“It's said that the worst thing one can do to a man is to kill his self-respect. But that's not true. Self-respect is something that can't be killed. The worst thing is to kill a man's pretense at it.”

“Self respect is something that can't be killed. The worst thing is to kill a man's pretense at it.”

“A man of self respect doesn't turn into a milch cow for anybody.”

“Not selfishness, but precisely the absence of a self. Look at them. The man who cheats and lies, but preserves a respectable front. He knows himself to be dishonest, but others think he’s honest and he derives his self-respect from that, second-hand. The man who takes credit for an achievement which is not his own. He knows himself to be mediocre, but he’s great in the eyes of others.”

“A quest for self-respect is proof of its lack”

“I understood that centuries of chains and lashes will not kill the spirit of man nor the sense of truth within him.”

“Ask anything of men. Ask them to achieve wealth, fame, love, brutality, murder, self-sacrifice. But don’t ask them to achieve self-respect. They will hate your soul.”