Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.

Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving.

We should try to succeed by merit, not by favor. He who does
well will always have patrons enough.
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We should try to succeed by merit, not by favor. He who does
well will always have patrons enough.
[Lat., Virtute ambire oportet, non favitoribus.
Sat habet favitorum semper, qui recte facit.]

Charm strikes the sight, but merit wins the soul.

Charm strikes the sight, but merit wins the soul.

The more merit, the less affection

The more merit, the less affection

The favor of princes does not preclude the existence of merit,
and yet does not prove that it exists.
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The favor of princes does not preclude the existence of merit,
and yet does not prove that it exists.
[Fr., La faveur des princes n'exclut pas le merite, et ne le
suppose pas aussi.]

There is merit without elevation, but there is no elevation
without some merit.
[Fr., Il y a du read more

There is merit without elevation, but there is no elevation
without some merit.
[Fr., Il y a du merite sans elevation mais il n'y a point
d'elevation sans quelque merite.]

On their own merits modest men are dumb.

On their own merits modest men are dumb.

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.

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.