Values & Character: Respect Quotes

Explore thoughtful quotes on respect that highlight empathy, listening, and fairness. These selections encourage mindful behavior, positive relationships, and dignity in everyday life. Whether you are seeking motivation, teaching character, or reflecting on personal values, these words offer clear reminders to honor others and yourself. Use them to inspire classrooms, teams, and families, and to cultivate a culture where courtesy, accountability, and trust can grow.

Similar topics:Forgiveness Gratitude Honesty & Integrity Humility Kindness

"There is nothing a woman can't do. Men might think they do things all by themselves but a woman is always there guiding them or helping them"

Marjorie Joyner, Businesswoman

"It is not titles that honor men, but men that honor titles"

Niccolo Machiavelli, Writer

Niccolo Machiavelli

"One of the most sincere forms of respect is actually listening to what another has to say"

Bryant H. McGill, Author

Bryant H. McGill

"Fraternity without absorption, union without fusion"

Wilfrid Laurier, Statesman

Wilfrid Laurier

"A healthy democracy requires a decent society; it requires that we are honorable, generous, tolerant and respectful"

Charles W. Pickering, Judge

Charles W. Pickering

"He who does not love his own language is worse than an animal and smelly fish"

Jose Rizal, Writer

Jose Rizal

"I'm sick of just liking people. I wish to God I could meet somebody I could respect"

J.D. Salinger, Novelist

J.D. Salinger

"Politeness is the flower of humanity"

Joseph Joubert, Writer

Joseph Joubert

"It is impossible to practice parliamentary politics without having patience, decency, politeness and courtesy"

Khaleda Zia, Statesman

Khaleda Zia

"Show respect to all people, but grovel to none"

Tecumseh, Leader

"Respect the burden"

Napoleon Bonaparte, Leader

Napoleon Bonaparte

"But the disparaging of those we love always alienates us from them to some extent. We must not touch our idols; the gilt comes off in our hands"

Gustave Flaubert, Novelist

Gustave Flaubert

"Never insult anyone by accident"

Robert A. Heinlein, Writer

Robert A. Heinlein

"A desire to be observed, considered, esteemed, praised, beloved, and admired by his fellows is one of the earliest as well as the keenest dispositions discovered in the heart of man"

John Adams, President

John Adams

"We teach people how to treat us"

Phil McGraw, Psychologist

Phil McGraw

"And Barack and I were raised with so many of the same values, like you work hard for what you want in life. That your word is your bond; that you do what you say you're going to do. That you treat people with dignity and respect, even if you don't know them and even if you don't agree with them"

Michelle Obama, First Lady

Michelle Obama

"Yes, we are all different. Different customs, different foods, different mannerisms, different languages, but not so different that we cannot get along with one another. If we will disagree without being disagreeable"

J. Martin Kohe, Psychologist

J. Martin Kohe

"Gentlemen don't read each other's mail"

Henry L. Stimson, Statesman

"No man ever got very high by pulling other people down. The intelligent merchant does not knock his competitors. The sensible worker does not work those who work with him. Don't knock your friends. Don't knock your enemies. Don't knock yourself"

Alfred Lord Tennyson, Poet

"Maxim for life: You get treated in life the way you teach people to treat you"

Wayne Dyer, Psychologist

Wayne Dyer

"I never make the mistake of arguing with people for whose opinions I have no respect"

Edward Gibbon, Historian

Edward Gibbon

"Our incapacity to comprehend other cultures stems from our insistence on measuring things in our own terms"

Arthur Erickson, Architect

Arthur Erickson

"Good manners will open doors that the best education cannot"

Clarence Thomas, Judge

Clarence Thomas

"There aren't many things that are universally cool, and it's cool not to litter. I'd never do it"

Matthew McConaughey, Actor

"Respect... is appreciation of the separateness of the other person, of the ways in which he or she is unique"

Annie Gottlieb, Writer

"Tact is the ability to describe others as they see themselves"

Abraham Lincoln, President

Abraham Lincoln

"Let every man be respected as an individual and no man idolized"

Albert Einstein, Physicist

Albert Einstein

"I have thought a sufficient measure of civilization is the influence of good women"

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Philosopher

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Fine manners need the support of fine manners in others"

Ralph Waldo Emerson, Philosopher

Ralph Waldo Emerson

"A person places themselves on a level with the ones they praise"

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, Writer

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"A man's manners are a mirror in which he shows his portrait"

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe, Writer

Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

"Know people for who they are rather than for what they are"

Anthony J. D'Angelo, Author

Anthony J. D'Angelo

"By respect for life we become religious in a way that is elementary, profound and alive"

Albert Schweitzer, Theologian

Albert Schweitzer

"If a man loses his reverence for any part of life, he will lose his reverence for all of life"

Albert Schweitzer, Theologian

Albert Schweitzer

"All religions must be tolerated... for every man must get to heaven in his own way"

Epictetus, Philosopher

Epictetus

"I respect only those who resist me, but I cannot tolerate them"

Charles de Gaulle, Leader

Charles de Gaulle

"The deepest principle in human nature is the craving to be appreciated"

William James, Philosopher

William James

"I would just never out anybody. I think everyone has to find it in their own way and their own time"

Billie Jean King, Athlete

Billie Jean King

"I think Jews are the smartest people in the world"

Rob Reiner, Director

Rob Reiner

"If we lose love and self respect for each other, this is how we finally die"

Maya Angelou, Poet

Maya Angelou

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