50 Dignity Quotes For Maintaining Your Integrity

By Clifton Sankofa

School Leader, Language Arts Expert & Master Quote Curator

Published October 28, 2023

Find out the best way to build strong relationships with our dignity quotes.

Dignity is the belief that all humans have equal worth and value.

It is a powerful human trait that brings people closer together.

Some qualities of dignity include:

Everyone has it
Dignity cannot be earned or lost
Dignity is a given, absolute, non-negotiable human right

How does dignity differ from respect?

Find out with our dignity quotes below.

Why choose dignity over respect?

From our youth, we are primed to respect people.

From kindergarten, we are told to respect our classmates, teachers, adults, and everyone else in the world.

But is respect truly the best trait?

Respect is too conditional to unite people.

Respect is earned, meaning it can be given or lost.

How many times have you heard older people bemoaning about how the youth of the world do not respect them?

Or conversely, how many times have you had to listen to a teenager complain about how they do not get enough respect from adults?

Respect is a fantastic trait, but it does not develop automatically and, therefore, is not the best we can give of ourselves.

How can dignity help us?

Too often, we try to use respect to force someone to comply or obey something.

Respect comes after a person has had time to admire the actions or traits of another.

It is unnatural and inauthentic to believe you can give respect to someone you have never met or know nothing about.

Instead of respect, a more appropriate energy is dignity.

Walking with dignity is a more productive way of caring for ourselves and connecting with others.

Maintaining our dignity keeps us in a healthy space and allows us to give others an opportunity to share and demonstrate their values, actions, or knowledge.

Dignity sets the stage for respect to develop.

To learn more, check out our dignity quotes below.

Short dignity quotes about human rights

We begin with these short quotes about dignity as an essential right.

1. “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

2. “The dignity of man is an ideal worth fighting for and worth dying for.” — Robert C. Maynard

3. “To hide feelings when you are near crying is the secret of dignity.” — Dejan Stojanovic

4. “By a lie a man throws away and, as it were, annihilates his dignity as a man.” — Immanuel Kant

5. “Dignity is as essential to human life as water, food, and oxygen.” — Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken

6. “And, what, in fact, is dignity? “ — Tooquastee, Dignity

7. “Human rights rest on human dignity.” — Robert C. Maynard

8. “Death with dignity is better than life with humiliation.” — Hussain Ibn Ali

9. “We all need to treat each other with human dignity and respect.” — Madonna

10. “Be strong. Live honorably and with dignity.” — James Frey, A Million Little Pieces

The top dignity quotes about self-respect

Self-respect is essential to walk with dignity.

11. “No power on this earth can destroy the thirst for human dignity.” — Nelson Mandela

12. “Someone showed me a picture, and I just laughed; dignity never been photographed.” — Bob Dylan

13. “Respect for ourselves guides our morals, respect for others guides our manners.” — Laurence Sterne

14. “Your personal dignity was always more important to you than mere emotion, wasn’t it?” — Rachel Caine, Bitter Blood

15. “Self-respect is the fruit of discipline; the sense of dignity grows with the ability to say no to oneself.” — Abraham Heschel

16. “Freedom is the open window through which pours the sunlight of the human spirit and human dignity.” — Herbert Hoover

17. “Dignity has no price; when someone starts making small concessions, in the end, life loses all meaning.” — José Saramago

18. “Today it is time for every child to have a right to life, the right to dignity, right to equality, and right to peace.” — Kailash Satyarthi

19. “Human dignity is the same for all human beings: when I trample on the dignity of another, I am trampling on my own.” — Pope Francis

20. “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized, and cruelly mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.” — Michael J. Fox

Maintain your dignity quotes for inner power

Here, we have some inspirational dignity quotes you will enjoy.

21. “Dignity does not consist in possessing honors, but in the consciousness that we deserve them.” — Aristotle

22. “The most luxurious possession, the richest treasure anybody has, is his personal dignity.” — Jackie Robinson

23. “Our moral, religious, and political traditions are united in their respect for the dignity of human life.” — Robert Casey

24. “Every life deserves a certain amount of dignity, no matter how poor or damaged the shell that carries it.” — Rick Bragg

25. “When people begin to ignore human dignity, it will not be long before they begin to ignore human rights.” — Gilbert K. Chesterton

26. “Every man has his dignity. I’m willing to forget mine, but at my own discretion and not when someone else tells me to.” — Denis Diderot

27. “In general, the vitality and relative dignity of an animal can be measured by the intensity of its instinct to revolt.” — Mikhail Bakunin

28. “Only that position can impart dignity in which we do not appear as servile tools but rather create independently within our circle.” — Karl Marx

29. “Dignity, and even holiness too, sometimes, are more questions of coat and waistcoat than some people imagine.” — Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist

30. “Dignity does not float down from heaven. It cannot be purchased nor manufactured. It is a reward reserved for those who labor with diligence.” — Bill Hybels

The best dignity quotes about inspiring women

This selection highlights dignity with respect to the divine feminine.

31. “Women have the right to insist that their dignity be respected.” — Pope John Paul II

32. “Men who love their mothers treat women wonderfully. And they have enormous respect for women.” — Ellen Barkin

33. “Love and respect woman. Look to her not only for comfort but for strength and inspiration.” — Giuseppe Mazzini

34. “It is time to effect a revolution in female manners – time to restore to them their lost dignity.” — Mary Wollstonecraft

35. “When men and women are able to respect and accept their differences, then love has a chance to blossom.” — John Gray

36. “When values disappear, the first people to suffer are women because people start losing their respect for women.” — Rula Ghani

37. “Societies that are most successful also treat their women and girls with respect. Otherwise, they won’t be successful.” — Barack Obama

38. “One’s life has value so long as one attributes value to the life of others, by means of love, friendship, indignation, and compassion.” — Simone de Beauvoir

39. “The truth [is] that there is only one terminal dignity, love. And the story of love is not important; what is important is that one is capable of love.” — Helen Hayes

40. “Every woman that finally figured out her worth has picked up her suitcases of pride and boarded a flight to freedom, which landed in the valley of change.” — Shannon L. Alder

Dignity quotes and sayings about life

We close our list with these dignity quotes to live by.

41. “Be a woman of confidence and self-respect; give a man a reason worth fighting for.” — Nikki Rowe

42. “Hide yourself in God, so when a man wants to find you, he will have to go there first.” — Shannon L. Alder

43. “What is called honors and dignities, and even honor and dignity, is generally fool’s gold.” — Victor Hugo, Les Misérables

44. “There is no dignity in wickedness, whether in purple or rags; and hell is a democracy of devils, where all are equals.” — Herman Melville

45. “To free us from the expectations of others, to give us back to ourselves, there lies the great, singular power of self-respect.” — Joan Didion

46. “Things base and vile, holding no quantity, love can transpose to form and dignity.” — William Shakespeare, A Midsummer Night’s Dream

47. “I do not wish them [women] to have power over men; but over themselves.” — Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication Of The Rights Of Woman

48. “Never force yourself on another. If you do this, then this is you trampling on your own dignity without the external help.” — Omoakhuana Anthonia

49. “Chasing a person doesn’t give you value or build values in you. You earn your value by chasing morality and practicing dignity.” — Shannon L. Alder

50. “Freedom is to live with dignity.” — Manal al-Sharif, Daring To Drive