To be capable of respect is, in these days, almost as rare as to be worthy of it.

[Être capable de respect est aujourd’hui presque aussi rare qu’en être digne.]

Joseph Joubert (1754-1824) French moralist, philosopher, essayist, poet

Pensées [Thoughts], ch. 18 “Du Siècle [On the Age],” ¶ 38 (1850 ed.) [tr. Calvert (1866), ch. 13]
    (Source)

(Source (French)). Alternate translations:

To be capable of respect is well-night as rare at the present day as to be worthy of it.
[tr. Attwell (1896), ¶ 247]

To be capable of respect is almost as rare in these days as to be worthy of it.
[tr. Lyttelton (1899), ch. 17, ¶ 15]