Do not respect men who are caught up in the tangle of the senses. Give respect according to the knowledge each possesses of himself, i.e., of the Immanent and the Transcendent.
How do you fix the price of cane? According to the sugar content, is it not? So too, a man is worthy of honor in proportion to the knowledge of the Self he has acquired. The knowledge alone can confer steadiness and strength. Without it, all profession of renunciation, all pretense of devotion, all performance of charity are but tongue-deep or skin-deep!
(Sathya Sai Speaks, Vol IV, pg 48)
