Respect commands itself and can neither be given nor withheld when it is due.
Meaning of the quote
Respect is something that you earn, not something that can be given or taken away. If you act in a way that deserves respect, people will naturally respect you, even if they don't want to. Respect is not something that others can decide to give or take away from you. You have to show through your actions that you are a person worthy of respect.
About Eldridge Cleaver
Eldridge Cleaver was an influential American writer and political activist who played a key role in the Black Panther Party. His essay collection ‘Soul on Ice’ was praised as ‘brilliant and revealing’, and he later became a prominent member of the Black Panthers before fleeing to exile and eventually returning to the US, where he joined various religious and political groups.
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