Self-Respect Quotes About Dignity & Boundaries — Page 2

The Rape of the Lock, Canto V, lines 15–16 in Pope’s 1717 revision; spoken by Clarissa. Her moralizing speech (Canto V lines 7–36) was added in 1717, so the inherited 1714 source year is corrected to 1717. The reviewed evidence opens the 1717 Canto V scan start; the exact couplet is independently preserved in the complete final-form text.

Oenone, in The Early Poems of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Project Gutenberg #8601. Pallas speaks the lines while arguing that self-reverence, self-knowledge and self-control lead to a life governed by right rather than by reward; this is poetic character speech, not a prose maxim detached from the poem.

Black Beauty, Part I, Chapter 3, “My Breaking In,” Project Gutenberg #271. Black Beauty’s mother advises him to do his best and keep his good name after warning that horses may pass into kind, careless or cruel human hands. The equine narrator and animal-welfare context remain explicit.

The Human Machine, later discussion of self-training. “Machine” is Bennett’s extended metaphor for the person’s mental and emotional habits; the line is not a biomedical model.

Counsels and Maxims, in Schopenhauer’s discussion of society and individuality; T. Bailey Saunders translation.

The Wisdom of Life; the sentence appears in Schopenhauer’s criticism of giving excessive weight to reputation and social opinion.

The Wisdom of Life; Schopenhauer criticizes the habit of measuring the value of one’s existence by reputation or the fluctuating opinions of others.

The Way to Wealth, frugality section; Project Gutenberg #43855. Father Abraham contrasts industrious people with those reduced to borrowing by extravagance.

Political Ideals, discussion of what social institutions should make possible for individuals. Russell immediately connects self-respect with courage, hope and living by the best within oneself despite obstacles.

Character Building, “What Is To Be Our Future?”, Project Gutenberg #60484. This sentence completes Washington’s model declaration about conscientious study and work.

The Future of the American Negro, Chapter VIII; Project Gutenberg #26507. This short excerpt appears in Washington’s closing policy discussion, where he distinguishes ordinary political cooperation from cases involving a question of right or wrong and advises standing by principle in those cases.

Up from Slavery, Chapter XIV, “The Atlanta Exposition Address,” Project Gutenberg #2376. The sentence occurs inside Washington’s reproduced 1895 Atlanta Exposition address, where he argues for the dignity of common labour and beginning economic development from practical foundations.

The Professor; fictional narration describing Frances Henri. The elevated phrasing belongs to the novel’s characterization and is not presented as a context-free statement of Brontë’s own life.

The Professor, early first-person narration by the fictional William Crimsworth. The novel was published posthumously in 1857; the line is character narration, not Brontë autobiography.

Villette; excerpt from Lucy Snowe’s reflection on how to advance toward a more independent position. This is fictional first-person narration, and the excerpt is not presented as Brontë speaking autobiographically.

The Yellow Wallpaper, represented by Project Gutenberg #1952. The words are spoken by the unnamed narrator to John at the story’s disturbing climax; the scene depicts psychological breakdown inside fiction and is not presented as mental-health guidance.

Eighty Years and More (1898), Chapter XIV, “Views on Marriage and Divorce,” Project Gutenberg #11982. This sentence immediately follows Stanton’s individual-sovereignty claim inside her quoted April 1894 Arena article: she contrasts older state/family primacy with the Christian claim of individual conscience and judgment. The passage is historical reform argument, not modern constitutional or family-law doctrine.

Eighty Years and More (1898), Chapter XIV, “Views on Marriage and Divorce,” Project Gutenberg #11982. Stanton introduces the surrounding passage as “my latest thought on this question” from The Arena of April 1894, then argues that marriage and divorce should be judged from individual sovereignty and individual happiness. The 1898 memoir remains the represented source while the embedded 1894 article origin is preserved.

Solitude of Self; Stanton’s concluding meditation on the “solitude of self” describes an inward domain inaccessible even to the people who love or protect us.

Solitude of Self, address delivered January 18, 1892; exact full-text witness reviewed on Wikisource. Stanton opens her central argument by shifting from familiar suffrage claims to 'the individuality of each human soul,' grounding political and educational equality in individual conscience, citizenship and responsibility rather than generic self-help.

Solitude of Self; this clause occurs inside Stanton’s argument for education, civic voice, economic opportunity, and emancipation from enforced dependence.

The Woman’s Bible, Stanton commentary; the line appears in her critique of idealizing women’s self-sacrifice and is preserved in the Project Gutenberg text.

The Century of the Child, Chapter III, “Education,” Francis Maro translation revised by the author, Project Gutenberg #57283, printed page 130. The sentence belongs to Key’s early-twentieth-century reform pedagogy; nearby prescriptions are historically situated and are not imported into this collection as current child-safety or clinical guidance.

“The Old Stoic,” in Poems by Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell; Project Gutenberg #1019. The poem uses a deliberately severe persona and should not be treated as a complete ethical system.

Enchiridion, section XIII, George Long translation; the advice warns against pursuing both inner discipline and external reputation.

Life and Times of Frederick Douglass, Project Gutenberg #71893, in Douglass’s retrospective account of resisting Edward Covey. The passage belongs to the history of slavery and self-emancipation; it should not be reduced to a generic motivational slogan detached from that violence.

My Bondage and My Freedom, immediately after Douglass describes his resistance to Covey; capitalization follows the represented Project Gutenberg text.

My Bondage and My Freedom, Chapter XVII, ‘The Last Flogging,’ Project Gutenberg #202. Douglass calls his fight with Edward Covey the turning point in his ‘life as a slave’ and writes ‘I was a changed being after that fight’ immediately before ‘I WAS A MAN NOW.’ The passage is autobiographical testimony about resistance to enslavement and restored self-respect, not a universal prescription for violence or a clinical theory of agency.

Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, Chapter V, Project Gutenberg #23. Douglass is explaining his belief that Providence shaped his removal to Baltimore and immediately connects that belief with a continuing conviction that slavery would not hold him forever.

Self-Made Men lecture, commonly dated to 1872 in edited versions. The compact statement occurs within an argument that values self-dependence while the lecture’s opening explicitly denies that anyone is literally or completely self-made; Library of Congress manuscript materials anchor the source identity and preserve later versions.

The Joyful Wisdom, aphorism 274; Thomas Common translation.

The Joyful Wisdom, aphorism 270; Thomas Common translation. The formula has a longer classical and Nietzschean history, so this record is tied specifically to this occurrence.

The Joyful Wisdom, aphorism 275; Thomas Common translation.

The Joyful Wisdom, aphorism 334; Thomas Common translation. The surrounding passage compares learning to love music with learning to love people and oneself.

The Principles of Success in Literature, chapter on Style, Project Gutenberg #10420; Lewes criticizes attempts to copy the verbal mannerisms of famous writers.

Amiel's Journal, entry dated April 28, 1852, in Mary Augusta Ward’s public-domain translation; Amiel counsels patience with the movement of feeling.

A Week on the Concord and Merrimack Rivers, in the mountain-travel passage represented by Project Gutenberg #4232. The line follows Thoreau's argument that travellers often exaggerate difficulties and that a person who thinks himself lost can recover steadiness by recognizing where he actually stands.

Civil Disobedience, first printed in 1849 as “Resistance to Civil Government”; represented Wikisource text. The surrounding paragraph asks whether citizens should resign conscience to legislators.

Life Without Principle, The Atlantic Monthly, 1863; represented Wikisource text. The surrounding passage contrasts formal national freedom with what Thoreau calls moral freedom.

Conclusion of Walden; Thoreau argues for following one’s own measure and direction.

Daisy Miller: A Study, Project Gutenberg #208. Daisy speaks to Winterbourne in Rome; the line is fictional dialogue shaped by the novella’s conflict over convention, reputation and autonomy.

The Portrait of a Lady, Volume I, Project Gutenberg #2833. Isabel says this to Caspar Goodwood while resisting his proposal and his argument that marriage would make her more independent.

As a Man Thinketh, in the discussion of thought, health, and habit.

On Liberty, Chapter III, in Mill’s discussion of individuality and self-directed choice.

On Liberty, Chapter 2; Mill argues for open discussion because opposing views expose weaknesses and sharpen understanding.

On Liberty, Chapter I, Project Gutenberg #34901. This sentence follows Mill’s harm-principle formulation and belongs to a political-philosophical argument about the legitimate limits of social and legal interference. It is not a claim that every private action has no effects or obligations toward other people.

The Subjection of Women (1869), Chapter I, printed page 48, Project Gutenberg #27083. Mill argues that questions about women’s capacities and vocations should be decided by women’s own experience and use of their faculties rather than imposed in advance by men.

The Subjection of Women (1869), Chapter II, printed page 78, Project Gutenberg #27083. Mill argues that equality of married persons before the law is required for justice to both sides and for marriage to become a school of moral cultivation rather than legal subordination.

The Prophet, “On Children.”

The Prophet, “On Marriage.”

The Prophet, “On Children.”

“The Story of an Hour,” first published in 1894 and represented by Wikisource. The words belong to Louise Mallard’s private reaction after she is told her husband has died; the story’s irony and ending are essential context.

Proverbs 10:9 in the King James Version; the opening clause is quoted here.

Proverbs 12:22 in the King James Version.

Proverbs 4:23 in the King James Version.

Tao Teh King, chapter 44, James Legge translation; these compact poetic lines follow a contrast among fame, life, and wealth.

Life Without and Life Within, Part I ‘Reviews,’ essay ‘Menzel's View of Gœthe,’ Project Gutenberg #39037. ‘For the soul seeks not adorers, but peers’ appears in Fuller's discussion of the youth of genius, mockers and worshippers, immediately contrasting blind worship with ‘intelligent sympathy.’ It remains nineteenth-century literary criticism and intellectual reflection rather than a universal social or relationship rule.

Woman in the Nineteenth Century; Fuller connects the dignity of freely giving oneself in relationship with the prior ability to stand independently.

Woman in the Nineteenth Century and Kindred Papers; the sentence appears in advice about practical education, precision, and the development of the whole person.

Woman in the Nineteenth Century; Fuller explicitly names self-subsistence, self-reliance, and self-impulse within her argument about women’s independence.

Woman in the Nineteenth Century, in Fuller’s account of “Miranda”; this is the narrator’s description of the illustrative figure rather than a standalone autobiographical maxim.

A Vindication of the Rights of Men; this clause appears in Wollstonecraft’s contrast between habit, manipulated passion, and a character governed by principle.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman, Introduction, Project Gutenberg #3420. The frozen quotation 'I wish to persuade women to endeavour to acquire strength, both of mind and body' is a clause from a longer sentence beginning 'I earnestly wish to point out...' and continuing through Wollstonecraft's criticism of delicacy and weakness as feminine ideals. It remains eighteenth-century feminist political-moral argument rather than a modern clinical or physiological prescription.

A Vindication of the Rights of Woman; Wollstonecraft explicitly connects independence of character with the exercise of understanding.

Essays of Montaigne, Book III, Chapter X, “Of Managing the Will,” Charles Cotton translation; Project Gutenberg Volume 18 #3598 / Complete Essays #3600. Montaigne describes lending oneself to external affairs without allowing them to possess the whole will.

Architects of Fate; Project Gutenberg #21622. The sentence occurs in a passage criticizing narrow material measures of a life.

Architects of Fate; Project Gutenberg #21622. This record uses the opening portion of Marden’s longer self-development question.

How to Succeed, chapter “Hold Up Your Head,” in the Project Gutenberg text; the book’s period language and success philosophy are preserved as historical self-development writing.

The Victorious Attitude; the sentence is followed by explicitly religious language about faith, so the source page keeps that spiritual context visible.

The Victorious Attitude, chapter on faith; Marden explicitly distinguishes other people’s good opinion from the faith in oneself he calls imperative.

The Victorious Attitude, opening chapter; the rhetoric is deliberately motivational and reflects early twentieth-century success literature rather than an empirical psychological claim.

The Art of Money Getting, “Avoid Debt”; Project Gutenberg #8581. This is Barnum’s forceful moral rhetoric, not a clinical claim about every debtor’s mental state.

Elements of Morals, Chapter XIV, section 165, printed page 296, Caroline Rollin Corson’s 1884 English translation, Project Gutenberg #37016. “Remember that thou art a man and do not degrade thyself: this is self-respect” appears in the same paragraph as Janet’s paired reminder against vain pride, making self-respect and humility complementary parts of his moral argument rather than generic affirmation copy.

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.

Apology, Jowett translation; Socrates says he would continue practicing philosophy even if acquittal were conditioned on silence.

The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus, saying 997, D. Lyman Jr. translation (1856).

Stray Birds, aphorism 28, Project Gutenberg #6524, translated from Bengali by Tagore himself. ‘O BEAUTY, find thyself in love, not in the flattery of thy mirror’ is a compact personified poetic aphorism placed between numbered sayings 27 and 29. It should not be flattened into a literal rule about appearance, self-worth or relationships.

Self-Reliance; Emerson gives the imperative while arguing for originality, self-trust, and resistance to imitation rather than dependence on another person’s model.

The American Scholar, 1837 address, Project Gutenberg #16643. Emerson says the scholar’s duties may be comprised in self-trust; the claim belongs to transcendentalist intellectual and civic rhetoric, not a guarantee that private conviction is always correct.

“To Althea, from Prison,” in Lucasta, Project Gutenberg #703. The poem was written in the context of Lovelace’s imprisonment and expresses Cavalier political and personal loyalty; its claim about freedom is poetic rather than a denial of the real harms of incarceration.

“A Man’s a Man for A’ That,” 1795, represented in Project Gutenberg #18388. The Scots “gowd” means gold; the poem argues for human worth beyond inherited rank and wealth.

Self-Help, Chapter IX, “Men of Business,” Project Gutenberg #935. The line appears in the chapter’s discussion of honesty in business: Smiles argues that even temporary material loss is preferable to sacrificing character, which he describes as a fortune in itself.

Thrift, Chapter IV, “Means of Saving,” Project Gutenberg #14418. Smiles is arguing that working people should reject the idea that labour is degrading and use leisure for cultivation; the surrounding passage contains period class judgments that are not adopted as present-day social evidence.

Of Peace of Mind, section VI, Aubrey Stewart translation (1889), cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #64576 and Wikisource. The sentence opens Seneca’s advice to form a true estimate of oneself before matching undertakings to one’s actual abilities and temperament.

Of Peace of Mind, section II, Aubrey Stewart translation in Minor Dialogues Together with the Dialogue on Clemency (1889), cross-checked against Project Gutenberg #64576 and the complete Wikisource transcription. Seneca tells Serenus to have confidence in himself and believe he is proceeding on the right path while defining the steady condition he calls peace of mind.

On the Shortness of Life, Chapter II; part of Seneca’s criticism of people who give all their time away.

On the Shortness of Life, Chapter XIX; Seneca closes by asking the engrossed to measure how much of their lifetime was actually their own.

Dhammapada 158, Chapter XII “Self,” Max Müller translation; the sequence emphasizes governing one’s own conduct before attempting to guide others.

Dhammapada 160, Chapter XII “Self,” Max Müller translation; “subdued” reflects the translation’s ethical discipline and should not be read as self-contempt.

Dhammapada 157, Chapter XII “Self,” in Max Müller’s translation; the verse explicitly joins self-regard with watchfulness and ethical discipline.

Dhammapada 166, Chapter XII “Self,” Max Müller translation; the teaching closes the chapter by returning attention to one’s own discerned duty.

Sartor Resartus, Book II, Chapter IX, “The Everlasting Yea,” printed page 156 / Wikisource scan leaf 188 in The Works of Thomas Carlyle, Centenary Edition, Vol. I (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1896). “The Ideal is in thyself” occurs in the same spiritual-enfranchisement passage, where Teufelsdröckh argues that the present “Actual” supplies the material to shape an inward Ideal. This collection retains that fictional, metaphysical and explicitly religious frame rather than converting it into modern clinical or self-esteem doctrine.

Rights of Man; this sentence precedes Paine’s well-known cosmopolitan statement about country and doing good.

The Age of Reason, Part I, Chapter I, “The Author’s Profession of Faith”; Moncure Daniel Conway collected/edited text represented by Project Gutenberg #3743 and cross-checked against Wikisource. “It is necessary to the happiness of man, that he be mentally faithful to himself” introduces Paine’s argument that infidelity consists in professing a belief one does not actually hold. It remains historical moral/religious argument about conscience and sincerity rather than modern clinical guidance about happiness.

The Souls of Black Folk, “Of the Training of Black Men,” Project Gutenberg #408. The sentence opens a longer passage in which Du Bois moves “across the color line” among Shakespeare, Balzac, Dumas, Aristotle and Marcus Aurelius; the context is Black cultural and intellectual dignity under segregation.

Song of Myself, in the passage celebrating the body and the speaker’s delight in his own existence.

Song of Myself, 1882 text; Whitman immediately compares this unapologetic stance with elementary laws that never apologize.

Self-Control, Its Kingship and Majesty, “The Kingship of Self-Control.” Project Gutenberg #51469. The line belongs to late-nineteenth-century self-mastery literature and is not evidence that circumstance is irrelevant.

The Majesty of Calmness, “The Dignity of Self-Reliance.” Jordan’s ideal of independence is period self-development writing; it does not require isolation or refusal of legitimate help.

The Power of Truth, opening chapter, Project Gutenberg #56020; Jordan rejects the phrase “honesty is the best policy” as too transactional.