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It's nice to be respected. It's nice to be treated with respect. We all want it. You might have as a Life-Goal "To be respected by everyone." Is that a good goal?
NO! It is possible to be respected by the wrong people, and for the wrong reasons!
Being respected by a bully just because you are a BIGGER BULLY is not really respect in a positive sense. It is fear!
If you are respected by a burglar because you are a better burglar than he is, is that good? NO! That burglar who respects your burglary ability has already forfeited any respect of people in general; therefore, his opinion is worthless to the great bulk of people.
The only respect that is worth anything comes from people who are respected themselves!
Often, people who have a distorted view of life and of other people will show insulting disrespect towards high quality people. That is a very good sign they are LOW quality people themselves, and should be avoided.
Low quality people will often try to put down high quality people, because they then feel better about themselves. "I guess I showed him!"
If you are a person of high quality, and someone shows you disrespect, your first question to yourself should be, “Is this person worthy of my respect?” If the answer is “No” then don’t feel bad. You don’t need or want the respect of such a person! (Can you remember ever meeting someone like that?)
If another student disrespects you by calling you a "nerd," should you be hurt? NO! He is not respecting behavior that is inherently respectful. He must have a hidden agenda, such as trying to get you to do less well, and thus lower the average class grade to make him look better! (People do that sort of thing. They won't admit it to you or to themselves!)