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 (1912–2002) American Activist
Fools take to themselves the respect that is given to their office.
—Aesop (620–564 BCE) Greek Fabulist
I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.
—Malcolm X (1925–65) American Civil Rights Leader
Respect a man, he will do the more.
—James Howell (c.1593–1666) Anglo-Welsh Writer, Historian
I am in earnest; I will not equivocate; I will not excuse; I will not retreat a single inch; and I will be heard.
—William Lloyd Garrison (1805–79) American Journalist, Abolitionist
Respect starts with yourself.
—Common Proverb
It’s so clear that you have to cherish everyone. I think that’s what I get from these older black women, that every soul is to be cherished, that every flower Is to bloom.
—Alice Walker (b.1944) American Novelist, Activist
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
We owe respect to the living. To the dead we owe only truth.
—Voltaire (1694–1778) French Philosopher, Author
To have a respect for ourselves guides our morals; and to have a deference for others governs our manners.
—Laurence Sterne (1713–68) Irish Anglican Novelist, Clergyman
We live thick and are in each other’s way, and stumble over one another, and I think we thus lose some respect for one another.
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–62) American Philosopher
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
A mere literary man is a dull man; a man who is solely a man of business is a selfish man; but when literature and commerce are united, they make a respectable man.
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Few parents nowadays pay any regard to what their children say to them. The old-fashioned respect for the young is fast dying out.
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
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
Nothing is more despicable than respect based on fear.
—Albert Camus (1913–60) Algerian-born French Philosopher, Dramatist, Essayist, Novelist, Author
Respect the burden.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue.
—John Herschel (1792–1871) English Mathematician, Astronomer, Chemist
A celebrated people lose dignity upon a closer view.
—Napoleon I (1769–1821) Emperor of France
Honest people will respect us for our merit: the public, for our luck.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Respect for ones parents is the highest duty of civil life.
—Chinese Proverb
What reinforcement we may gain from hope; If not, what resolution from despair.
—John Milton (1608–74) English Poet, Civil Servant, Scholar, Debater
A child who is allowed to be disrespectful to his parents will not have true respect for anyone.
—Billy Graham (1918–91) American Baptist Religious Leader
A resolution to avoid an evil is seldom framed till the evil is so far advanced as to make avoidance impossible.
—Thomas Hardy (1840–1928) English Novelist, Poet
The myths have always condemned those who “looked back.” Condemned them, whatever the paradise may have been which they were leaving. Hence this shadow over each departure from your decision.
—Dag Hammarskjold (1905–61) Swedish Statesman, UN Diplomat
Good resolutions are useless attempts to interfere with scientific laws. Their origin is pure vanity. Their result is absolutely nil. They give us, now and then, some of those luxurious sterile emotions that have a certain charm for the weak. They a
—Oscar Wilde (1854–1900) Irish Poet, Playwright
Well, dearie, men have to do some awfully mean things to keep up their respectability. But you can’t blame them for that, can you?
—George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950) Irish Playwright
Having chosen our course, without guile and with pure purpose, let us renew our trust in God, and go forward without fear and with manly hearts.
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–65) American Head of State
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, TV Personality, Actor
Prestige is the shadow of money and power. Where these are, there it is. Like the national market for soap or automobiles and the enlarged arena of federal power, the national cash-in area for prestige has grown, slowly being consolidated into a truly national system.
—C. Wright Mills (1916–62) American Sociologist, Academic