What do the High Elves really think of Men?

[Lindale]

the High Elves were a bit prone to overestimating their own value??

Agreed. From the "high" altitude of the previously-glorious Elves in Middle Earth they tend to forget that their glory is in the past. Their fate is to fade, if they stayed in ME, which happens in the timeframe of LotR, in a way: they fence themselves in their lands, content in living their past glories and their unchanging beauty over and over again, ever fearful of the time when they will have to give way to Men. I speak here of Elves in general during the Third Age; even Gondorians share the Rohirrim's fear of Galadriel.

In the First Age, however, the Elves must have divided thoughts on Men. On one hand, we have the likes of Finrod Felagund who beholds Men with wonder, and later Maedhros and his brothers who would trust the Easterlings and get betrayed. The common factor here now, apart that all of them are High Elves, is that both suffered losses: Finrod his life, by aiding Beren (noble, isn't it?); and the sons of Feanor the Nirnaeth. On the other hand, we have the likes of pre-Silmaril Thingol and Saeros (both Grey-Elves now) who thought Men were, in Thingol's words, "baseborn." Thingol later repents, because he personally beholds Beren's heroism, but Saeros, who is envious and vain to the end, never does.

Does the fact that Finrod et al are Noldor and quite culturally different from the Grey Elves have something to do with it? The Noldor and the Sindar are sundered, in ways more than one. But I can think of a group of Grey Elves who are not as hostile as Saeros nor as harsh as Thingol to men: Annael, Tuor's foster-father. To think that Annael adopts Tuor in around the same time Saeros shows contempt to Turin.

Does class/status affect the way Elves think during the First to Third Age? In the Second Age, I think the Elves thought of Men, or at least Numenorean Men, as their mortal equals. It also doesn't hurt that during the first part of the Second Age, Numenoreans are goody-goody. Think Aldarion now. But then later during the fall of Numenor in the time of Ar-Pharazon they see how powerful men can be, when Numenoreans have reached the fullness of their power, and especially egged by a particularly clever Maia. But how about the "uncivilized" Men in the darkness of ME, who make gods out of Numenoreans and Sauron? (In perhaps an off-topic question, did the Numenoreans and Elves think "White Man's Burden" on the men of ME?)