e-pie said:
Why not?
If you love your friend/colleague you would repect his/her decisions and the converse is also true.
I think we have to get definitions agreed, when we start doing that we will realize that we all mean different things when we talk about love like & respect
Love is a biological thing, out of ones hands sometimes you wish it was someone else you had feelings for because this person is not very nice.
They act in a way that does not earn any sort of respect from you.
As has been mentioned you respect what a person does rather than who they are.
I respect Paul Dirac, I have never met nor will ever meet him.
I am pretty sure Paul Dirac would have made me feel insecure, embarrassed and probably pretty stupid as a student.
I respect his contribution to science.
Isaac Newton? Steven Hawking described him as “not a nice man” He never met him either but has read enough to come to the conclusion that genius aside, he was rather unpleasant.
So it possible to love someone without even liking them let alone respecting them and greatly admire dead people who were probably outwardly obnoxious.