--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: People with self-respect exhibit a…" description: "\"People with self-respect exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral nerve; they display what was once called *character,* a quality which, although a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/joan-didion-497_abstract_people-with-self-respect-exhibit-a-certa_461398.jpg" --- # People with self-respect exhibit a certain toughness, a… ![“People with self-respect exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral nerve; they display what was once called *character,* a quality which, although approved in the abstract, sometimes loses ground to the other, more instantly negotiable virtues… character--the willingness to accept…” quote by Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/joan-didion-497_abstract_people-with-self-respect-exhibit-a-certa_461398.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/joan-didion-497_abstract_people-with-self-respect-exhibit-a-certa_461398.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/063/joan-didion-497_abstract_people-with-self-respect-exhibit-a-certa_461398.jpg) > “People with self-respect exhibit a certain toughness, a kind of moral nerve; they display what was once called \*character,\* a quality which, although approved in the abstract, sometimes loses ground to the other, more instantly negotiable virtues… character--the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life--is the source from which self-respect springs.” [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Self‑respect arises from moral courage and personal responsibility, outweighing fleeting virtues. **In simple terms:** Character is taking responsibility for your life. Key Takeaway Cultivate responsibility to build self‑respect. Themes character self‑respect responsibility Mood thoughtful serious Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - leadership - decision making - conflict resolution - personal development - ethical dilemmas Key Concepts moral courage personal agency integrity Questions to Reflect On - What responsibilities define you? - How do you balance self‑respect with external expectations? A Different Perspective Character can be suppressed by societal pressure to conform. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Abstract](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/abstract/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Moral](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/moral/) [Nerves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nerves/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Quality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/quality/) [Respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/respect/) [Responsibility](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/responsibility/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self respect](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-respect/) [Spring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spring/) [Toughness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/toughness/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Willingness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/willingness/) ## Related quotes > [“Character — the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life — is the source from which self-respect springs. Self-respect is something that our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/character-the-willingness-to-accept-responsibility-for-one-s-own-life/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Character — the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life — is the source from which self-respect springs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/character-the-willingness-to-accept-responsibility-for-one-s-own-life-2/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I sincerely believe that there is nothing truly great in any man or woman except their character, their willingness to move beyond the realm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ozzie-smith/i-sincerely-believe-that-there-is-nothing-truly-great-in-any-man-or/) [Ozzie Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ozzie-smith/) > [And whatever our faith - whatever our faith, one belief should bind us all: The measure of our character is our willingness to give…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-whatever-our-faith-whatever-our-faith-one-belief-should-bind-us/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I haven't done great things for Spain - I can't lie - but when I play well, they should say so. They criticise me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diego-costa/i-haven-t-done-great-things-for-spain-i-can-t-lie-but-when-i-play/) [Diego Costa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diego-costa/) > [Failure isn't a character quality. It's just an event. How you respond to failure is your character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/failure-isn-t-a-character-quality-it-s-just-an-event-how-you-respond/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [Truth telling is the first building block of character -- a quality that seems to be getting rarer and rarer in all-forgiving America.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mona-charen/truth-telling-is-the-first-building-block-of-character-a-quality-that/) [Mona Charen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mona-charen/) > [Good character is that quality which makes one dependable whether being watched or not, which makes one truthful when it is to one's advantage…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-s-adams/good-character-is-that-quality-which-makes-one-dependable-whether/) Arthur S. Adams > [Perhaps the greatest definition I think of character and quality is people who when they're truly great rather than making you feel that tall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-fry/perhaps-the-greatest-definition-i-think-of-character-and-quality-is/) [Stephen Fry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-fry/) > [Bad things do happen; how I respond to them defines my character and the quality of my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-inglis-anderson/bad-things-do-happen-how-i-respond-to-them-defines-my-character-and/) [Walter Inglis Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-inglis-anderson/) > [Character is a quality that embodies many important traits, such as integrity, courage, perseverance, confidence and wisdom. Unlike your fingerprints that you are born…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-rohn/character-is-a-quality-that-embodies-many-important-traits-such-as/) [Jim Rohn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-rohn/) > [Truly, spiritual courage is on the endangered character-quality list.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hybels/truly-spiritual-courage-is-on-the-endangered-character-quality-list/) [Bill Hybels](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hybels/) > [Perseverance may be the top character quality of successful people. Not about looks or IQ, DONT QUIT!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/perseverance-may-be-the-top-character-quality-of-successful-people/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The best part of the character and quality of the leader is expressing who you are in the work you do and how you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-hesselbein/the-best-part-of-the-character-and-quality-of-the-leader-is/) [Frances Hesselbein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-hesselbein/) > [I don't teach writing. I teach patience. Toughness. Stubbornness. The willingness to fail. I teach the life. The odd thing is most of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bausch/i-don-t-teach-writing-i-teach-patience-toughness-stubbornness-the/) [Richard Bausch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bausch/) ## More by Joan Didion > [To shift the structure of a sentence alters the meaning of that sentence, as definitely and inflexibly as the position of a camera alters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-shift-the-structure-of-a-sentence-alters-the-meaning-of-that/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I work every day. Sometimes I don't accomplish anything every day, but if I don't work every day, I get depressed and get afraid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-work-every-day-sometimes-i-don-t-accomplish-anything-every-day-but/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [Style is character.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/style-is-character/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [California is a place in which a boom mentality and a sense of Chekhovian loss meet in uneasy suspension.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/california-is-a-place-in-which-a-boom-mentality-and-a-sense-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I went because I was interested in the alchemy of issues.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-went-because-i-was-interested-in-the-alchemy-of-issues/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Why did I write it down? In order to remember, of course, but exactly what was it I wanted to remember? How much of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/why-did-i-write-it-down-in-order-to-remember-of-course-but-exactly/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I no longer want reminders of what was, what got broken, what got lost, what got wasted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-no-longer-want-reminders-of-what-was-what-got-broken-what-got-lost/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [My mother 'gave teas' the way other mothers breathed. Her own mother 'gave teas.' All of their friends 'gave teas,' each involving butter cookies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/my-mother-gave-teas-the-way-other-mothers-breathed-her-own-mother/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [I'm not very interested in people. I recognize it in myself - there is a basic indifference toward people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-m-not-very-interested-in-people-i-recognize-it-in-myself-there-is-a/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Was there ever in anyone's life span a point free in time, devoid of memory, a point when choice was any more than sum…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/was-there-ever-in-anyone-s-life-span-a-point-free-in-time-devoid-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“Research to date has shown that, like many other stressors, grief frequently leads to changes in the endocrine, immune, autonomic nervous, and cardiovascular systems;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/research-to-date-has-shown-that-like-many-other-stressors-grief/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“By the end of the week she was thinking constantly about where her body stopped and the air began about the exact point in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/by-the-end-of-the-week-she-was-thinking-constantly-about-where-her/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [“I just can't see the upside in this," I heard myself say by way of explanation. Later he said that if John had been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-just-can-t-see-the-upside-in-this-i-heard-myself-say-by-way-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [ I read so ravenously that I would read through whole categories. I was crazy about reading biographies. \[...\] I think biographies are very urgent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/i-read-so-ravenously-that-i-would-read-through-whole-categories-i-was/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) > [To those of us who remained committed mainly to the exploration of moral distinctions and ambiguities, the feminist analysis may have seemed a particularly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-didion/to-those-of-us-who-remained-committed-mainly-to-the-exploration-of/) [Joan Didion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) [Explore all 515 Joan Didion quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-didion/) ## More Abstract quotes > [Love is like that, fragile and light. No wonder it rests upon our hearts in intangible moments, bids us follow fleeting thoughts and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/love-is-like-that-fragile-and-light-no-wonder-it-rests-upon-our/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Wisdom is the abstract of the past, but beauty is the promise of the future.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/wisdom-is-the-abstract-of-the-past-but-beauty-is-the-promise-of-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Where human eyes have never seen, where human beings have never been, I build a world of abstract dreams, and I wait for you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sun-ra/where-human-eyes-have-never-seen-where-human-beings-have-never-been-i/) [Sun Ra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sun-ra/) > [A little too abstract, a little too wise, It is time for us to kiss the earth again, It is time to let the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robinson-jeffers/a-little-too-abstract-a-little-too-wise-it-is-time-for-us-to-kiss-the/) [Robinson Jeffers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robinson-jeffers/) > [“Happy is very abstract, you can't touch it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julius-veal/happy-is-very-abstract-you-can-t-touch-it/) [Julius Veal](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julius-veal/) > [Abstract Expressionism was invented by New York drunks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joni-mitchell/abstract-expressionism-was-invented-by-new-york-drunks/) [Joni Mitchell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joni-mitchell/) > [The more horrible this world (as today, for instance), the more abstract our art, whereas a happy world brings forth an art of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-klee/the-more-horrible-this-world-as-today-for-instance-the-more-abstract/) [Paul Klee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-klee/) > [Describing comic sensibility is near impossible. It's sort of an abstract silliness, that sometimes the joke isn't the star.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dana-carvey/describing-comic-sensibility-is-near-impossible-it-s-sort-of-an/) [Dana Carvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dana-carvey/) > [For people of color - especially African Americans - the idea that racist cops might frame members of their community is no abstract notion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-wise/for-people-of-color-especially-african-americans-the-idea-that-racist/) [Tim Wise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-wise/) > [The word of the Lord never comes to us as an opinion, no attempt is made to support it by argument, it comes as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-w-ivins/the-word-of-the-lord-never-comes-to-us-as-an-opinion-no-attempt-is/) Anthony W. Ivins > [A mobile is an abstract sculpture made chiefly out of sheet metal, steel rods, wire and wood. 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