Quote Atlassourced quotes & context
Source identified
We cannot deceive ourselves any of the time, and the only way to enjoy our own respect is to deserve it.
Read & copy the quotation
“We cannot deceive ourselves any of the time, and the only way to enjoy our own respect is to deserve it.”

Orison Swett Marden

Download image (JPG)

Source
How to Succeed
Date
1896
Meaning

Meaning of “We cannot deceive ourselves any of the time,…”

Self-respect is linked to conduct rather than self-flattery: a stable good opinion of oneself is earned by behaving in ways one can honestly stand behind.

Source context

Where does it come from?

How to Succeed, “Hold Up Your Head”; Marden follows a Lincoln anecdote by arguing that self-respect depends on deserving one’s own approval.

Primary / edition source ↗

Customize your imageTen designs · Square or portrait · Preview and share
Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation

Be YourselfDeepHonestyIdentityIndependenceIntegrityLoveSelf LoveSelf RelianceSelf TrustSelf-Respect Quotes About Dignity & BoundariesSelf-WorthTruthWisdom Quotes About Judgment & Living WellCharacter
Related quotations

Continue through nearby ideas

Source identified
This above all: to thine own self be true.
Read & copy

“This above all: to thine own self be true.”

William Shakespeare · Hamlet · c. 1600
Voice: Fictional character · Polonius
Meaning & context

Polonius frames integrity as consistency between inward conviction and outward conduct, although the advice belongs to a fallible fictional counselor.

Source details

Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 3; Polonius gives Laertes this advice before Laertes leaves for France.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
One principal of action is sufficient—Respect thyself.
Read & copy

“One principal of action is sufficient—Respect thyself.”

Mary Wollstonecraft · An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution · 1794
Meaning & context

Wollstonecraft makes self-respect a moral standard rather than self-flattery: conduct should remain compatible with one’s own sense of truth and justice instead of being reorganized around gaining a respectable social position.

Source details

An Historical and Moral View of the Origin and Progress of the French Revolution, Project Gutenberg #68724. Wollstonecraft connects “Respect thyself” with religion, justice and self-love while criticizing social arrangements that encourage people to sacrifice truthful character for status.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
Humility should not be an abasement; for it is never a virtue in man to lower himself.
Read & copy

“Humility should not be an abasement; for it is never a virtue in man to lower himself.”

Paul Janet · Elements of Morals · 1884 English translation
Meaning & context

Janet sharply separates humility from self-degradation: accurate awareness of human weakness should coexist with dignity, so humility does not require pretending that one has no worth or abilities.

Source details

Elements of Morals, Chapter XIV, section 165, printed page 296, Caroline Rollin Corson’s 1884 English translation, Project Gutenberg #37016. Janet distinguishes humility from abasement: humility arises from recognition of human weakness, but lowering oneself is not itself a virtue. The passage belongs to nineteenth-century systematic moral philosophy rather than modern clinical self-esteem guidance.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
Shame and its consequent degradation follow the loss of our own good opinion rather than the esteem of others.
Read & copy

“Shame and its consequent degradation follow the loss of our own good opinion rather than the esteem of others.”

Orison Swett Marden · How to Succeed · 1896
Meaning & context

The sentence places moral injury in losing one’s own considered respect, not merely in losing social approval, making conscience a more important measure than reputation.

Source details

How to Succeed; the sentence appears in Marden’s discussion of temptation, aspiration, and the damage caused when self-respect is surrendered.

↓ Download image (JPG)

Source identified
Above all, don’t lie to yourself.
Read & copy

“Above all, don’t lie to yourself.”

Fyodor Dostoevsky · The Brothers Karamazov · 1880
Voice: Fictional character · Father Zossima
Meaning & context

Self-deception is presented as especially damaging because it corrupts the person’s ability to recognize truth both inwardly and around them.

Source details

The Brothers Karamazov, Book II, Chapter 4, “A Lady of Little Faith,” Constance Garnett translation, verified against Project Gutenberg #28054 and Wikisource. Father Zossima tells the visitor, “Above all, don’t lie to yourself,” and develops the warning into an argument about self-deception, respect and love; this is fictional character counsel inside the novel.

↓ Download image (JPG)