53 Respect Quotes To Inspire

In a world that often feels fragmented and rushed, the profound impact of respect cannot be overstated. Whether it's respect for oneself, others, or the world around us, this fundamental value serves as the cornerstone of meaningful relationships and personal growth. Our curated collection of the top 53 respect quotes is designed to inspire and remind you of the power and importance of respect in daily life. Each quote has been carefully selected to resonate with readers, encouraging a deeper appreciation for this essential virtue. Dive in, reflect, and allow these timeless words to uplift and guide you.

1. “In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous and cosmogonal philosophy of the Bhagvat Geeta, since whose composition years of the gods have elapsed, and in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial; and I doubt if that philosophy is not to be referred to a previous state of existence, so remote is its sublimity from our conceptions. I lay down the book and go to my well for water, and lo! there I meet the servant of the Bramin, priest of Brahma and Vishnu and Indra, who still sits in his temple on the Ganges reading the Vedas, or dwells at the root of a tree with his crust and water jug. I meet his servant come to draw water for his master, and our buckets as it were grate together in the same well. The pure Walden water is mingled with the sacred water of the Ganges.” - Henry David Thoreau

2. “There is one other reason for dressing well, namely that dogs respect it, and will not attack you in good clothes.” - Ralph Waldo Emerson

3. “What is objectionable, what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme, but that they are intolerant. The evil is not what they say about their cause, but what they say about their opponents.” - Robert F. Kennedy

4. “A woman knows very well that, though a wit sends her his poems, praises her judgment, solicits her criticism, and drinks her tea, this by no means signifies that he respects her opinions, admires her understanding, or will refuse, though the rapier is denied him, to run through the body with his pen.” - Virginia Woolf

5. “I did not want to be taken for a fool – the typical French reason for performing the worst of deeds without remorse.” - Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly

6. “We are sun and moon, dear friend; we are sea and land. It is not our purpose to become each other; it is to recognize each other, to learn to see the other and honor him for what he is: each the other's opposite and complement.” - Hermann Hesse

7. “With the persistent loud voice, fool asks us to respect serenity.” - Toba Beta

8. “Men didn't respect beauty...they used it.” - Nora Roberts

9. “Touching your cap to the squire may be damn bad for the squire, but it's damn good for you.” - J.R.R. Tolkien

10. “How would your life be different if…You stopped making negative judgmental assumptions about people you encounter? Let today be the day…You look for the good in everyone you meet and respect their journey.” - Steve Maraboli

11. “And I can fight only for something that I love, love only what I respect, and respect only what I at least know.” - Adolf Hitler

12. “Love is honesty. Love is a mutual respect for one another.” - Simone Elkeles

13. “It does not matter how long you are spending on the earth, how much money you have gathered or how much attention you have received. It is the amount of positive vibration you have radiated in life that matters,” - Amit Ray

14. “Respect toward others can't be imposed.It's a blessing...or learning the hard way.” - Toba Beta

15. “We are all equal in the fact that we are all different. We are all the same in the fact that we will never be the same. We are united by the reality that all colours and all cultures are distinct & individual. We are harmonious in the reality that we are all held to this earth by the same gravity. We don't share blood, but we share the air that keeps us alive. I will not blind myself and say that my black brother is not different from me. I will not blind myself and say that my brown sister is not different from me. But my black brother is he as much as I am me. But my brown sister is she as much as I am me.” - C. JoyBell C.

16. “This is how you start to get respect, by offering something that you have.” - Mitch Albom

17. “The ultimate story of success: When a nobody, who has never once in his entire life known the feeling of being remembered or respected, suddenly snaps and becomes a world dictator. On one hand it sounds just, but on the other, it illustrates the reason why a prosperity message has and needs its limitations.” - Criss Jami

18. “You are evidence of your mother's strength, especially if you are a rebellious knucklehead and regardless she has always maintained her sanity.” - Criss Jami

19. “While pity shows a lack of respect for other human beings, compassion has its roots in a deep respect for others. Pity is an emotion; compassion is a connection. Compassion sees the other as equal. Compassion happens when we care for another person enough to make his or her problems our own.” - Matt Litton

20. “If you've treated your girlfriend without respect, taken advantage of her, or cheated on her, your actions have taught her that she has no value. Needless to say, this is a serious, serious injury. If you don't try to make it right, she might start to believe the lie you've told her and spend the rest of her life thinking she deserves poor treatment.” - Josh Shipp

21. “People think we had a love-hate relationship. Well, I did not love him, nor did I hate him. We had mutual respect for each other, even as we both planned each other's murder.” - Werner Herzog

22. “I had done all that I could, and no Man is well pleased to have his all neglected, be it ever so little.” - Samuel Johnson

23. “Respect the verbs in your life.Life is a verb. Live is a verb.Live Life. Action verbsbring life to writing.Love is a verb. Be is a verb.Be in LoveBelieve, love, give,receive,tag,Believing in love,giving love, receiving love,love tag(you are it)dance, prance, pounce, smile, try,trying to smile,dancing and prancing,pounce!laugh, do, go, grow, feel, touch,touching, feeling, growing, doing,going, laughing, sing, walk, run, cook, look,see, eat, meet, greet, smell,hear,look and see the cooking,singing and then walking into the kitchen to eat,eating the yummy food.running to see,seeing the food, meeting and greeting others;smelling the cooking,hearing the laughter;seeing the runners;touching the icing. licking the icing. tasting the licking of the spoondiscover, realize, live, respect.discover life, realizing truth,living, respecting everyoneunder the sun,even all the universelove and respect all” - Jerriann Wayahowl Law

24. “It really is something ... that men disapprove even of our doing things that are patently good. Wouldn't it be possible for us just to banish these men from our lives, and escape their carping and jeering once and for all? Couldn't we live without them? Couldn't we earn our living and manage our affairs without help from them? Come on, let's wake up, and claim back our freedom, and the honour and dignity that they have usurped from us for so long. Do you think that if we really put our minds to it, we would be lacking the courage to defend ourselves, the strength to fend for ourselves, or the talents to earn our own living? Let's take our courage into our hands and do it, and then we can leave it up to them to mend their ways as much as they can: we shan't really care what the outcome is, just as long as we are no longer subjugated to them.” - Moderata Fonte

25. “Of all public figures and benefactors of mankind, no one is loved by history more than the literary patron. Napoleon was just a general of forgotten battles compared with the queen who paid for Shakespeare's meals and beer in the tavern. The statesman who in his time freed the slaves, even he has a few enemies in posterity, whereas the literary patron has none. We thank Gaius Maecenas for the nobility of soul we attribute to Virgil; but he isn’t blamed for the selfishness and egocentricity that the poet possessed. The patron creates 'literature through altruism,' something not even the greatest genius can do with a pen.” - Roman Payne

26. “There is no doubt, that in this world, there are all sorts of people who look nice, but are empty inside; who do not feel either moral or spiritual aspirations in addition to the physical gifts with which nature blessed them ... But Corneliu Codreanu, his magnificient physique corresponds to an exceptional inner wholeness. Exclamations of admiration from men left him indifferent. Praise angered him. He had only a fighter's greatness and the ambition of great reformers... The characteristic of his soul was goodness. If you want to penetrate the initial motive which prompted Corneliu Codreanu to throw in a fight so hard and almost desperate, the best answer is that he did it out of compassion for suffering people. His heart bled with thousands of injuries to see the misery in which peasants and workers struggled. His love for the people - unlimited! He was sensitive to any suffering the working masses endured. He had a cult for the humble, and showed an infinite attention to their aspirations and their hopes. The smallest window, the most trivial complaint, were examined with the same seriousness with which he addressed grave political problems.” - Horia Sima

27. “A person that does not value your time will not value your advice.” - Orrin Woodward

28. “I resented the idea of being talented. I couldn’t respect it — in my experience, no one else did. Being called talented at school had only made me a target for resentment. I wanted to work. Work, I could honor.” - Alexander Chee

29. “If I were to vote, I would intentionally vote for the goofiest candidate. It is my theory that when the people can outwit the leader, the more respected their voices will be.” - Criss Jami

30. “How did so many women get to this unhappy place of not understanding how truly "simple" men are in their requirements and how much benevolent power their wives have over them? Why did notions like assuaging "male ego" and using "feminine wiles" rocket into disrepute? How is it that so many women are angry with men in general yet expect to have a happy life married to one of them?There are a number of reasons for this, and I believe they all revolve around the assault upon, and virtual collapse of, the values of religious morality, modesty, fidelity, chastity, respect for life, and a commitment to family and child-rearing.” - Laura Schlessinger

31. “You can demand courtesy but you have to earn respect.” - Lawrence Goldstone

32. “Where there is not community, trust, respect, ethical behavior are difficult for the young to learn and for the old to maintain.” - Robert K. Greenleaf

33. “I'm a peasantI'm the muzhikA pest you're destined to play the musicAnd yes it's pleasant to say it's beauty I'mIndebted to rest respecting it truly” - Criss Jami

34. “How could he possibly bow deeply enough to honor a thousand-year-old samurai queen?” - Nadia Scrieva

35. “I don't think you comprehend the depth of my feeling for you. It goes beyond wanting to be near you, or protect you. I want you to be happy, and I want you to be treated with respect.” - Sylvain Reynard

36. “Whether we wound or are wounded, the blood that flows is red.” - Eiichiro Oda

37. “Don't fret, boy. I'm not so foolish as to ridicule the myths and legends of other people. For countless generations, people, no matter where they're from, have been trying to understand this world of ours.” - Nahoko Uehashi

38. “In your big mind, everything has the same value...In your practice you should accept everything as it is, giving to each thing the same respect given to a Buddha. Here there is Buddhahood” - Shunryu Suzuki

39. “We largely become what we have observed and respected.” - Wayde Goodall

40. “Some people like living in black and white worlds. Let them stay there. Appreciate all the colors you see in your world though.” - Ashly Lorenzana

41. “Any religion can be compared to the attic of an old home. Unless the attic is regularly cleaned, it gathers dust and cobwebs and eventually becomes unusable. Similarly, if a religion cannot be updated or cleaned from time to time, it loses its usefulness and cannot relate anymore to changed times and people.” - Swami Bhaskarananda

42. “A righteous wife is a respectful wife.” - Habeeb Akande

43. “If you wish to live in harmony, you must respect every person and, in non-essential matters, yield!” - Dada J.P. Vaswani

44. “Fear is the greatest enemy; the father of all suffering, and love is the only cure for humanity's great afflictions” - Bryant McGill

45. “We must be kind and gentle gardeners with people and nature.” - Bryant McGill

46. “Respectful communication under conflict or opposition is an essential and truly awe-inspiring ability.” - Bryant McGill

47. “Love and respect changes everything.” - Bryant McGill

48. “Rejecting predatory capitalism in America is a way to respect and honor America.” - Bryant McGill

49. “Don't talk much and save your dignity.” - Ashraf Ali Jamshedpur

50. “Kindness is a currency that can cover a multitude of interpersonal debts.” - George Alexiou

51. “We must remember that we cannot change others, we can only change ourselves.” - Bryant McGill

52. “By disobeying immoral orders, that individual preserves the institution's highest rank - dignity.” - Bryant McGill

53. “The natural and untainted male mind respects and loves the woman and her magnificent scope of capability and creative gifts.” - Bryant McGill