Many (maybe even most?) adages have an opposite.

"Reach for the stars", but "sky's the limit".

"Knowledge is power," but "ignorance is bliss."

"Absence makes the heart grow fonder," but "out of sight, out of mind."

"Better safe than sorry," but "nothing ventured, nothing gained."

"The pen is mightier than the sword," but "actions speak louder than words."

"Great minds think alike," but "fools seldom differ."

"Too many cooks spoil the broth," but "many hands make light work."

I think that there's a fundamental disconnect between respect for somebody, and how you treat them. How you treat them reveals everything about you, and not much about them. For example, ICE goons don't respect the immigrants that they see as breaking the law. But their, unhinged, gleeful violence comes from within their own disordered brains. We can't tell anything at all about the people ICE targets by the fact that agents abuse them, but we can be 100% sure that the agents are psychopathic shitheels. "Respect" depends on your point of view, while behavior is tangible.

Put another way, nobody can make you behave a certain way, and if somebody doesn't earn your respect, set a boundary and remove them from your life. Don't pretend that others force you to behave a certain way.

You can be disrespectful as fuck in a gentlemanly way. That shit is better than heroin to people with generational wealth.