There is merit without elevation, but there is no elevation
without some merit.
[Fr., Il y a du read more

There is merit without elevation, but there is no elevation
without some merit.
[Fr., Il y a du merite sans elevation mais il n'y a point
d'elevation sans quelque merite.]

One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation.

One can survive everything, nowadays, except death, and live down everything except a good reputation.

Don't consider your reputation and you may do anything you like

Don't consider your reputation and you may do anything you like

The reputation of a man is like his shadow, gigantic when it precedes him, and pigmy in its proportions when read more

The reputation of a man is like his shadow, gigantic when it precedes him, and pigmy in its proportions when it follows.

My dear dear lord,
The purest treasure mortal times afford
Is spotless reputation. That away,
read more

My dear dear lord,
The purest treasure mortal times afford
Is spotless reputation. That away,
Man are but gilded loam or painted clay.

On their own merits modest men are dumb.

On their own merits modest men are dumb.

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 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.]

Charm strikes the sight, but merit wins the soul.

Charm strikes the sight, but merit wins the soul.