Eminence without merit earns deference without esteem.

To treat everyone equally is offensive, because it fails to recognize anyone as an individual.

You should not be esteemed by others if you have no real inner virtue. People here in Japan esteem others on the basis of outward appearances, without knowing anything about real inner virtue; so students lacking the spirit of the Way are dragged down into bad habits and become subject to temptation.

Nobody admires anyone else without qualification. If they do they’re after an image, not a person.

As love without esteem is capricious and volatile; esteem without love is languid and cold.

كيف يمكن للمرء أن يلوم الآخرين لأنهم لا يحترمونه إذا لم يكن يعتبر نفسه جديرا بالاحترام.

What will the people who don’t hold you in highest regard say about you?

Look at who people are elevating and deifying in the public eye, and ask yourself what those people have done to receive such lauding and what it is they haven’t. When you look at that you say, okay, are these people being revered for something of merit, or are they completely hallow? Or even worse, are they being revered for something that is actually destructive?

All men seek esteem; the best by lifting themselves, which is hard to do, the rest by shoving others down, which is much easier.

I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.

He who praises everybody praises nobody.

The elevation of others amounts to a demotion of oneself, thus equality feels like a demotion.

The love of esteem is the life and soul of society; it unites us to one another : I want your approbation, you stand in need of mine. By forsaking the converse of men, we forsake the virtues necessary for society; for when one is alone, one is apt to grow negligent; the world forces you to have a guard over yourself. (p. 155).

Respect is how to treat everyone, not just those you want to impress.