No nobler feeling than this of admiration for one higher than himself dwells in the breast of man. It is to this hour, and at all hours, the vivifying influence in man’s life.
—Thomas Carlyle (1795–1881) Scottish Historian, Essayist
Religion—a daughter of Hope and Fear, explaining to Ignorance the nature of the Unknowable.—Impiety—your irreverence toward my deity.
—Ambrose Bierce (1842–1913) American Short-story Writer, Journalist
Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Novelist
Treating your adversary with respect is giving him an advantage to which he is not entitled.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Believe nothing, O monks, merely because you have been told it or because it is traditional, or because you yourselves have imagined it. Do not believe what your teacher tells you merely out of respect for the teacher. But whatsoever, after due examination and analysis, you find to be conducive to the good, the benefit, the welfare of all beingsthat doctrine believe and cling to, and take it as your guide.
—Buddhist Teaching
In America few people will trust you unless you are irreverent.
—Norman Mailer (1923–2007) American Novelist Essayist
Only those who respect the personality of others can be of real use to them.
—Albert Schweitzer (1875–1965) French Theologian, Philosopher, Musician, Physician
The respect of those you respect is worth more than the applause of the multitude.
—Arnold Glasow (1905–98) American Businessman
Fools take to themselves the respect that is given to their office.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
True humility is intelligent self respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. It makes us modest by reminding us how far we have come short of what we can be.
—Ralph Washington Sockman (1889–1970) American Methodist Clergyman
Where there is reverence there is fear, but there is not reverence everywhere that there is fear, because fear presumably has a wider extension than reverence.
—Socrates (469BCE–399BCE) Ancient Greek Philosopher
We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.
—H. L. Mencken (1880–1956) American Journalist, Literary Critic
I think the worst thing this nation could do for humanity would be to leave any uncertainty as to our will, our purpose and our capacity to carry out our purpose.
—Hubert Humphrey (1911–78) American Head of State, Politician
Reverence is one of the signs of strength, irreverence one of the surest indications of weakness. No man will rise high who jeers at sacred things. The fine loyalties of life must be reverenced or they will be fore sworn in the day of trial.
—Unknown
Attention and respect give pleasure, however late, or however useless. But they are not useless, when they are late, it is reasonable to rejoice, as the day declines, to find that it has been spent with the approbation of mankind.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
In order to acquire a growing and lasting respect in society, it is a good thing, if you possess great talent, to give, early in your youth, a very hard kick to the right shin of the society that you love. After that, be a snob.
—Salvador Dali (1904–89) Spanish Painter
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 (1927–2018) American Playwright
Respect for ones parents is the highest duty of civil life.
—Chinese Proverb
Respect is the key determinant of high-performance leadership. How much people respect you determines how well they perform.
—Brian Tracy (b.1944) American Author, Motivational Speaker
Being brilliant is no great feat if you respect nothing.
—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832) German Poet
He that respects himself is safe from others; he wears a coat of mail that none can pierce.
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–82) American Poet, Educator, Academic
Your home is regarded as a model home, your life as a model life. But all this splendor, and you along with it… it’s just as though it were built upon a shifting quagmire. A moment may come, a word can be spoken, and both you and all this splendor will collapse.
—Henrik Ibsen (1828–1906) Norwegian Playwright
People are always blaming their circumstances for what they are. Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.
—Marcus Aurelius (121–180) Emperor of Rome, Stoic Philosopher
The way to procure insults is to submit to them. A man meets with no more respect than he exacts.
—William Hazlitt (1778–1830) English Essayist
We always like those who admire us, but we do not always like those whom we admire.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
I get no respect. The way my luck is running, if I was a politician I would be honest.
—Rodney Dangerfield (1921–2004) American Comedian, Actor, Writer
Impudence is the worst of all human diseases.
—Euripides (480–406 BCE) Ancient Greek Dramatist
To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the making of bread.
—James Baldwin (1924–87) American Novelist, Social Critic
Probably no greater honor can come to any man than the respect of his colleagues.
—Cary Grant (1904–86) British-American Film Actor
Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized.
—Albert Einstein (1879–1955) German-born Physicist
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