Arrogance on the part of the meritorious is even more offensive to us than the arrogance of those without merit: for merit itself is offensive. — Friedrich Nietzsche
Virtues are acquired through endeavor, which rests wholly upon yourself. — Sidney Lanier
It is the duty of every one to strive to gain and deserve a good reputation. — Francis Atterbury
Men of real merit, and whose noble and glorious deeds we are ready to acknowledge, are yet not to be endured when they vaunt their own actions. — Aeschines
Without virtue, and without integrity, the finest talents and the most brilliant accomplishments can never gain the respect, and conciliate the esteem, of the truly valuable part of mankind. — George Washington
A man attains greatness by his merits, not simply by occupying an exalted seat. Can we call a crow an eagle (garuda) simply because he sits on the top of a tall building. — Chanakya
It is the privilege of any human work which is well done to invest the doer with a certain haughtiness. He can well afford not to conciliate, whose faithful work will answer for him. — Ralph Waldo Emerson
Of all the properties which belong to honorable men, not one is so highly prized as that of character. — Henry Clay
Short Merit Quotes
Love has no awareness of merit or demerit; it has no scale... Love loves; this is its nature. — Howard Thurman
A doctor who keeps a person from becoming ill deserves more merit than one who cures him. — Vincent de Paul
Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. — Mark Twain
Don’t look for more honor than your learning merits. — Jewish Proverbs
Dance can reveal everything mysterious that is hidden in music — Charles Baudelaire
An alleged scientific discovery has no merit unless it can be explained to a barmaid. — Ernest Rutherford
Felicity, not fluency of language, is a merit. — Edwin Percy Whipple
Politics is the exercise of power without merit. — Naval Ravikant
If living on fruits and water is of superior merit, monkeys and fish will go to heaven before men. — Meera
Merit Image Quotes
Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.
Merit System Quotes
We live in a system that espouses merit, equality, and a level playing field, but exalts those with wealth, power, and celebrity, however gained. — Derrick Bell
Forces of Destruction: grades in school, merit system, incentive pay, business plans, quotas. — W. Edwards Deming
As a means of dispensing formulated ignorance our boasted public school system is not without merit; it spreads out education sufficiently thin to give everyone enough to make him a more competent fool than he would have been without it. — Ambrose Bierce
The market system requires that people be committed and willing to work hard. Inherent with that is what I call a merit system, which I think gives people the greatest opportunity. — Lee R. Raymond
The security provided by a long-held belief system, even when poorly founded, is a strong impediment to progress. General acceptance of a practice becomes the proof of its validity, though it lacks all other merit. — Bernard Lown
Since I have difficulty defining merit and what merit alone means - and in any context, whether it's judicial or otherwise - I accept that different experiences in and of itself, bring merit to the system. — Sonia Sotomayor
The only conduct that merits the drastic remedy of impeachment is that which subverts our system of government or renders the president unfit or unable to govern. — Charles Ruff
I've been using Vista on my home laptop since it shipped, and can say with some conviction that nobody should be using it as their primary operating system - it simply has no redeeming merits to overcome the compatibility headaches it causes. — Joel Spolsky
For all its considerable merits and inspirational principles, the American system is based upon a continuous uninterrupted process of election campaigns, stretching out year after year. Lost in the perpetual scramble is any long-term vision. — Queen Noor of Jordan
It makes common sense to be managed by results and it's freeing to know you are in control of your own destiny. I'm so passionate about this because I have seen how merit-based judgment has helped create individual successes and yield a better system for everyone. — Maynard Webb
Merit Day Quotes
And the issue is never the merits of the evidence but always the jealous rivalry of the contestants to see which would be the official light unto the world. Right down to the present day we have been the spectators of a foolish contest between equally vain and bigoted rivals. — Hugh Nibley
The noble art of losing face may one day save the human race and turn into eternal merit what weaker minds would call disgrace. — Piet Pieterszoon Hein
Cagey trial lawyers have figured out there's a pretty good likelihood their case - no matter what its merit - will literally get its day in court because of favorable judges. — Dennis Hastert
Even offering three hundred bowls of food three times a day does not match the spiritual merit gained in one moment of love. — Akkineni Nagarjuna
The worst class of sum worked in the every-day world is cyphered by the diseased arithmeticians who are always in the rule of Subtraction as to the merits and successes of others, and never in Addition as to their own. — Charles Dickens
Oh Beer! Oh Hodgson, Guinness, Allsop, Bass! Names that should be on every infant's tongue! Shall days and months and years and centuries pass, And still your merits be unrecked, unsung? — Charles Stuart Calverley
By meditating on affectionate love and wishing love for just one moment we accumulate greater merit than we would by giving food three times every day to all those who are hungry in the world. — Geshe Kelsang Gyatso
The days when it was possible to win a serious game only by merit of sporting character or depth of chess understanding have vanished forever. Chess knowledge has become dominant, bypassing all the other factors that contribute to success. — Anatoly Karpov
Proper effort is not the effort to make something particular happen. It is the effort to be aware and awake each moment, the effort to overcome laziness and merit, the effort to make each activity of our day meditation. — Ajahn Chah
Without Merit Quotes
God preordained, for his own glory and the display of His attributes of mercy and justice, a part of the human race, without any merit of their own, to eternal salvation, and another part, in just punishment of their sin, to eternal damnation. — John Calvin
Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving. — William Shakespeare
The heart is that which lies at the centre of things, and is also formless. It is simple awareness devoid of movement to and fro, of past and future, within and without, merit and harm. Wherever the centre of a thing lies, there lies its heart, for the word 'heart' means centrality. — Ajahn Thate
The artist is today and has been for many years, despite his absence of merit, simply a spoiled child. So many honors, so much money bestowed on men without souls and without education. — Charles Baudelaire
...Fatherland without freedom and merit is a large word with little meaning. — Anders Chydenius
Make Merit Quotes
The institution of religion exists only to keep mankind in order, and to make men merit the goodness of God by their virtue. Everything in a religion which does not tend towards this goal must be considered foreign or dangerous. — Voltaire
We start with gifts. Merit comes from what we make of them. — Jean Toomer
Each instance of sexual harassment has to be judged on its merits. Facts, timing, motives, credibility: all must be considered before we make up our own minds what to believe. — Anna Quindlen
what is sought by means of free choice is to make room for merits. — Martin Luther
Let us make of our homes sanctuaries of righteousness, places of prayer, and abodes of love, that we might merit the blessings that can come only from our Heavenly Father. — Thomas S. Monson
True merit is like a river, the deeper it is, the less noise it makes. — Edward F. Halifax
I am certain that if I have any merit, it is knowing how to make good use of my eyes, to guide the camera in its task of capturing not only colors, lights and shadows, but the movement of life itself. — Gabriel Figueroa
Vanity is a strong temptation to lying; it makes people magnify their merit, over flourish their family, and tell strange stories of their interest and acquaintance. — Jeremy Collier
Innovative ideas are rarely rejected on their merits; they’re rejected because of how they make people feel. If you forget people’s concerns and feelings when you present an innovation, or neglect to understand their perspectives in your design, you’re setting yourself up to fail. — Scott Berkun
Literary Merit Quotes
The book trade invented literary prizes to stimulate sales, not to reward merit. — Michael Moorcock
Nathaniel Philbrick's 'In the Heart of the Sea' has rightfully taken its place as a classic for its literary merits. It has a special place in the cannibalism canon as well. — Mitchell Zuckoff
There is no test of literary merit except survival, which is itself an index to majority opinion. — George Orwell
...book-buyers aren't attracted, by and large, by the literary merits of a novel: book-buyers want a good story...something that will first fascinate them, then pull them in and keep them turning the pages. — Stephen King
A man of letters, merely by reading a phrase, can estimate exactly the literary merit of its author. — Marcel Proust
The bosom of America is open to receive not only the Opulent and respectable Stranger, but the oppressed and persecuted of all Nations And Religions; whom we shall wellcome to a participation of all our rights and previleges... — George Washington
Life is short and the time of death is uncertain; so apply yourself to meditation. Avoid doing evil, and acquire merit, to the best of your ability, even at the cost of life itself. In short: Act so that you have no cause to be ashamed of yourselves and hold fast to this rule. — Milarepa
If I have any merit, it is getting along with individuals, according to their ways and characteristics. At times it involves suppressing yourself. It is painful, but necessary. To be a leader you have got to lead human beings with affection. — J. R. D. Tata
The Devil writes down our sins - our Guardian Angel all our merits. Labor that the Guardian Angel's book may be full, and the Devil's empty. — John Vianney
Heaven is by favor; if it were by merit your dog would go in and you would stay out. Of all the creatures ever made (man) is the most detestable. Of the entire brood, he is the only one... that possesses malice. He is the only creature that inflicts pain for sport, knowing it to be pain. — Mark Twain
In the new covenant, God doesn't want us to be blessed when we obey the law and cursed when we fail. Doesn't such a system sound awfully similar to the old covenant? Grace is the undeserved, unmerited and unearned favor of God - the moment you try to merit the free favors of God, His grace is nullified. — Joseph Prince
While Europe's eye is fix'd on mighty things, The fate of empires and the fall of kings; While quacks of State must each produce his plan, And even children lisp the Rights of Man; Amid this mighty fuss just let me mention, The Rights of Woman merit some attention. — Robert Burns
They who pray with faith have fervour and fervour is the fire of prayer. This mysterious fire has the power of consuming all our faults and imperfections, and of giving to our actions, vitality, beauty and merit. — Frances Xavier Cabrini
Unfortunately there was one thing that the white South feared more than Negro dishonesty, ignorance, and incompetency, and that was Negro honesty, knowledge, and efficiency. — W. E. B. Du Bois
Not only the adoration of images is idolatry, but also trust in one's own righteousness, works and merits, and putting confidence in riches and power. As the latter is the commonest, so it also is the most noxious. — Martin Luther
The person who knows one thing and does it better than anyone else, even if it only be the art of raising lentils, receives the crown he merits. If he raises all his energy to that end, he is a benefactor of mankind and its rewarded as such. — Og Mandino
To believe something in the face of evidence and against reason - to believe something by faith - is ignoble, irresponsible and ignorant, and merits the opposite of respect. — A.C. Grayling
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 — Zoroaster
I've enjoyed every age I've been, and each has had its own individual merit. Every laugh line, every scar, is a badge I wear to show I've been present, the inner rings of my personal tree trunk that I display proudly for all to see. Nowadays, I don't want a "perfect" face and body; I want to wear the life I've lived. — Pat Benatar
In point of substantial merit the law school belongs in the modern university no more than a school of fencing or dancing. — Thorstein Veblen
In the New Testament grace means God's love in action towards men who merited the opposite of love. Grace means God moving heaven and earth to save sinners who could not lift a finger to save themselves. — J. I. Packer
Democracy is nothing but the Tyranny of Majorities, the most abominable tyranny of all, for it is not based on the authority of a religion, not upon the nobility of a race, not on the merits of talents and of riches. It merely rests upon numbers and hides behind the name of the people. — Pierre-Joseph Proudhon
If heaven were by merit, it would never be heaven to me, for if I were in it I should say, "I am sure I am here by mistake; I am sure this is not my place; I have no claim to it." But if it be of grace and not of works, then we may walk into heaven with boldness. — Charles Spurgeon
Cloning may be good and it may be bad. Probably it's a bit of both. The question must not be greeted with reflex hysteria but decided quietly, soberly and on its own merits. We need less emotion and more thought. — Richard Dawkins
We poor sinners need to come back from our wanderings to seek pardon through the all-sufficient merits of our Redeemer. And we need to pray earnestly for the power of the Holy Spirit to give us a precious revival in our hearts and among the unconverted. — Robert E. Lee
. . . Our Lord humbles in order to raise up, and allows the suffering of interior and exterior afflictions in order to bring about peace. He often desires some things more than we do, but wants us to merit the grace of accomplishing them by several practices of virtue and to beg for this with many prayers. — Vincent de Paul
The most Blessed Virgin Mary, in the first instant of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege granted by almighty God, in view of the merits of Jesus Christ, the savior of the human race, was preserved free from all stain of original sin. — Pope Pius IX
Such is life, here today, gone tomorrow! Nothing goes with one, except one's merit and demerit; good and evil deeds follow one even after death. — Sarada Devi
I beseech you never to deprive me of your most noble patronage and to believe me when I say that I will never forget a prince so replete with goodness and great merits. — Antonio Vivaldi
But there is merit even in the mentally retarded legislator. He asks the questions that everyone is afraid to ask for fear of seeming simple. — John Kenneth Galbraith
I don’t object to some people being richer, even much richer, than others. I object to gain of wealth through political connections rather than earning it by merit. — Edward O. Thorp
I don’t object to some people being richer… I object to gain of wealth through political connections rather than earning it by merit. — Edward O. Thorp
When emulation leads us to strive for self-elevation by merit alone, and not by belittling another, then it is one of the grandest possible incentives to action. — Samuel Johnson
Photography has every right and every merit to claim our attention as the art of our age. — Alexander Rodchenko
In Conclusion
Which quotation resonated with you best? Did you enjoy our collection of merit quotes? Or may be you have a slogan about merit to suggest. Let us know using our contact form.
Citation
Feel free to cite and use any of the quotes in this collection of merit quotations. For popular citation styles(APA, Chicago, MLA), please use this citation page.
