We are always ready to look down on people: it is an abiding pleasure, a poultice for our own sore sense of inferiority.
The quote from Anthony Burgess's "A Mouthful of Air" suggests that humans often derive a sense of satisfaction from belittling others. This behavior acts as a mechanism to cope with one’s own feelings of inadequacy or inferiority. By looking down on others, individuals may feel a temporary elevation in their self-worth, masking their internal struggles.