajer
#49. I've been reading up on management speak, and I'm guessing that where you say, 'somewhat clouded', what you really mean is 'totally down the pan and in the shit'?
Kate Griffin
#50. Our times might emphasize equality, which we then mistake for the need for everyone to be the same, but what we really mean by this is the equal chance for people to express their differences, to let a thousand flowers bloom.
Robert Greene
#51. Be honest with yourself, face your feelings and what they really mean, then you will be able to deal with them and move on.
Jay Woodman
#52. She was returning home to be the wife of, mother of, First Lady of, but what did that really mean?
Stacy Hawkins Adams
#53. It's very scary to turn things down, but a project has to really mean something to me. I'm not interested in making a lot of money.
Randa Haines
#54. Unless the story line carries the scenes, the scenes don't really mean anything.
George Cukor
#55. Do not waste your time with people who have shown you they really mean no good for you.
Oprah Winfrey
#56. Words are so ridiculous sometimes. They don't really mean anything, but they're all I have.
Nyrae Dawn
#57. Awards don't really mean much.
Uta Hagen
#58. When we speak of "gods," we are really talking about "the opinions of priests." When we speak of "the government," we really mean "the violence of a tiny minority.
Stefan Molyneux
#59. I used to be a classic workaholic, and after seeing how little work and career really mean when you reach the end of your life, I put a new emphasis on things I believe count more. These things include: family, friends, being part of a community, and appreciating the little joys of the average day.
Mitch Albom
#60. The upside to grief is it takes away your appetite. When people say you look good they really mean it. Nature's thoughtful that way.
Barbara Park
#61. Sometimes an answer doesn't come in one go. Sometimes it has so many layers to it that it takes time for the person to tell you what they really mean.
Carolyn Jess-Cooke
#62. I'm only being cute here. I don't really mean it. I just wanted to make you smile.
Stephen Chbosky
#63. Do you really mean the only reason you try to be good is to gain God's approval and reward? That's not morality, that's just sucking up.
Richard Dawkins
#64. I think that Barack Obama faces a level of divisiveness, and I don't mean on a national level in terms of the North and the South and the Civil War; I really mean just politically.
James Spader
#65. When you start a new job or a particular journey, you really don't know what to expect. I mean, you hear about your name being on the bestsellers list, but it doesn't really mean anything. Like, really, what does that translate to?
Eric Jerome Dickey
#66. When you ask someone how they are doing, do you really mean it? When you answer someone back how you are doing, are you really telling the truth?
Brady Quinn
#67. The thing is, emotion - if it's visibly felt by the writer - will go through all the processes it takes to publish a story and still hit the reader right in the gut. But you have to really mean it.
Anne McCaffrey
#68. It is our honor, Amelia said, and it was the weirdest thing-it sounded like she really meant it. People don't often say exactly what they really mean.
Lili St. Crow
#69. I discover what I mean as I write. That can be both terrifically exciting and very dangerous, because when you look at your words later, you wonder, 'Did I really mean that, or am I just making verbal patterns?'
Peter Shaffer
#70. Too many heroes stepping on too many toes, too many yes-men nodding when they really mean no.
Jethro Tull
#71. Now, what did "feel" really mean to a computer? Another very good question, but hardly one to be considered at that particular moment. Then,
Arthur C. Clarke
#72. What the hell does it all mean? Does 11:11 really mean anything at all? Well, that simply depends on whether you believe life has meaning in the first place.
Harry Whitewolf
#73. You see, money isn't everything - I know it sounds corny but I really mean it - success means a lot more.
Glynis Johns
#74. Food is a lot of people's therapy - when we say comfort food, we really mean that. It's releasing dopamine and serotonin in your brain that makes you feel good.
Brett Hoebel
#75. We are always saying: Let the Law take its Course but what we really mean is: Let the Law take OUR Course.
Will Rogers
#76. The secret to a happy marriage is patience and honesty. I really mean that. You have to be patient, you have to be open, and you also have to be available for criticism, too.
Cindy McCain
#77. Child, to say the very thing you really mean, the whole of it, nothing more or less or other than what you really mean; that's the whole art and joy of words.
C.S. Lewis
#78. These enthusiasts often like to hang signs that say "Gone Fishin'" or "Gone Huntin'". But what these slogans really mean is "Gone Killing.
Marc Bekoff
#79. We need prayer to understand God's love for us. If we really mean to pray and want to pray we must be ready to do it now. These are only the first steps towards prayer but if we never make the first step with determination, we will not reach the last one: the presence of God
Mother Teresa
#80. A lot of the things I say I'm just trying to be funny ... I don't really mean everything I say, because I'm not totally that airhead.
Paris Hilton
#81. I press the memory away as if stuffing it into a drawer that is too small for it. "I'm sorry," I say. I don't know if I really mean it or if I'm just saying it so she still thinks I'm on her side. Then I add tentatively, "Why didn't you
Veronica Roth
#82. Never exaggerate. Never say more than you really mean.
C.S. Lewis
#83. Would you really have ... ?" said Julien.
"Almost certainly," I said. "I have deep-seated problems with authority figures."
"But you are one!"
"I know! I can only assume the universe has a really mean sense of humour.
Simon R. Green
#84. It was a blur," people say. What they really mean is the impossibility of anyone truly entering such an experience from outside, the futility of explanation.
Diana Gabaldon
#85. Libertarians are believers in small government who really mean it
no excuses, no exceptions. [For Libertarians], the excesses of government are their best recruiters.
Richard Brookhiser
#86. I go about saying how pained and tormented, how lonely and sad I feel, but what do I really mean by that? If I were to speak the truth, I would die.
Osamu Dazai
#87. Nothing's real unless you want it to be, and anything can be real if you want it to enough; so real doesn't really mean anything.
Zilpha Keatley Snyder
#88. Normally, when politicians talk about 'cutting the budget,' they really mean reducing the amount of increase. Actual spending goes up while the politicians claim to have 'cut the budget.'
Mark McKinnon
#89. Because the only thing that punk rock should ever really mean, is not sitting 'round and waiting for the lights to go green
Frank Turner
#90. People say we need religion when what they really mean is we need police.
H.L. Mencken
#92. Most actors, if you ask them if they play guitar, they'll say they played guitar for 20 years, but what they really mean is they've owned a guitar for 20 years.
Oscar Isaac
#93. Yes, it would really mean something to be kissed by Jenno.
Peter St. John
#94. she takes me so seriously, much too seriously, and then thinks about her queer little sister for a long time afterwards, looks searchingly at me, at every word I say, and keeps on thinking: 'Is this just a joke or does she really mean it?
Francine Prose
#95. The word "prodigy" was thrown around a lot, but I didn't understand what that meant, or the weight of it. It didn't really mean anything to me, until I was older and could look back on it.
Misty Copeland
#96. In nations where to most people, the personal responsibility of a citizen towards the nation does not really mean anything, most citizens of such nations end up playing the blame game
Sunday Adelaja
#97. I don't want to make any general statements, but I feel like so many stories that are presented as being about humanity and human emotion are just so convoluted and overly dramatic and focus on these certain little things that are supposedly meaningful, but just don't really mean anything.
Ellar Coltrane
#98. The Internet's like one big bathroom wall with a lot of people who anonymously can say really mean things. It's fine, I believe in freedom of speech and I think people should think what they want, but I don't care to hear it.
Zooey Deschanel
#99. For years I've been hearing 20-somethings say they don't expect Social Security to be around when they hit 65. Eventually, I came to realize that they really mean that they just don't expect to be 65. Or 40. Neither did I, when I was 22.
Gail Collins
#100. If someone tells you, "You can't" they really mean, "I can't."
Sean Stephenson
