Respect

by Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot

Book Overview

In these many-layered and masterfully written portraits, Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot reaches deep into human experience -- from the drama of birth to the solemn vigil before death -- to find the essence of respect. In her moving vision, relayed through powerfully told stories, respect is not the passive deference offered a superior but an active force that creates symmetry even in unequal relationships. The reader becomes an eyewitness to the remarkable...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0738203181
• ISBN13: 9780738203188
• Release Date: May 2000
• Publisher: Basic Books
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

A Respectful Exploration

Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot explores six different themes of respect by profiling six individuals that she associates with those qualities. I found the book uneven between the chapters, but that is because I found some of the people she profiled more interesting than others. I particularly enjoyed her chapter on David Wilkins, the Harvard Law School Professor; his strides for excellence seems to measure merely his own inadequacies (his was the chapter on Self-Respect). I was fascinated reading about him. Still, I would recommend this book taken as an exploration--not definitive, not a self-help book, and not an exposition. But it is inspiring, challenging, informative, and she writes very well.

an important book, to be read slowly.

I attended a three day conference in Utah recently at which Sarah Lawrence Lightfoot was guest speaker. The topic of her speech was centered on giving and getting respect, and she read liberally from the book's last chapter. It was profoundly moving to listen as she recounted her interview with a family who had lost their 19 year old son to leukemia (?) ... the writing style was near poetic. The emotional intelligence was pure and strong. I have ordered the book and am looking forward to learning more about the reciprocal nature of respect and it's powerful effects.