Definitions HQ

Self-respect (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a question of recognizing that anything worth having,has a price.

Self-respect (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠having the courage of one's mistakes. They know the price of things. If they choose to commit adultery, they do not then go running, in an access of bad conscience, to receive absolution from the wronged parties... nor do they complain unduly of the unfairness, the undeserved embarrassment, of being named co-respondent.

Self-respect (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠not to drown in self-reproach over things, but to, as it were, assign unanswered letters their proper weight, and to free ourselves from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves.

Self-respect (n.) has ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the power to to free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves.

Self-respect (n.) our ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠grandparents, whether or not they had it, knew all about. It is a sense that one lives by doing things one does not particularly want to do, by putting fears and doubts to one side, by weighing immediate comforts against the possibility of larger, even intangible, comforts.

Self-respect (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a thing having nothing to do with the approval of others who are, after all, deceived easily enough. It has nothing to do with reputation, which people with courage can do without.

Self-respect (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠a thing which those who have exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral nerve... they display what was once called *character,* a willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life.

Self-respect (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠that without which we become an unwilling audience of one to an interminable documentary that deals with one's failings, both real and imagined, with fresh footage spliced in for every screening.

Self-respect (n.) is ⁠​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​⁠the sense of one's intrinsic worth, the ability to discriminate, to love and to remain indifferent. To lack it is to be locked within oneself, forced at once to despise those who cannot see our fatal weaknesses and to be in thrall to everyone we see, curiously determined to live out their false notions of us.