Respect is something that has to be earned. It never comes with position alone.

Here in our country respect is very important. We teach young one to respect older than them. We are very much aware about respect here. Well, as a reaction in your questions. Respect is not being to earn but being a person of dignity and customs. Even do in a society of rich people and the politics they earned respect because of their lifestyle. Here in our country respect is a common practice because it is depend upon your behavior and the education of good moral character that you have since child hood. That's my views my friend..have a great day!

Granted I haven't reached the pinnacle yet, but I try to simply respect everyone. I find, tho, that folks tend not to understand that tho I respect and support them AND what they have to offer as individuals that doesn't mean that I respect them because of a categorical notion, nor do I respect every darn silly things they do. Back in my latter high school days (late 60's) I asked one my 'silly' questions.. Why should I respect (and support) someone older simply because they are older and overlook someone younger simply because they are younger, if the older has less to offer than the younger?..I've known older folks who had the sense of a sack of rocks and younger folk standing on the threshhold of eternity.. In response my mom simply stared, placidly, as she had done after other 'silly' questions. For me it makes more sense to give respect as a way of showing folks what I'd like to get in return. I don't always get a return, but I don't feel that I've 'earned' until I've paid by giving it. ENJOY!

You are rite. Real Respect means that ppllz love you and respect you by their heart not just because of your position or the reason that they need your position for their issues. We can earn respect only by giving respect to others and be polite with others. Someone wise said that if your money goes out of your hands you can earn it again but if your respects gone you can never earn it again.

Hi kalav56! Respect is something that we really earn. We cannot force others to respect us if we do not deserve it. Not even our position would exact respect if we do not deserve it. We cannot command others to respect us. We have to earn it. “We cannot expect people to have respect for law and order until we teach respect to those we have entrusted to enforce those laws.” ? Hunter S. Thompson

you're right. however, i respect people in authority. they didn't get there just by being old. they did exceptional things and maybe even sacrificed exceptionally. this warrants respect in everything they say (at least in relation to their position). but this doesn't mean that their personality is automatically respected. maybe just their experience and expertise...

U are correct dear.....when we are young and specially the younger at home,,everyone,,takes advantage.. as we know little,, soon the time paases,, and we grow up,,the same older ones,,now understand us better,,(generally speaking),, do I need to say more?One friend taught me,,,,,,,,,,,,NEVER disrespect the elders,,never open my mouth to say harsh words,,(its working for me)

I believe that respect must be earned. When I was growing up, my parents would tell me, you must respect me, well, I didn't believe that then and I don't believe it now either. I don't believe that the elderly deserve respect just because of their age either. I have met some of the meanest elderly people who say the most meanest hateful things and no one can respect that. And then someone will say, but they are older now and that is why they are mean, not true at all. As an example I offer my grandmother. She was a mean lady when she was younger and she stayed the same all her long life until she passed away. I could not repect her though I did try to be polite when I saw her. And teachers, they say we should respect them, how can we respect them just because they are teachers? That doesn't even make sense to me because some of those teachers should not be teachers, they don't know how to teach or handle children without leaving emotional scars. I am sorry my response is negative, I just don't like hearing people tell me I should have respect for people who have not earned it. There have been people that I have respected but they earned it and did not demand it as their almost sovereign right. I can never respect someone because of their age or position, not ever. Respect MUST be earned.

I agree that respect has to be earned. Many people are of the opinion that when he is "senior" he deserves the respect just because we are taught to be "respect the elder". In my opinion, the "elder" here can be respected if it is the first time meeting. However, in event of office positions, yes, the first meeting he deserve the respect, that's courtesy. However, subsequently, if he does not deserve the respect, I feel I can take away that respect and not accord accordingly. Respect need to be earned. He has to prove he deserves to be respected.

A truly respected person would be above the influence of praise and defamation because self respect is an innate quality that cannot be taken away or bestowed by anyone. It is our choice whether we maintain our self-respect or discard it. Maintaining self respect means to think, speak and act according to values of peace, love and happiness. Respect cannot be demanded.

Hi dear, I agree with you. In our life there are certain terms like, respect, trust, love all should be earned by our conduct. We can’t respect a person just because he/she is old. If a person is old and doesn’t have the qualities of being respected then also we may not be disrespect them that is our quality, isn’t dear?

Hi kalav! I totally agree with you that respect is something that should be earned and not expected! It doesn't matter how old you are or what position you have it depends on how you treat others and carry yourself how much respect you should receive! Just because someone is an older person that doesn't always mean that they automatically should be respected if they don't treat others with respect and then demand it for themselves. And if someone is poor it doesn't mean that should be disrespected either! To get respect you have to give respect and that is something that many people don't understand!

What you say is absolutely right.One can demand respect for his position and age but then that respect he receive will be a fake one and once he loses the post,he will not be respected and even get teased.So,one has to gain respect with his character and respecting fellow people.Then only he can get genuine respect despite his age or position.Cheers!

Respect begets respect. You should be good and kind on treating other person because if you are always rude to them, the tendency is you will be treated also rudely. I believe that respect is something to be earned. You have to show others that you are a well respected person on some field but never overdo it. Just be yourself and also don't ever told them to respect you.

definitely. Nobody can demand respect from anybody. One has to prove that he/she is worthy of the respect first.

I don't think respect is something that should be earned. I feel that everyone should respect everyone (if that makes sense). I try to respect everyone, but if I see that someone has no respect for me and/or others, then I have no respect for them. It's not that they didn't earn it, but they LOST it. Does that make sense?

Yes respect has to be earned but people should automatically respect people until they have a reason to withdraw that respect. I think that people should be respected as humans. I am talking about treating all other humans with respect until they prove themselves unworthy of it. I am talking about common courtesy here only. Unfortunately these days it seems that no one and nothing is respected any more. I remember when I was a student in school and all teachers were respected by their authority. These days no teacher is respected. There has to be a balance somewhere. If young people are not brought up to respect other humans then you just have a climate of fear when the strong abuse the weak and respect is based solely on fear. In such a world women and children are always at risk of being abused. As for respect being attached to a position, yes I think it is necessary. A boss must be respected by his/her employees solely because of his/her position. That person may lose that respect by their behaviour but it must be there in the first instance, otherwise that persons orders etc will not be obeyed and that is the nature of work, school etc. Of course if the employees choose to refuse to respect their boss then they risk losing their jobs and they also risk never being employed again since they will not get a reference and word of mouth between employers will black mark them as a person who is trouble. There are many kinds of respect but the common courtesy is one that everyone is entitled to.

I agree with you that true respect must be earned. Someone might give the appearance of showing respect if the situation requires it, but they are seething inside because the person is really mean to them or something. In this kind of situation, it is not always possible to really respect the person because when someone is not respecting you, why should they expect to receive respect. Thanks for bringing this up.

I believe in give respect take respect policy. I even respect people who do not hold respected positions, infact one should respect people irrespective of their age, background or position they hold. There was this concept of respecting higher caste people, which I personally feel is absurd. This is also one type of seeking forced respect from others. We should respect a person not for what he does, not for waht he earns, not for his status but for his human being as a whole, his personality, humility,attitude...

i totally agree with you on that........ the sweetest respect..is the one that is earned.. besides, "fear" for those in position is not synonymous to respect at all... it just kinda looks like that ...but the real respect for a person lies within....

Respect is something that must be earned... We say that we "respect" government officials and such but we never really do until they do something to earn it... I do not see any reason to respect someone without them giving me a very big reason to... and as hard as it is to earn respect... it's just as easy to loose it..