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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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.
He merits no thanks who does a kindness for his own ends
He merits no thanks who does a kindness for his own ends
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.
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.
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.]
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 more often rewards the appearances of merit than merit itself.
The world more often rewards the appearances of merit than merit itself.
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.
