87 Inspiring Respect Quotes

In a world where interactions are often fleeting and mediated by screens, the value of respect has never been more crucial. Respect forms the foundation of positive relationships, whether personal, professional, or communal. It's a universal language that transcends cultural differences and fosters an environment of trust and collaboration. In this blog post, we delve into a thoughtfully curated collection of 87 inspiring quotes about respect. These powerful words serve as a reminder of the impact respect has on our lives and encourage us to weave it into the fabric of our daily interactions. Whether you're seeking motivation to cultivate respect in your own life or looking to inspire others, these quotes are sure to resonate and uplift.

1. “I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university.” - Albert Einstein

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. “One race,Many cultures,One place.” - Geoffrey M. Gluckman

4. “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash” - Harper Lee

5. “Respect was invented to cover the empty place where love should be.” - Leo Tolstoy

6. “Respect is a close relative of tolerance, and both go a long way to prevent and alleviate the negative interactions between and among people. Respect was a member of each Lakota household during the free-roaming buffalo-hunting days on the northern plains.” - Joseph M. Marshall III

7. “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

8. “I never said, 'I want to be alone.' I only said 'I want to be let alone!' There is all the difference.” - Greta Garbo

9. “For with dandies, a joke is the only way of making yourself respected.” - Jules Barbey d'Aurevilly

10. “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

11. “Friendship is selfless love, care, respect, and honor not a profitable opportunity.” - Santosh Kalwar

12. “Respect for right conduct is felt by every body.” - Jane Austen

13. “Respect for ourselves guides our morals; respect for others guides our manners” - Laurence Sterne

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

15. “I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.” - Theodore Roosevelt

16. “I am an atheist, out and out. It took me a long time to say it. I've been an atheist for years and years, but somehow I felt it was intellectually unrespectable to say one was an atheist, because it assumed knowledge that one didn't have. Somehow, it was better to say one was a humanist or an agnostic. I finally decided that I'm a creature of emotion as well as of reason. Emotionally, I am an atheist. I don't have the evidence to prove that God doesn't exist, but I so strongly suspect he doesn't that I don't want to waste my time.” - Isaac Asimov

17. “Robert G. Ingersoll was a great man. a wonderful intellect, a great soul of matchless courage, one of the great men of the earth -- and yet we have no right to bow down to his memory simply because he was great. Great orators, great soldiers, great lawyers, often use their gifts for a most unholy cause. We meet to pay a tribute of love and respect to Robert G. Ingersoll because he used his matchless power for the good of man.{Darrow's eulogy for Ingersoll at his funeral}” - Clarence Darrow

18. “Many times when we help we do not really serve. . . . Serving is also different from fixing. One of the pioneers of the Human Potential Movement, Abraham Maslow, said, "If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.' Seeing yourself as a fixer may cause you to see brokenness everywhere, to sit in judgment of life itself. When we fix others, we may not see their hidden wholeness or trust the integrity of the life in them. Fixers trust their own expertise. When we serve, we see the unborn wholeness in others; we collaborate with it and strengthen it. Others may then be able to see their wholeness for themselves for the first time.” - Rachel Remen

19. “So many men treat their wives badly, or indifferently, or with barely contained impatience. Josh doesn't mind-- no that's not right--he insists on openly showing his love and respect for me.” - Lynn Morris

20. “A respectable appearance is sufficient to make people more interested in your soul” - Karl Lagerfeld

21. “Fight only in direst needNot for lust or petty greedHonor those that do give birthRespect them well for their full worth” - Anne McCaffrey

22. “Good human work honors God's work. Good work uses no thing without respect, both for what it is in itself and for its origin. It uses neither tool nor material that it does not respect and that it does not love. It honors nature as a great mystery and power, as an indispensable teacher, and as the inescapable judge of all work of human hands. It does not dissociate life and work, or pleasure and work, or love and work, or usefulness and beauty. To work without pleasure or affection, to make a product that is not both useful and beautiful, is to dishonor God, nature, the thing that is made, and whomever it is made for. This is blasphemy: to make shoddy work of the work of God. But such blasphemy is not possible when the entire Creation is understood as holy and when the works of God are understood as embodying and thus revealing His spirit. (pg. 312, Christianity and the Survival of Creation)” - Wendell Berry

23. “She can feel his blood, just beneath his skin; when he breathes, the air fills with smoke. He's like a dragon, ancient and fearless.” - Alice Hoffman

24. “I respect you as a person too much to respect your ridiculous beliefs.” - Johann Hari

25. “Cu siguranta, nu-l ura. Nu, ura trecuse cu mult timp in urma si cam tot de atunci se nascuse senzatia de rusine pentru ca avusese fata de el un sentiment care s-ar fi putut numi astfel. Respetul fata de el, generat de credinta ca avea calitati de pret, desi cu greu acceptat la inceput, incetase de la un timp a-l mai considera in neconcordanta cu simtamintele ei, iar acum respectul acesta crescuse, se modificase, devenise un soi de prietenie, datorita marturiilor ce-i fusesera atat de favorabile si datorita luminii atat de bune in care se plasase in ziua aceea. [...] Il respecta, il stima, ii era recunoscatoare, ii dorea numai binele, ar fi vrut doar sa stie cat dorea el ca binele acela sa fie legat de ea si in ce masura ar fi fost spre fericirea amandurora sa-si foloseasca puterile, pe care-si imagina ca inca le mai are, pentru a-l face sa-si reinnoiasca cererea.” - Jane Austen

26. “Anyone who teaches me deserves my respect, honoring and attention.” - Sonia Rumzi

27. “I can be hurt, she said, only by people I respect.” - Mary Balogh

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

29. “Regard your good name as the richest jewel you can possibly be possessed of -- for credit is like fire; when once you have kindled it you may easily preserve it, but if you once extinguish it, you will find it an arduous task to rekindle it again. The way to a good reputation is to endeavor to be what you desire to appear.” - Socrates

30. “We should keep the dead before our eyes, and honor them as though still living” - Confucius

31. “Then, Patrick, you do feel it too? You do feel ... something? It would be so bleak if you felt nothing. That's what scares women, you know.''I do know, and you needn't be scared. I feel something all right.''Promise me you'll always treat me as a person.''I promise.''Promises are so easily given.''I'll fulfill this one. Let me show you.'After a shaky start he was comfortably in the swing of it, having recognised he was on familiar ground after all. Experience had brought him to see that this kind of thing was nothing more than the levying of cock-tax, was reasonable and normal, in fact, even though some other parts of experience strongly suggested that what he had shelled out so far was only a down payment.” - Kingsley Amis

32. “Men are always ready to respect anything that bores them.” - Marilyn Monroe

33. “It is offensive that so many people feel that it is okay to publicly refer to transsexuals as being “pre-op” or “post-op” when it would so clearly be degrading and demeaning to regularly describe all boys and men as being either “circumcised” or “uncircumcised.” - Julia Serano

34. “It’s not so much the journey that’s important; as is the way that we treat those we encounter and those around us, along the way” - Jeremy Aldana

35. “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

36. “Songwriting and poetry are so commonly birthed from underdogs because one can make even the ugliest situations admirable, or more beautiful than the beautiful situations - they are the most graceful media in which the lines of society are distorted.” - Criss Jami

37. “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

38. “What she did have, after raising two children, was the equivalent of a PhD in mothering and my undying respect.” - Barbara Delinsky

39. “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

40. “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

41. “Respect was one thing. Survival was another. It was important that I kept my priorities in the right order.” - Tahir Shah

42. “The immoral can no more earn respectThan the envious be rich.” - Tiruvalluvar

43. “How can you still count yourself a knight, when you have forsaken every vow you ever swore?" Jaime reached for the flagon to refill his cup. "So many vows...they make you swear and swear. Defend the king. Obey the king. Keep his secrets. Do his bidding. Your life for his. But obey your father. Love your sister. Protect the innocent. Defend the weak. Respect the gods. Obey the laws. It's too much. No matter what you do, you're forsaking one vow or the other.” - George R.R. Martin

44. “The greatest wisdom is in simplicity. Love, respect, tolerance, sharing, gratitude, forgiveness. It's not complex or elaborate. The real knowledge is free. It's encoded in your DNA. All you need is within you. Great teachers have said that from the beginning. Find your heart, and you will find your way.” - Carlos Barrios, Mayan elder and Ajq'ij of the Eagle Clan

45. “Oh! What honour for the female sex! It is perfectly obvious that God has special regard for it when all these wretched people who destroyed the whole Kingdom – now recovered and made safe by a woman, something that 5000 men could not have done – and the traitors [have been] exterminated. Before the event they would scarcely have believed this possible.” - Christine de Pizan

46. “I will not try to convince you to love me, to respect me, to commit to me. I deserve better than that; I AM BETTER THAN THAT...Goodbye.” - Steve Maraboli

47. “Understanding your dog and knowing how to control him, develop his potentials, and resolve behavior problems, emotional conflicts and frustrations are no less essential than love and respect.” - Michael W. Fox

48. “People can have their opinions about everything in the world, but people's opinions end where the tip of my nose begins. Your opinions of others can only go so far as to where their own shoreline is. The world is for your taking, but other people are not. One is only allowed to have an opinion of me, if that person is done educating him/herself on everything about me. Before people educate themselves on everything about you, they're not allowed to open their venomous mouthes and have an opinion about you.” - C. JoyBell C.

49. “There are other grounds for believing that gays and lesbians should be respected and protected from oppression: their right to privacy and freedom of actionand expression; the "victimless" nature of homosexual relations; and the many valuable contributions that gays and lesbians make to society.” - Simon LeVay

50. “Love springs from the inside. It is the immortal surge of passion, excitement, energy, power, strength, prosperity, recognition, respect, desire, determination, enthusiasm, confidence, courage, and vitality, that nourishes, extends and protects. It possesses an external objective - life.” - Ogwo David Emenike

51. “Fights begin and end with handshakes.” - Cameron Conaway

52. “You're not supposed to laugh at your own father. Ever.” - Jeannette Walls

53. “What was that, Kurokuma?' asked one of the escorts riding near him. The others chuckled at the name.'Nothing important,' Horace said. Then he looked at them suspiciously. 'What's this Kurokuma business?'The Senshi looked at him with a completely staight face.'It's a term of great respect,' he said. Several others within earshot nodded confirmation. They too managed to remain straight-faced. It was a skill the Nihon-Jan had perfected.'Great respect,' one of them echoed.” - John Flanagan

54. “Respect is a really powerful magic too, you know.” - Jefferson Smith

55. “When we love and respect people, revealing to them their value, they can begin to come out from behind the walls that protect them.” - Jean Vanier

56. “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

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

58. “Respect the dead, learn from them, do not follow or avenge them.” - Evan Meekins

59. “The best gifts one can give to someone are not things, the best ones to offer are a little Time, Love, Care and Respect.” - Venkat Desireddy

60. “A pair of dolphins swept by us in the water, flicking their heads out to get a look at us as they went. One of them made a chittering sound that wasn't very melodic. The other twitched its tail and splashed a little water our way, all in good fun. They weren't the attractive Flipper kind of dolphins. They were regular dolphins that aren't as pretty and don't get cast on television. Maybe they just refused to sell out and see a plastic surgeon. I held up a fist to them. Represent.” - Jim Butcher

61. “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

62. “Any titles, money, or privilege you inherit are actually hindrances. They delude you into believing you are owed respect.” - Robert Greene

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

64. “Without trust and respect, only fear and distrust of others' motives and intentions are left. Without trust and respect between parties, it is nearly impossible to find good solutions to effective communication.” - Deborah A. Beasley

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

66. “Jorden tilhører ikke mennesket.Det er menneskene, der tilhører Jorden. De duftende blomster er vore søstre, og hesten, den mægtige ørn, for ikke at tale om elgen, er vore brødre. Og hvordan kan man købe eller sælge noget som helst? For hvem ejer varmen i luften eller lyden af vinden i træerne? Og saften i grenene bærer erindringen om dem, der har levet før os. Og lyden af bækkens mumlen er er vores forfaders stemme. Og vi må lære vores børn, at jorden under deres fødder er forfædrenes akse, og at alt, hvad der overgår Jorden også overgår os, og hvis mennesket spytter på jorden, spytter det på sig selv.” - Erlend Loe

67. “Self-pity, while it should be accorded due respect, is the greatest of all acids to the human soul.” - Paul Hoffman

68. “Feeling sorry for yourself is a universal solvent of salvation.” - Paul Hoffman

69. “I’m in a band. I don’t go to church every Sunday. I love punk rock music. Sometimes I use swear words a lot. I respect and admire gay men and women. I’m obsessed with horror films. I know what shame feels like. And guess what old man? Jesus is still my Savior.” - Hayley Williams

70. “Listen, in dreams and especially in nightmares, from indigestion or anything, a man sees sometimes such artistic visions, such complex and real actuality, such events, even a whole world of events, woven into such a plot, with such unexpected details from the most exalted matters to the last button on a cuff, as I swear Leo Tolstoy has never invented.” - Fyodor Dostoyevsky

71. “Men make their own happiness, and a man may be respected even though only a slave.” - G.A. Henty

72. “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

73. “You don't treat me like a child."He smiled. "Of course I do, but you seem to have this ridiculous notion that being treated like a child means to be treated with less respect than an adult.” - Derek Landy

74. “A respectful woman is a righteous woman.” - Habeeb Akande

75. “A girl's body was a prize. It had to be more than asked for. It had to be earned, worshipped, and avowed.” - Leanna Renee Hieber

76. “Respect Death and You Live In Life” - Christopher Thames

77. “The essential respect is the one in your own heart for yourself.” - Bryant McGill

78. “What we do to others, we do to ourselves..” - Bryant McGill

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

80. “There is nothing so likely to produce peace as to be well prepared to meet the enemy” - George Washington

81. “Don't go the distance trying to fit in the crowd and be accepted by others. Accept and respect yourself first. Loving thyself also goes with this."-Elizabeth's Quotes” - Elizabeth E. Castillo

82. “The relationship you take for granted is the one that needs the greatest work.” - George Alexiou

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

84. “We must protect and share the world.” - Bryant McGill

85. “Look, sometimes it’s OK with girls like this, they wanna have fun, and sometimes it’s not because they've got a broken wing and they’re hurt and they’re an easy target. In this case, this particular case, I think that wing is being fixed, my friend, and you gotta make sure that it’s mended and you’re getting in the way of that right now, okay, because she’s sensitive and she’s smart, she’s artistic. This is a great girl, you gotta be respectful to that. Come on, let me walk you to your car, you’re a better guy than this.” - Matthew Quick

86. “Love – Acceptance – Unity – Peace –Integrity – Respect… a strong, pure creed is short on words and long on nourishing ideas. For me, the longer the creed the more it has been diluted, manipulated, and spoiled. The results of this creed poisoning can be seen in the behavior of its followers. We have all heard the expression, “The devil is in the details”; my observations have led me to suspect this is true.” - Steve Maraboli

87. “Every soul is beautiful and precious; is worthy of dignity and respect, and deserving of peace, joy and love.” - Bryant McGill