Respect (reverentia) is likewise something merely subjective; a
feeling of a peculiar kind not a judgement about an object which it
would be a duty to effect or to advance. For if considered as duty
it could only be conceived as such by means of the respect which we
have for it. To have a duty to this, therefore, would be as much as to
say to be bound in duty to have a duty. When, therefore, it is said:
"Man has a duty of self-esteem," this is improperly stated, and we
ought rather to say: "The law within him inevitably forces from him
respect for his own being, and this feeling (which is of a peculiar
kind) is a basis of certain duties, that is, of certain actions
which may be consistent with his duty to himself." But we cannot say
that he has a duty of respect for himself; for he must have respect
for the law within himself, in order to be able to conceive duty at
all.