According to Kwam Anthony Appiah honour and desire for respect are still the driving forces standing behind the many of our decisions and activities. However, while our desire for being honourable remains constant, our understanding of honour changes considerably in time and space. The concept of honour is usually associated with traditional cultures, thus, its modern equivalent, dignity, is central to the understanding of human rights. However, these two concepts are not identical. While the traditional honour relied on courage and faithfulness, dignity is rooted in the values of life and love. When comparing Kurdish traditional narratives with modern literature examples we can discover an interesting switch from honour to a dignity based ethical system. Its main theme is the elevation and the reinterpretation of love which was deeply seated in the oral and the classical narratives. The new wider meaning of love gives priority to human life and this way constitutes the modern concept of dignity linking it with both the Kurdish past and the modern world. These changes are reflected in the Kurdish lexicon where the traditional term of şeref (honour) is confronted with other words connected with respect such us rûmet (Kurmanji) or şkomendî (Sorani) which gain the meaning of dignity in a modern sense. However, the Kurdish political struggle, the constant need to resist violence or assimilation challenge the modern concept of dignity. Life is often sacrificed in the name of Kurdishness or simply the life of other compatriots. At the beginning Kurdish literature accompanied the Kurdish political movement calling for such a sacrifice. However, in time the dilemma became more acute and ambiguous. What is more important life or honour? Is it possible to live a happy life without honour? And what does it mean to lose or save honour? Interestingly, the same dilemma might be discovered in Polish cultural narratives which can be justified by the shared historical experiences. Taking into account Kwam Anthony Appiah’s reflections on honour it still seems important for the modern world to keep alive the traditional notion of honour and its links with courage. In my paper I would analyse a few motives of Kurdish literary narratives focusing on the understanding of honour and dignity and their influence on Kurdish identity and resistance