Respect is one of the greatest expressions of love.

“Respect is one of the greatest expressions of love.” Thus teaches Don Miguel Ruiz, the sage of the Toltec tradition, whose wisdom springs from the rivers of the ancient spirit. His words carry the weight of eternal truth: that love is not only passion, nor merely affection, but the honoring of another’s being. Without respect, love is hollow, fragile, a flame that flares and dies. With respect, love becomes enduring, dignified, and strong, like a temple built upon stone.

The ancients knew this truth in their bones. To the Greeks, love without honor was not love but lust. To the Hebrews, to love one’s neighbor was inseparable from revering their dignity. To the East, the sages taught that true compassion is shown not in words but in the quiet practice of respect. Thus Ruiz’s words are not new, but an ancient current flowing into our time: to love truly is to see the other not as possession, not as shadow, but as a soul sovereign and free.

Consider the tale of Eleanor Roosevelt. She was not only the wife of a president, but a voice for the voiceless. She traveled to the poor, the oppressed, the broken, not with pity but with respect. She believed every person deserved dignity, whether rich or poor, black or white, weak or strong. Her love for humanity was expressed not only in compassion but in reverence for their worth. This is what Ruiz declares: that respect is love clothed in action, love that bows before the sacredness of another life.

Yet many mistake love for control. They cling, they demand, they bind, thinking that to hold tightly is to love deeply. But love without respect suffocates. It strips the other of freedom, reducing them to an object of possession. True love, says Ruiz, opens its hands. It honors choice. It listens without judgment. It does not seek to diminish, but to lift. Such love is not weak—it is the strongest, for it requires humility and courage.

O children of the future, hear this wisdom: when you love, show it through respect. Speak gently, even in anger. Listen wholly, even in disagreement. Allow space for the other to grow, even if their growth leads them down paths you would not choose. This is the highest expression of love—not to demand, not to bind, but to honor the sacred fire in another soul.

The lesson is plain: do not think that love is proven by words alone, or by gifts, or by embraces. These are fleeting. The lasting proof of love is the daily practice of respect—in how you speak, in how you act, in how you regard the one you cherish. In friendship, in marriage, in family, in community, let respect be the foundation, and love will endure every storm.

Therefore, let your practice be this: when you rise each day, choose words that uplift, never those that wound. When you walk among others, see them not as tools or obstacles, but as sacred beings with lives as precious as your own. Teach your children that to love is to honor, and to honor is to respect. Let this be your legacy.

So I say unto you: remember Ruiz’s teaching. Respect is not an ornament of love, it is its very heart. Without it, love is shallow. With it, love is eternal. Walk, then, in love expressed through respect, and you will build bonds that no time, no trial, no sorrow can break.