In my day, we didn’t have self-esteem, we had self-respect, and no more of it than we
had earned. – Jane Haddam
When people do not respect us we are sharply offended; yet deep down in his private
heart no man much respects himself. — Mark Twain
I respect everyone. I even respect journalists. — Alexander Popov, 1996.
Often nowadays we hear a question posed that is not really a question. It is an oblique
assertion of what the ostensible questioner considers a self-evident truth. The
question is: Should we not all respect and honour one’s differences? The gravamen of the
"question" invariably is that differences of race, ethnicity and sexuality all
should be "respected" and "honoured." I disagree. Why should respect
and honour accrue to accidents of birth? Given that they are accidents, what, precisely,
is there to honour? Surely, respect is owed to, and honour should flow to individuals ,
for their attainments of intellectual or moral excellence, not merely because of any
membership in any group.
George Will
—
Graham J Weeks
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