Merit

“ What merit have I shewn—by what good intention towards the world have I been animated—what has been the positive amount of those services of mine on which I found my pretensions to the world's rewards? ”

“ If merit is not recognised, still it is merit, and it ought to be honoured as such; but if it is rewarded, it becomes valuable in the eyes of all, and everybody is encouraged to pursue that course in which merit obtains its due reward. ”

“ You think that if merit's exalted
'Tis excellent sport to decry it,
And trail its good name in the gutter;
And that cynics, white-gloved and cravatted,
Are the cream and quintessence of all things,
Ass of a public!
You think that success must be merit,
That honour and virtue and courage
Are all very well in their places,
But that money's a thousand times better ”

“ To form that character advantageously, you have three objects particularly to attend to: your character as a man of morality, truth, and honor; your knowledge in the objects of your destination, as a man of business; and your engaging and insinuating address, air and manners, as a courtier; the sure and only steps to favor.
Merit at courts, without favor, will do little or nothing; favor, without merit, will do a good deal; but favor and merit together will do everything. ”

“ Consider your own situation; you have not the advantage of rank or fortune to bear you up; I shall, very probably, be out of the world before you can properly be said to be in it. What then will you have to rely on but your own merit? That alone must raise you, and that alone will raise you, if you have but enough of it. I have often heard and read of oppressed and unrewarded merit, but I have oftener (I might say always) seen great merit make its way, and meet with its reward, to a certain degree at least, in spite of all difficulties. ”

“ That what is really good may always have ultimate success, is true, undoubtedly, when spoken of transcendent merit or of superexcellent qualities; but this transcendent merit only appears once, perhaps, in a century; and the world shows that, in the great mass of worldly things, the every-day virtues, the every-day exertions, the every-day characters which surround us in this busy existence, virtue and merit are not always ultimately successful. ”

“ Evidently the merit depends on the result of the work. ”

“ In other words, to what degree do I value my faculties and my attainments for their own sakes? or are they chiefly prized by me on account of the distinction which they confer, or the superiority which they give me over others? Am I aware that immediate influence and a general acknowledgment of merit are no necessary adjuncts of a successful adherence to study and meditation in those departments of knowledge which are of most value to mankind;—that a recompense of honours and emoluments is far less to be expected ”

“ 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. ”

“ Where nature doth with merit challenge. 'Where inherent goodness vies with moral growth,' i.e., virtue developed by training. If, on the other hand, challenge means demand, then with merit would be an adverbial phrase qualifying challenge, and the whole expression would mean 'Where inherent goodness deservedly demands our largest bounty.' I prefer the former interpretation. ”

“ By merit I here understand that value which every man puts upon his own deservings from the public. And I believe there could not be a more difficult employment found out, than that of paymaster general to this sort of merit; or a more noisy, crowded place, than a court of judicature, erected to settle and adjust every man's claim upon that article. I imagine, if this had fallen into the fancy of the ancient poets, they would have dressed it up after their manner into an agreeable fiction, and given us a genealogy and description of merit, perhaps not very different from that which follows. ”

“ Thus, in whatever light we take this subject, the merit, ascribed to the social virtues, appears still uniform, and arises chiefly from that regard, which the natural sentiment of benevolence engages us to pay to the interests of mankind and society. ”

“ If merit means something in character, independent of motives and of all other things, then there can be no such thing as merit: but if by merit we mean something which excites our approbation of one character more than another, and which something is still farther entitled to our approbation, because it depends upon it for its motive and encouragement, then undoubtedly this word has a rational meaning in it. ”

“ If you are already eminent and applauded, live; and preserve the honours you have acquired. 12. If your success is not equal to your merit, live; in the consciousness of having deserved it. 13. If your success hath exceeded your merit, live; and arrogate not too much to yourself. 14. If you have been negligent and useless to society, live ”

“ All merit, which is founded in truth, and is strong enough, reaches by sweet exhalations in the end a higher sensory; reaches higher organs of discernment, lodged in a selecter audience. But the original obtuseness or vulgarity of feeling that thwarted Lamb's just estimation in life, will continue to thwart its popular diffusion. ”

“ The assumption of merit is easier, less embarrassing, and more effectual than the positive attainment of it. ”

“ The praise, in short, to which I aspire, and to merit which I am conscious that my efforts were most constantly directed, is, that I have, more uniformly and earnestly than any preceding critic, made the Moral tendencies of the works under consideration a leading subject of discussion. ”

“ And certainly no mode of honouring those immediate Authors of our Being can be more effectual, than that of doing praiseworthy Actions, which reflect Honour on those who gave us our Education; or more becoming, than that of manifesting, by some public Expression or Token, that it is to their Instruction and Example we ascribe the Merit of those Actions. ”

“ It gives a dignity, value, and merit to all our good works, which makes them most acceptable in the sight of God, and worthy of an ample reward from Him, both of an increase of grace in this life and of eternal glory in the life to come. ”

“ Meer Bashfulness without Merit is awkward; and Merit without Modesty, insolent. But modest Merit has a double Claim to Acceptance, and generally meets with as many Patrons as Beholders. ”

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

“ There are many things that we may do in this life that go to the good side of the account. To do these things is to "make merit." Some actions only make a little merit; others make a great deal of merit. ”

“ Further, the greatest principle of merit would seem to be the one whose acts are most meritorious. But the acts of faith and patience or fortitude would seem to be the most meritorious, as appears in the martyrs, who strove for the faith patiently and bravely even till death. Hence other virtues are a greater principle of merit than charity. ”

“ For I dare boldly say, vainglory, that opinion of merit, and this enforced necessity, when they know not otherwise how to leave, or what better to do with them, is the main cause of most of our good works. ”

“ When the kingdom triumphs, every man will be rewarded according to his works, and will receive that which is designed for him, and in all things be blessed according to his merits. By merit I mean that which a man earns, and you will see the day when you will get nothing but what you earn by your works and your integrity to God and your brethren. ”

“ The merit would belong to the man who had accumulated the greater amount by a greater sum of labour, for it would then be commensurate with work, which is the developing process itself and the life of the human personality to which we must always have recourse when we endeavour to establish values. ”

“ Emulation therefore, or the passion of one man to equal or excel another, ought to be encouraged, with these two restrictions: First, that no man, let his merit be what it will, should take his own reward ”

“ Our notions of credit and merit are bound up with our notions of extraordinary rewards. The creditable action, the meritorious man, have a certain claim upon us, if only the claim of special recognition. ”

“ Something else is required to make a naturally good action supernaturally meritorious. The question of merit belongs to the dogmatic treatise on grace; here it will be sufficient to give something about the subject in outline, in order to round off our treatment of human acts. ”

“ The great human law that in the end recognizes and rewards merit is everlasting and universal. ”

“ From these principles, we may easily account for that merit which is commonly ascribed to generosity, humanity, compassion, gratitude, friendship, fidelity, zeal, disinterestedness, liberality, and all those other qualities which form the character of good and benevolent. ”

“ If you determine to face these hardships and still try, you will have the dignity of a high purpose, even though you may have chosen unfortunately. You will have some merit, though you may win no prize. ”

“ The Idea of what is true Merit should also be often presented to Youth, explain'd and impress'd on their Minds, as consisting in an Inclination join'd with an Ability to serve Mankind, one's Country, Friends and Family ”

“ Value of True Merit.—But the saddest thing is to see a man get sore at heart and quit trying because he thinks that his merit is not recognized. Make the merit big enough, and it is sure to win. [Pg 115] Someone will find it out, and buy your superior services. ”

“ The fourth class comprises the highest virtues, the qualities useful to others, benevolence and justice. Pleasure and utility are in all cases the criterion of merit. The monkish virtues of humility and mortification of the flesh, which bring no pleasure or advantage either to their possessor or to society, are considered meritorious by no one who understands the subject. ”

“ That is rather difficult, but the merit in all things consists in the difficulty. ”

“ You aim to be distinguished, and you turn out only meritorious. You aim to be meritorious, and you fall into the multitude. You are content with being of the multitude, and you fall out of your class entirely. ”

“ Honour and dignity are rated high in the king's books. He does not ask, What reward has been given Mordecai? what money? what estate? but only, What honour?—a poor thing, and which, if he had not wherewith to support it, would be but a burden. 4. The greatest merits and the best services are often overlooked and go unrewarded among men. Little honour is done to those who best deserve it, and fittest for it, and would do most good with it. ”

“ 437.—We should not judge of a man's merit by his great abilities, but by the use he makes of them. ”

“ Nor in the list of names which follow, is any thing further presumed to be intimated, than that good fortune came in aid of superior talents and [154] great real merit, with such exceptions and qualifications as readers may choose to make, according to their respective feelings and prejudices, as well as from the extent of their personal knowledge. ”

“ But all men who have any striking intellectual gifts or moral excellencies will be subject to this refiner’s fire, and if they pass through it uninjured they will prove that they are made of very pure metal. As we remarked on verse 2, page 725, merit will win praise, and therefore every deserving man will be more or less subject to this test, and his conduct and bearing under it will reveal the real character of his motives and the strength of his principles. ”

“ Merit and good works is the end of man's motion, and conscience of the same is the accomplishment of man's rest; ”

“ They presuppose a certain number of notions existing among all men, at least to some degree. Good and evil, duty and obligation, conscience, [Pg 2] liberty and responsibility, virtue and vice, merit and demerit, sanction, punishment and reward, are notions which the philosopher has not invented, but which he has borrowed from common sense, to return them again cleared and deepened. ”