“Preferential tributes of respect in words and manners even to those who have no authority in the State - reverences, obeisances (compliments) and courtly phrases marking with the utmost precision every distinction in status (something altogether different from courtesy, which must also be reciprocal) - the Du, Er, Ihr and Sie, or Ew. Wohledeln, Hochedeln, Hochedelgeborenen, Wohlgeborenen (ohe, iam satis est!) as forms of address, a pedantry in which the Germans seem to outdo any other people in the world (except possibly the Indian castes): does not all this prove that there is a widespread propensity to servility in men? But one who makes himself a worm cannot complain if people step on him.”
Quote by Immanuel Kant
Work
The Doctrine of Virtue: Part 2 of The Metaphysic of Morals
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Author
Immanuel Kant
German philosopher, an important representative of the Enlightenment movement, and the founder of the Kantian philosophical system. His thoughts have had a profound impact on the fields of philosophy, ethics, political science, and others. more
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