Eminence without merit earns deference without esteem.

There is a form of eminence which does not depend on fate; it is an air which sets us apart and seems to prtend…

— Francois de La Rochefoucauld

It is important that Miers not be confirmed unless, in her 61st year, she suddenly and unexpectedly is found to have hitherto undisclosed interests…

— George Will

There's great power in deference. You ask somebody 'what' or 'how' questions. People love to be asked how to do something. They feel powerful,…

— Christopher Voss

The president's need for complete candor and objectivity from advisers calls for great deference from the courts.

— Warren E. Burger

I was always creatively stubborn, adverse to editing by others, and wanted to use the kind of Ukrainian we spoke among ourselves rather than…

— Yuriy Tarnawsky

“It appeared that the deference which, on my grandmother’s authority, we owed to Mme. de Villeparisis imposed on her the reciprocal obligation to do…

— Marcel Proust

Caprice, independence and rebellion, which are opposed to the social order, are essential to the good health of an ethnic group. We shall measure…

— Jean Dubuffet

Deference often shrinks and withers as much upon the approach of intimacy as the sensitive plant does upon the touch of one's finger.

— William Shenstone

The most congenial social occasions are those ruled by cheerful deference of each for all.

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

The affairs of the world are no more than so much trickery, and a man who toils for money or honour or whatever else…

— Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“He has that quiet deference, that look of pleased, attentive interest, in listening to a woman, which, say what we may, we can none…

— Wilkie Collins

There are very many characteristics which go into making a model civil servant. Prominent among them are probity, industry, good sense, good habits, good…

— Chester A. Arthur

The bonds between ourselves and another person exists only in our minds. Memory as it grows fainter loosens them, and notwithstanding the illusion by…

— Marcel Proust

It was before Vatican II and the liberalization of church doctrine. You weren't meant to eat meat on Friday in deference to Christ, who…

— Christopher Durang

I'm not the first to have raised these democratic concerns. Many have faulted the court for its lack of clarity in certain cases and…

— Mike DeWine