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Respect

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The man who attempted to retain for himself land or goods, or who fenced off a portion of the common ground and—like the modern landlord—would allow no one to till it who did not pay him a tax—was a criminal of the deepest dye. Nevertheless the criminals pushed their way to the front, and have become the respectables of modern society. ~ Edward Carpenter
It occurred to him that what had appeared perfectly impossible before, namely that he had not spent his life as he should have done, might after all be true. It occurred to him that his scarcely perceptible attempts to struggle against what was considered good by the most highly placed people, those scarcely noticeable impulses which he had immediately suppressed, might have been the real thing, and all the rest false. And his professional duties and the whole arrangement of his life and of his family, and all his social and official interests, might all have been false. He tried to defend all those things to himself and suddenly felt the weakness of what he was defending. ~ Leo Tolstoy, The Death of Ivan Ilyich, ch.11

Respect denotes both a positive feeling of esteem for a person or other entity (such as a nation or a religion), and also specific actions and conduct representative of that esteem. Respect can be a specific feeling of regard for the actual qualities of the one respected (e.g., "I have great respect for her judgment").

Quotes

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  • The born leader is a fiction invented by 'born followers'. Leadership is not a gift at birth; it is an award for growing to full moral stature. It is the only prize that a man must win everyday. The prize is the respect of others, earned by the disciplines that generate self-respect.
    • Colonel Wheeler L. Baker, USMC, Ret., as quoted in The Cadence (2009), yearbook of Hargrave Military Academy, p. F
  • RESPECTABILITY, n. The offspring of a liaison between a bald head and a bank account.
  • I care for myself. The more solitary, the more friendless, the more unsustained I am, the more I will respect myself.
  • I don't give a shit who says what. If the muthaf--a is wrong, he's wrong. ... In this country, authority is a cover for wrong. I don't respect wrong and I don't respect authority that represents wrong.
  • The man who attempted to retain for himself land or goods, or who fenced off a portion of the common ground and—like the modern landlord—would allow no one to till it who did not pay him a tax—was a criminal of the deepest dye. Nevertheless the criminals pushed their way to the front, and have become the respectables of modern society.
  • Self-respect permeates every aspect of your existence. If you don't have respect for yourself, you're not gonna get it from anyone else.
    • Lean on Me, spoken by Joe Clark, written by Michael Schiffer (1989)
  • We claim no respectability. There's no status I would not surrender for a joke. So we don't have to defend anything.
  • Many of us saw religion as harmless nonsense. Beliefs might lack all supporting evidence but, we thought, if people needed a crutch for consolation, where's the harm? September 11th changed all that. Revealed faith is not harmless nonsense, it can be lethally dangerous nonsense. Dangerous because it gives people unshakeable confidence in their own righteousness. Dangerous because it gives them false courage to kill themselves, which automatically removes normal barriers to killing others. Dangerous because it teaches enmity to others labelled only by a difference of inherited tradition. And dangerous because we have all bought into a weird respect, which uniquely protects religion from normal criticism. Let's now stop being so damned respectful!
  • My political ideal is democracy. Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized.
  • I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.
  • Do me wrong, honey, if you wanna to
    You can do me wrong honey, while I'm gone
    But all I'm asking
    Is for a little respect when I come home
    • Otis Redding, Respect (1965)
    • I ain't gonna do you wrong while you're gone
      I ain't gonna do you wrong 'cause I don't wanna
      All I'm asking is for a little respect when you come home
  • Human dignity shall be inviolable. To respect and protect it shall be the duty of all state authority.
  • Entre los Individuos, como entre Las Naciones, El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz.
    • Translation: Among individuals, as among nations, respect for the rights of others is peace.
    • Benito Juárez, Statement of Juárez inscribed as a Motto on the State Flag of Oaxaca, of which he was Governor from 1847 to 1853.
    • Variant translations: Among individuals as among nations, when there is respect, there is peace. Respect for the rights of others means peace.
  • what is best in people is not self-abnegation. What is best in people is a sturdy connection between respect for the self and respect for the other: reaching in and out at the same time
    • Melanie Kaye/Kantrowitz To Be a Radical Jew in the Late 20th Century in The Tribe of Dina: A Jewish Women's Anthology (1986)
  • To further the appreciation of culture among all the people, to increase respect for the creative individual, to widen participation by all the processes and fulfillments of art—this is one of the fascinating challenges of these days.
    • John F. Kennedy, “The Arts in America,” Look (December 18, 1962), p. 110.
  • Achte dich selbst, wenn du willst, dass andere dich achten sollen!
    • Translation: Respect yourself, if you want others to respect you.
    • Adolf Freiherr Knigge, from Über den Umgang mit Menschen.
  • Luckily, we don’t have to know everything about everyone’s realities to respect them, not tell lies about them, or believe that they know best what their needs are. We just need to do our bit to ensure they are able to lead dignified, free and safe lives, even when that bit is simply getting the hell out of their way. The root of respect is not the full understanding of other people; it is the recognition of people’s non-negotiable humanity. Regardless of our identities or how we navigate our different worlds, we all have the same rights to self-determine, live in community with others, enjoy access to the opportunities we need to survive, and write our own (magical) narratives. It can never be anyone’s place to tell another person or group of people that yielding space for their needs to be met is a danger to others. Only unrepentant bigotry results in such claims. By making respectful space for one another and learning from those who have the kinds of knowledge that we could never gain on our own, we become able to see all the different worlds that exist in this one that we share. And isn’t that the strongest magic of all?
  • Respect is the foundation of a stable way of life and the basis of a code of conduct.
    • Dame Vera Lynn, English singer, variety performer. Ch. 7, Sincerely Yours, Some Sunny Day (2009), p. 161.
  • People need self-respect, but self-respect must be earned -- it cannot be self-respect if it's not earned -- and the only way to earn anything is to achieve it in the face of the possibility of failing.
  • Self-respect without the respect of others is like a jewel which will not stand the daylight.
  • He who feels the respect which is due to others cannot fail to inspire them in regard for himself, while he who feels, and hence manifests, disrespect toward others, especially his inferiors, cannot fail to inspire hatred against himself.
    • John McAllister Schofield, U.S. Army lieutenant general and Medal of Honor recipient, as quoted in the October 2006 publication of Field Manual 6-22 (FM-22-100): Army Leadership by Headquarters, Department of the Army, p. 4-5
  • A daughter who respects you while you’re alive is far better than a son who performs the rites and rituals after you’re gone.
  • The wise treat self-respect as non-negotiable, and will not trade it for health or wealth or anything else.
  • Every human being, of whatever origin, of whatever station, deserves respect. We must each respect others even as we respect ourselves. This, as the sages of many lands have taught us, is a golden rule in individual and group, as well as international, relations.
    • U Thant, Portfolio for Peace (1968), p. 92.
  • It occurred to him that what had appeared perfectly impossible before, namely that he had not spent his life as he should have done, might after all be true. It occurred to him that his scarcely perceptible attempts to struggle against what was considered good by the most highly placed people, those scarcely noticeable impulses which he had immediately suppressed, might have been the real thing, and all the rest false. And his professional duties and the whole arrangement of his life and of his family, and all his social and official interests, might all have been false. He tried to defend all those things to himself and suddenly felt the weakness of what he was defending.
Whoever recognizes that reality recognizes also that link. Because of it, he holds every human being without any exception as something sacred to which he is bound to show respect. ~ Simone Weil
  • I don't respect people unless I think they deserve the respect. There are people who think that respect is something that should be given, and I happen to be one of the people who is perfectly happy saying no; respect should be earned. And without being earned, you don't get it. It's really that simple.
  • The combination of these two facts — the longing in the depth of the heart for absolute good, and the power, though only latent, of directing attention and love to a reality beyond the world and of receiving good from it — constitutes a link which attaches every man without exception to that other reality.
    Whoever recognizes that reality recognizes also that link. Because of it, he holds every human being without any exception as something sacred to which he is bound to show respect.
    This is the only possible motive for universal respect towards all human beings. Whatever formulation of belief or disbelief a man may choose to make, if his heart inclines him to feel this respect, then he in fact also recognizes a reality other than this world's reality. Whoever in fact does not feel this respect is alien to that other reality also....
    • Simone Weil, Draft for a Statement of Human Obligation (1943)
  • If anyone possesses this faculty, then his attention is in reality directed beyond the world, whether he is aware of it or not. The link which attaches the human being to the reality outside the world is, like the reality itself, beyond the reach of human faculties. The respect that it makes us feel as soon as it is recognized cannot be shown to us by evidence or testimony.
    • Simone Weil, Draft for a Statement of Human Obligation (1943)
  • By committing a crime, a man places himself, of his own accord, outside the chain of eternal obligations which bind every human being to every other one. Punishment alone can weld him back again; fully so, if accompanied by consent on his part; otherwise only partially so. Just as the only way of showing respect for somebody suffering from hunger is to give him something to eat, so the only way of showing respect for somebody who has placed himself outside the law is to reinstate him inside the law by subjecting him to the punishment ordained by law.
  • Only he who has measured the dominion of force, and knows how not to respect it, is capable of love and justice.
[edit]
  • Encyclopedic article on Respect on Wikipedia
  • The dictionary definition of respect on Wiktionary
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