Alice Miller, psychologist and author (1923-2010)

Contempt is the weapon of the weak and a defense against one's own despised and unwanted feelings. -Alice Miller, psychologist and author (1923-2010)

I don’t think this is always the case. Sometimes the powerful regard many people and many ideas with contempt, and attributing this to hidden weakness, “despised and unwanted feelings,” may be wishful thinking.