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.

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

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

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

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

By merit raised
To that bad eminence.

By merit raised
To that bad eminence.

He who sows the ground with care and diligence acquires a greater stock of religious merit than he could gain read more

He who sows the ground with care and diligence acquires a greater stock of religious merit than he could gain by the repetition of ten thousand prayers

It sounds like stories from the land of spirits,
If any man obtain that which he merits,
read more

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

Charm strikes the sight, but merit wins the soul.

Charm strikes the sight, but merit wins the soul.

There's a proud modesty in merit; averse from asking, and resolved to pay ten times the gifts it asks.

There's a proud modesty in merit; averse from asking, and resolved to pay ten times the gifts it asks.

Thy father's merit sets thee up to view,
And shows thee in the fairest point of light,
read more

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.