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.

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.

The same principle leads us to neglect a man of merit that
induces us to admire a fool.
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The same principle leads us to neglect a man of merit that
induces us to admire a fool.
[Fr., Du meme fonds dont on neglige un homme de merite l'on sait
encore admirer un sot.]

Merit is much more cheaply acknowledged than rewarded

Merit is much more cheaply acknowledged than rewarded

There is a season for man's merit as well as for fruit.
[Fr., Le merite des hommes a sa read more

There is a season for man's merit as well as for fruit.
[Fr., Le merite des hommes a sa saison aussi bien que les
fruits.]

The world more often rewards the appearances of merit than merit itself.

The world more often rewards the appearances of merit than merit itself.

The more merit, the less affection

The more merit, the less affection

On their own merits modest men are dumb.

On their own merits modest men are dumb.

Thy father's merit sets thee up to view,
And shows thee in the fairest point of light,
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Thy father's merit sets thee up to view,
And shows thee in the fairest point of light,
To make thy virtues, or thy faults, conspicuous.