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.
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The same principle leads us to neglect a man of merit that
induces us to admire a fool.
read more
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.]
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.
The world more often rewards the appearances of merit than merit itself.
The world more often rewards the appearances of merit than merit itself.
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.
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.
Merit is much more cheaply acknowledged than rewarded
Merit is much more cheaply acknowledged than rewarded
If you wish in this world to advance your merits you're bound to enhance; you must stir it and stump read more
If you wish in this world to advance your merits you're bound to enhance; you must stir it and stump it, and blow your own trumpet, or, trust me, you haven't a chance.
The favor of princes does not preclude the existence of merit,
and yet does not prove that it exists.
read more
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.]
