Self-respect: Due respect for oneself, one's character, and one's conduct.
"Self-respect is the cornerstone of all virtue."
– John Herschel
Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.
- Rabbi Abraham Heschel
Never esteem anything as of advantage to you that will make you break your word or lose your self-respect.
- Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121 AD - 180 AD), Meditations
If you want to be respected by others the great thing is to respect yourself. Only by that, only by self-respect will you compel others to respect you.
- Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821 - 1881)
The reward for doing right is mostly an internal phenomenon: self-respect, dignity, integrity, and self-esteem.
- Dr. Laura Schlessinger
Thoughtfulness for others, generosity, modesty, and self-respect are the qualities which make a real gentleman or lady.
- Thomas H. Huxley (1825 - 1895)
Be not the slave of your own past. Plunge into the sublime seas, dive deep and swim far, so you shall come back with self-respect, with new power, with an advanced experience that shall explain and overlook the old.
- Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803 - 1882)
On a lighter side:
In order to preserve your self-respect, it is sometimes necessary to lie and cheat.
- Robert Byrne
That you may retain your self-respect, it is better to displease the people by doing what you know is right, than to temporarily please them by doing what you know is wrong.
- William J. H. Boetcker
