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.

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

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

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.

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?

The world rewards the appearance of merit oftener than merit
itself.
[Fr., Le monde recompense plus souvent les read more

The world rewards the appearance of merit oftener than merit
itself.
[Fr., Le monde recompense plus souvent les apparences de merite
que le merite meme.]

Merit is much more cheaply acknowledged than rewarded

Merit is much more cheaply acknowledged than rewarded

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.

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.

It sounds like stories from the land of spirits,
If any man obtain that which he merits,
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It sounds like stories from the land of spirits,
If any man obtain that which he merits,
Or any merit that which he obtains.