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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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 more merit, the less affection
The more merit, the less affection
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.]
View the whole scene, with critic judgment scan,
And then deny him merit if you can.
Where read more
View the whole scene, with critic judgment scan,
And then deny him merit if you can.
Where he falls short, 'tis Nature's fault alone
Where he succeeds, the merit's all his own.
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.
The world more often rewards the appearances of merit than merit itself.
The world more often rewards the appearances of merit than merit itself.
He merits no thanks who does a kindness for his own ends
He merits no thanks who does a kindness for his own ends
For who would bear the whips and scorns of time,
Th' oppressor's wrong, the proud man's contumely
read more
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?
