Would you rather be famous or respected?

[Amelia G]

With reality television and tabloid journalism and all, there are a lot of opportunities to get one's name out there, but not all of them come along with respect. Is fame or respect more important to you? Would you feel it was worth being famous if it came with a certain lack of general respect?

[Raza]

I don't think I could be famous without achieving a general lack of respect. The qualities that define me in the onlooker's eye are far too esoteric for me to appeal to large audiences as anything more positive than an interesting villain.

Still sounds fun though, so I'll pick fame. "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about" and "I don't care what my detractors say about me, so long as they aren't speaking the truth" and all that.

[Buster Friendly]

Neither.

I'd rather be rich, powerful, and invisible/obscure.

[JonQ]

Oh noooo...most assuredly respected. Even if it was just self-respect if nothing else.
If you are respected in your field, whatever that may be, then you may even get fame as a by-product, but it certainly wouldn't be the most important (or desirable) thing.

[Lady Alias]

Respect, of course. If I were famous, I would always feel under pressure, always being scrutinized. That wouldn't bode well with me.

Being respected means you're doing something right.

[Head Wreck]

respected.

[JonQ]

What is 'self respect'?

A while back during a pretty raucous drinking session a friend of mine asked me "do you respect yourself?" and I had no idea what he was talking about. I genuinely find it difficult to compute this equation. What is self respect and why is it unanimously understood to be a good thing?!?

Self respect is proper respect for oneself...a person's overall evaluation or appraisal of his or her own worth.

Respect yourself and others will respect you.

If one is estranged from oneself, then one is estranged from others too. If one is out of touch with oneself, then one cannot touch others.

[Aza]

I'm already respected. I will inevitably be famous, but I don't expect to become one of those "speculation sponges" who attract so much press that people lose respect for their wisdom, talents or accomplishments.

[Ajax Knucklebones]

Fuck famous. It all sounds like a big pain in the ass.

[Deadly Envy]

Famous:

Having bunches of strangers come up to you and try to be your best friend on daily base, having stalkers following you around on regular base, vast majority of your friends are fake, having to worry about every single things you wear and update it every week or you risk losing all of your "friends" and fame, never have anyone you can really turn to for help or support when you hit the rock bottom, have to worry about who is after you for whatever you own, etc...

NO THANKS!!! FUCK THAT!

I'd rather to be respected. I'm happy with friends I have, I like how I live, I'm happy with what I'm doing and I love how I can make all decision on my own without worrying about what my friends will think of me, having somebody I can always turn to for help or trust, and know all of my friends are a true friend.

I believe being famous is extremely addicting. You get too use to having everybody do everything from open door for you to wipe your butt, being admired, have everything you desire in reach, etc... Then once you lose your fame, you goes crazy and do stupid things out of desperate to try get your fame back. Just look at Brittney Spear, Mike Tyson, Dustin Diamond, and others.

I'd rather to be somebody like Buffet Warren, Lithium Picnic, Karelin Alexander, etc... Who work hard to become respected and well known in their field and live a decent private life.

[One Eyed Cat]

I think you know what my answer will be. The pay out on the fame would have to buy away all the headaches. Even then, it would be more about mutual respect of those that I respect.

OEC

[LaurenWK]

I don't care what people think of me.... What matters is how I feel about myself. If I'm happy with my fame and how I've portrayed myself, fuck everyone else.

[keiko]

I'd rather be paid. So famous. Respectable people are expected to live up to certain standards and are often broke, ie Starving Artists. I've been an artist and I'm sick of starving. As long as I get famous without selling out my own standards I could give a flying fuck if I'm respected.

~K

[Deadly Envy]

‘I’d respect anyone else on the basis that they respect themselves? I'd probably shy away and call them names at a distance so as not to be contaminated with their revolting self satisfaction.

You just earned my respect for being honest. Most people would say they'd call people name in their face.

[JonQ]

huh? self respect is “proper” respect for oneself?? What the hell is proper respect? If respect is supposed to be earned and not just given then shouldn’t I only have self respect once I’ve have done something? In which case all people that claim to have self respect should be able to tell me exactly why they are deserving of it! Ambivalent garbage about how just being human in itself is enough will not qualify.

What the fuck is self respect? Just a way to make people feel better about themselves than they really should? Self respect is a hoax, a big fat lazy parasite made of faeces and wax which was sewed into people’s brains to keep them docile and ignorant. Moreover, self respect is not intrinsic to being a good person or a kind person; "do not do onto others that which you would not have done onto yourself" will suffice for that.

Respect yourself and others will respect you? HUH? What on God’s miserable earth makes you think that ‘I’d respect anyone else on the basis that they respect themselves? I'd probably shy away and call them names at a distance so as not to be contaminated with their revolting self satisfaction.

Seriously? Wow.
Seeing as how you just sound to me like you want to be angry about stuff, I'm just not going to go into this with you, but for the record, 'Respect yourself and others will respect you' was attributed to a rather well-known fella by the name of Confucius who was (and still is) regarded as being a fairly good chap to refer to about all things philosophical, so dismissing it out of hand might be considered rather ignorant.
And God's (or whomever's) Earth isn't miserable for everyone, despite what you think.

[LaurenWK]

You just earned my respect for being honest. Most people would say they'd call people name in their face.

I would. I'm very blunt....

[LaurenWK]

Seriously? Wow.
Seeing as how you just sound to me like you want to be angry about stuff, I'm just not going to go into this with you, but for the record, 'Respect yourself and others will respect you?' was attributed to a rather well-known fella by the name of Confucius who was (and still is) regarded as being a fairly good chap to ask about all things philosophical, so dismissing it out of hand might be considered rather ignorant.
And God's (or whomever's) Earth isn't miserable for everyone, despite what you think.

So... you're right because you quoted a guy who is "regarded as being a fairly good chap to ask about all things philosophical"? How about coming up with your own reason for why your point of view is correct, rather than because someone else said so.... I, for one, agree with Allah. There are plenty of people who I have no respect for, but they have plenty for themselves.... It doesn't mean they are deserving of it.

[JonQ]

I would. I'm very blunt....

I can appreciate that. Being straight-forward and open is by no means a bad thing. But some people equate bluntness or direct with just opening their mouths without engaging their brains and passing it off as being 'edgy' or 'honest' when in truth they are just being rude.

I am, however, not aiming that at you. Just making an observation about how some people have used that sort of thing as an excuse to be...well, dicks.

[JonQ]

So... you're right because you quoted a guy who is "regarded as being a fairly good chap to ask about all things philosophical"? How about coming up with your own reason for why your point of view is correct, rather than because someone else said so.... I, for one, agree with Allah. There are plenty of people who I have no respect for, but they have plenty for themselves.... It doesn't mean they are deserving of it.

Allah asked what self respect was and I just gave a few definitions of what it meant and a couple of viewpoints from people who are considered wiser than I. I don't claim to be 'right' about anything. My only personal views were about the manner in which Allah 'retorted' when I hadn't even argued in the first place and that I wasn't going to go into the whole thing if it was just going to get narky.
's all.

[LaurenWK]

I can appreciate that. Being straight-forward and open is by no means a bad thing. But some people equate bluntness or direct with just opening their mouths without engaging their brains and passing it off as being 'edgy' or 'honest' when in truth they are just being rude.

I am, however, not aiming that at you. Just making an observation about how some people have used that sort of thing as an excuse to be...well, dicks.

Yeah, but there are also people who can't handle honesty, so they just equate it with rudeness. Honesty should be appreciated. I would much rather have someone tell me how they feel about me than have them just shit talk me to everyone else.

Fuck it, sometimes I AM just being a dick... but at least I'm honest about it.

[LaurenWK]

Allah asked what self respect was and I just gave a few definitions of what it meant and a couple of viewpoints from people who are considered wiser than I. I don't claim to be 'right' about anything. My only personal views were about the manner in which Allah 'retorted' when I hadn't even argued in the first place and that I wasn't going to go into the whole thing if it was just going to get narky.
's all.

I'm not disagreeing with you about what self respect means... just that respecting oneself does not guarantee the respect of others.

Also, I would not, for a second, consider someone ignorant for dismissing someone else's opinion. People all have their own philosophies.

[JonQ]

Yeah, but there are also people who can't handle honesty, so they just equate it with rudeness. Honesty should be appreciated. I would much rather have someone tell me how they feel about me than have them just shit talk me to everyone else.

Fuck it, sometimes I AM just being a dick... but at least I'm honest about it.

I appreciate honesty, and I can't stand people who snipe about other people behind their back. Sometimes it's a bit like that online because there is the 'safety' of being potentially thousands of miles away anonymously behind a screen.
I would like to think I would be prepared to say anything on here face-to-face (or stick to the old saying of not saying anything at all if you can't be nice).
I doubt you will find anyone on here who isn't a dick from time to time. Not because they are on here, you understand, but because there are very few people in the world that aren't (from my limited experience of everyone in the world).

[JonQ]

I'm not disagreeing with you about what self respect means... just that respecting oneself does not guarantee the respect of others.

Also, I would not, for a second, consider someone ignorant for dismissing someone else's opinion. People all have their own philosophies.

Hehe...now this is what I mean about discussions.
The definition I gave of self respect was not my own so it's not something I am particularly bothered about. It was just meant to help out as Allah had asked about it. Whether Allah or anyone else agree is entirely up to them and I am quite happy either way.

Disagreeing with an opinion is fine too. Perhaps Allah gave it due consideration and decided it was nonsense. Fair play. My issue was with the way he seemed to be just saying 'bollocks' to it and getting his rant on. Which would, as I said, come off rather ignorant.
If that was an unfair interpretation of his argument, then fair enough, but it was to my mind how it came across. This medium is not always the best one for conveying certain nuances and I'll hold my hands up if I'm off-base.

[Morning Glory]

Y
Fuck it, sometimes I AM just being a dick... but at least I'm honest about it.

not necessarily. just because you might think that you are being honest, doesn't mean that you are speaking the truth.

I could say that you are a fucking asshole, and if you don't like me saying that, it's because you can't handle the truth.

but really, that isn't the truth. the truth is that I'm the one being the fucking asshole and practicing self-illusions about what my so-called honesty brings to the world.

but that's just my perspective on it.

My first instinct is to say fame, because in some ways that makes your life easier, but it doesn't make it meaningful if you trade it for respect. So I'd rather be respected by people that I value, than valued by people who I don't respect.

[samanthagrace]

How about famously respected. Hahaha....

I do not care about fame. If it happened I would probably just have to accepted it. But I am not going out of my way to become famous.