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 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.
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.
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.
Merit is much more cheaply acknowledged than rewarded
Merit is much more cheaply acknowledged than rewarded
The world rewards the appearance of merit oftener than merit
itself.
[Fr., Le monde recompense plus souvent les read more
The world rewards the appearance of merit oftener than merit
itself.
[Fr., Le monde recompense plus souvent les apparences de merite
que le merite meme.]
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.]
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 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.]
