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.

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.

Charm strikes the sight, but merit wins the soul.

Charm strikes the sight, but merit wins the soul.

We start with gifts. Merit comes from what we make of them.

We start with gifts. Merit comes from what we make of them.

It sounds like stories from the land of spirits,
If any man obtain that which he merits,
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It sounds like stories from the land of spirits,
If any man obtain that which he merits,
Or any merit that which he obtains.

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?

He who sows the ground with care and diligence acquires a greater stock of religious merit than he could gain read more

He who sows the ground with care and diligence acquires a greater stock of religious merit than he could gain by the repetition of ten thousand prayers

The world more often rewards the appearances of merit than merit itself.

The world more often rewards the appearances of merit than merit itself.

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.