You demand respect and you’ll get it. First of all, you give respect.

The line frames respect as reciprocal and behavioral rather than merely demanded or owed. It suggests that asserting one’s dignity (“demand respect”) is most effective when paired with practicing the same dignity toward others (“first…you give respect”). The ordering matters: giving respect is presented as the groundwork that legitimizes one’s expectation of being respected in return. In a broader ethical sense, it rejects entitlement and emphasizes agency—how one treats people shapes how one is treated. As a public-facing maxim, it also reads as advice for navigating power dynamics: self-advocacy works best when it is anchored in consistent, principled conduct.