Merit

"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."

"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."

"...Fatherland without freedom and merit is a large word with little meaning."

"On their own merits modest men are dumb."

"He who thinks to be justified by any strength or merit of his own, and not by faith, puts himself in the place of God."

"Transforming hereditary privilege into ‘merit,’ the existing system of educational selection, with the Big Three [Harvard, Princeton, Yale] as its capstone, provides the appearance if not the substance of equality of opportunity. In so doing, it legitimates the established order as one that rewards ability over the prerogatives of birth. The problem with a ‘meritocracy,’ then, is not only that its ideals are routinely violated (though that is true), but also that it veils the power relations beneath it. For the definition of ‘merit,’ including the one that now prevails in America’s leading universities, always bears the imprint of the distribution of power in the larger society. Those who are able to define ‘merit’ will almost invariably possess more of it, and those with greater resources—cultural, economic and social—will generally be able to ensure that the educational system will deem their children more meritorious.”"

"Merit is a work for the sake of which Christ gives rewards. But no such work is to be found, for Christ gives by promise. Just as if a prince should say to me, "Come to me in my castle, and I will give you a hundred florins." I do a work, certainly, in going to the castle, but the gift is not given me as the reward of my work in going, but because the prince promised it to me."

"By merit raised To that bad eminence."

"A man is perhaps ungrateful, but often less chargeable with ingratitude than his benefactor is."

"The art of being able to make a good use of moderate abilities wins esteem and often confers more reputation than real merit."

"Le monde récompense plus souvent les apparences de mérite que le mérite même."

"Il y a du mérite sans élévation mais il n'y a point d'élévation sans quelque mérite."

"We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less."

"The spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes."

"The force of his own merit makes his way."

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

"La faveur des princes n'exclut pas le mérite, et ne le suppose pas aussi."

"Du même fonds dont on néglige un homme de mérite l'on sait encore admirer un sot."

"Le mérite des hommes a sa saison aussi bien que les fruits."

"Virtute ambire oportet, non favitoribus. Sat habet favitorum semper, qui recte facit."

"The sufficiency of merit is to know that my merit is not sufficient."