respect for life
Honoring living beings
Respect for life is the ethical principle that living beings—especially humans—have inherent value and should not be harmed or killed without serious justification.
The phrase appears in religious teachings, medical ethics, and debates over abortion, euthanasia, and capital punishment.
Some extend it to all sentient creatures: Her respect for life led her to vegetarianism.
- sanctityQuality of being inviolable
- dignityInnate personal worth
- reverenceProfound admiring respect
- do no harmAvoid causing injury
- compassionConcern for others' distress
protect · preserve · cherish · sacred · soul · breath · heartbeat · mother and child · nurture · gentle · mercy · nonviolence · ahimsa · cradle to grave · ethics · morality · empathy · kindness
- ethicsmorality, deontology, dignity, utilitarianism, morals
- religious ethicsChristian ethics, divine command, moral law, divine law, love thy neighbor
- nonviolencenonviolence, pacifism, harmlessness, nonviolent, peaceful
respect for lifebloodlust
Desire to kill
destructiveness · murderous intent · cruelty · murderousness · brutality
respect for lifecallousness
Cruel emotional indifference
heartlessness · cruelty · sadism · inhumanity · apathy
respect, life, respects, respected, respecting, respectful, respectfully, disrespect, disrespectful