Contemporaries appreciate the man rather than his merit; posterity will regard the merit rather than the man.

Contemporaries appreciate the man rather than his merit; posterity will regard the merit rather than the man.

For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely
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For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely
The pangs of despised love, the law's delay,
The insolence of office, and the spurns
That patient merit of th' unworthy takes,
When he himself might his quietus make
With a bare bodkin?

True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes.

True merit, like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes.

Surely, sir,
There's in him stuff that puts him to these ends;
For, being not propped by read more

Surely, sir,
There's in him stuff that puts him to these ends;
For, being not propped by ancestry, whose grace
Chalks successors their way, nor called upon
For high feats done to th' crown, neither allied
To eminent assistants, but spiderlike
Out of his self-drawing web, 'a gives us note,
The force of his own merit makes his way,
A gift that heaven gives for him, which buys
A place next to the king.

We start with gifts. Merit comes from what we make of them.

We start with gifts. Merit comes from what we make of them.

Speak little and well if you wish to be esteemed a person of merit.

Speak little and well if you wish to be esteemed a person of merit.

Merit is much more cheaply acknowledged than rewarded

Merit is much more cheaply acknowledged than rewarded

He merits no thanks who does a kindness for his own ends

He merits no thanks who does a kindness for his own ends

The sufficiency of merit is to know that my merit is not
sufficient.

The sufficiency of merit is to know that my merit is not
sufficient.