Fundamental Values Project

Quotes on Respect/Self-Respect

In my day, we didn't have self-esteem, we had self-respect, and no more of it than we had earned.
Jane Haddam

Self-respect permeates every aspect of your life.
Joe Clark

The bond that links your true family is not one of blood, but of respect and joy in each other's life. Rarely do members of one family grow up under the same roof.
Richard Bach

To live content with small means, to seek elegance rather than luxury, and refinement rather than fashion, to be worthy, not respectable, and wealthy, not rich, to study hard, think quietly, talk gently, act frankly, to listen to stars and birds, to babes and sages, with open heart, to bear all cheerfully, do all bravely, await occasions, hurry never, in a word to let the spiritual, unbidden and unconscious, grow up through the common, this is to be my symphony.
William Henry Channing

That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong.
William J. H. Boetcker

The secret of education lies in respecting the pupil.
Emerson

Respect your efforts, respect yourself. Self--respect leads to self--discipline. When you have both firmly under your belt, that's real power.
Clint Eastwood

Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves.
U Thant

Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized.
Albert Einstein

Let us forever forget that every station in life is necessarily that each deserves our respect; that not the station itself; but the worthy fulfillment of its duties does honor the man.
Mary Lyon

Character is the foundation stone upon which one must build to win respect. Just as no worthy building can be erected on a weak foundation, so no lasting reputation worthy of respect can be built on a weak character.
R. C. Samsel

He that cannot decidedly say, "No," when tempted to evil, is on the highway to ruin. He loses the respect even of those who would tempt him, and becomes but the pliant tool and victim of their evil designs.
J. Hawes

Respect a man, and he will do all the more. – John Wooden

If one doesn't respect oneself one can have neither love nor respect for others. –Ayn Rand

It is not sufficient to be worthy of respect in order to be respected. –Alfred Nobel

Probably no greater honor can come to any man than the respect of his colleagues. – Cary Grant

We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it. – Thomas Jefferson

Men are respectable only as they respect. – Ralph Waldo Emerson

They cannot take away our self--respect if we do not give it to them. – Gandhi

Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners. –Laurence Sterne

If you have some respect for people as they are, you can be more effective in helping them to become better than they are. –John W. Gardner

When men and women are able to respect and accept their differences then love has a chance to blossom. –John Gray

I must respect the opinions of others even if I disagree with them. –Herbert Henry Leathem

We must build a new world, a far better world -- one in which the eternal dignity of man is respected. –Harry S. Truman

There is no respect for others without humility in one's self. --Henri Frederic Amiel

Respect commands itself and it can neither be given nor withheld when it is due. --Eldridge Cleaver

Respect yourself if you would have others respect you. --Baltasar Gracian

Self--respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself. –Abraham Heschel

The capacity for getting along with our neighbor depends to a large extent on the capacity for getting along with ourselves. The self--respecting individual will try to be as tolerant of his neighbor's shortcomings as he is of his own. –Eric Hoffer

Self--respect is a question of recognizing that anything worth having has a price. –Joan Didion

To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves--there lies the great, singular power of self--respect. –Joan Didion

No one, Eleanor Roosevelt said, can make you feel inferior without your consent. Never give it. – Marion Wright Edelman

I care not so much what I am to others as what I am to myself. I will be rich by myself, and not by borrowing. –Michel De Montaigne

Service to many leads to greatness-- great respect, great satisfaction. –Jim Rohn

Humility leads to strength and not to weakness. It is the highest form of self--respect to admit mistakes and to make amends for them. –Jay McCloy

Respect is love in plain clothes. -- Frankie Byrne
Any time you give a man something he doesn't earn, you cheapen him. Our kids earn what they get, and that includes respect.
-- Woody Hayes

I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.
-- Jackie Robinson

Respect is what we owe; love, what we give.
-- Philip James Bailey

He removes the greatest ornament of friendship, who takes away from it respect.
-- Cicero

"Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it."
-- Bill Bradley

"There is overwhelming evidence that the higher the level of self--esteem, the more likely one will be to treat others with respect, kindness, and generosity."
-- Nathaniel Branden

"No one is happy unless he respects himself."
--Jean Jacques Rousseau

"Every action in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those present."
--Rules of Civility

"For those who are always courteous and respectful of elders, four things increase: life, beauty, happiness and strength."
--Buddha

"Neither we, nor any other people, will ever be respected till we respect ourselves and we will never respect ourselves till we have the means to live respectfully."
--Frederick Douglas

"We must all learn to live as brothers. Or we will all perish as fools."
--Martin Luther King Jr.

Never violate the sacredness of your individual self--respect.
Theodore Parker

Self--respect can be a extension of your ego or a priceless virtue. --Anonymous.

He that respects himself is safe from others; He wears a coat of mail that none can pierce. –Henry Longfellow

This above all: to thine own self be true, And it must follow, as the night the day, Thou canst not then be false to any man. – William Shakespeare

Every man is to be respected as an absolute end in himself; and it is a crime against the dignity that belongs to him as a human being, to use him as a mere means for some external purpose.
– Immanuel Kant

The highest result of education is tolerance.
– Helen Keller

Civilizations should be measured by "the degree of diversity attained and the degree of unity retained."
– W.H. Auden
Perhaps the most important thing we can undertake toward the reduction of fear is make it easier for people to accept themselves, to like themselves.
– Bonaro Overstreet
Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up.
– Jesse Jackson
The true measure of an individual is how he treats a person who can do him absolutely no good.
– Ann Landers
Prejudice is the child of ignorance.
– William Hazlitt
All respect comes from persisting to completion. --Melissa Lima

As we grow as unique persons, we learn to respect the uniqueness of others. --Robert H. Schuller

At the end of the day, you want to respect what you do. In a certain sense, our work is us. We get into it, and it gets into us. --John W. Rowe

Don't listen to those who say, "It's not done that way." Maybe it's not, but maybe you will. Don't listen to those who say, "You're taking too big a chance." Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor, and it would surely be rubbed out by today. Most importantly, don't listen when the little voice of fear inside of you rears its ugly head and says, "They're all smarter than you out there. They're more talented, they're taller, blonder, prettier, luckier and have connections…" I firmly believe that if you follow a path that interests you, not to the exclusion of love, sensitivity, and cooperation with others, but with the strength of conviction that you can move others by your own efforts, and do not make success or failure the criteria by which you live, the chances are you'll be a person worthy of your own respect. --Neil Simon

A good friend who points out mistakes and imperfections and rebukes evil is to be respected as if he reveals a secret of hidden treasure. –Buddha

It is the highest form of self--respect to admit our errors and mistakes and make amends for them. To make a mistake is only an error in judgment, but to adhere to it when it is discovered shows infirmity of character.--Dale Turner

Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self--respect.--Marcus Aurelius

Respect ... is appreciation of the separateness of the other person, of the ways in which he or she is unique.--Annie Gottlieb

Respect your fellow human being, treat them fairly, disagree with them honestly, enjoy their friendship, explore your thoughts about one another candidly, work together for a common goal and help one another achieve it. No destructive lies. No ridiculous fears. No debilitating anger.--Bill Bradley

That wealth and greatness are often regarded with the respect and admiration which are due only to wisdom and virtue; and that the contempt, of which vice and folly are the only proper objects, is most often unjustly bestowed upon poverty and weakness, has been the complaint of moralists in all ages.--Adam Smith

There are countless ways of attaining greatness, but any road to reaching one's maximum potential must be built on a bedrock of respect for the individual, a commitment to excellence, and a rejection of mediocrity.--Buck Rodgers

True self--respect, being very different from false pride, leads inevitably to respecting others.--Virginia Moore

What women want is what men want. They want respect.--Marilyn vos Savant

When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.--Lao Tzu

Who am I?
I am a little thing with a big meaning.
I help everybody. I unlock doors, open hearts,
dispel prejudice. I create friendship and goodwill.
I inspire courtesy and admiration.
Everybody loves me. I bore no one. I violate no law.
I cost nothing. Many have praised me.
No one has ever condemned me. I am pleasing to those of high and low degree.
I am useful every moment of the day.
I am Respect!–Unknown

Respect for character is always diminished in proportion to the number among whom the blame or praise is to be divided. -- James Madison

I want to be very close to someone I respect and admire and have somebody who feels the same way about me. -- Richard Bach

If you once forfeit the confidence of your fellow citizens, you can never regain their respect and esteem. It is true that you may fool all of the people some of the time; you can even fool some of the people all of the time; but you can't fool all of the people all of the time. -- Abraham Lincoln

We confide in our strength, without boasting of it; we respect that of others, without fearing it. -- Thomas Jefferson

Is there no respect of place, persons, nor time in you? --William Shakespeare