'Tis not in mortals to command success, but we'll do more, Sempronius, we'll deserve it.
Here is a field open for talent; and here, merit will a have certain favor, and industry is graced with its due reward.
— Claudius
We may not always get what we want, but surely we will get what we deserve.
An ingenuous mind feels in unmerited praise the bitterest reproof.
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.
What is merit? The opinion one man entertains of another.
It is more honorable to be raised to a throne than to be born to one. Fortune bestows the one, merit obtains the other.
Charm strikes the sight, but merit wins the soul.
Merit is often an obstacle to fortune; the reason is it produces two bad effects, envy and fear.
— Proverb
Speak little and well if you wish to be esteemed a person of merit.
Merit, however inconsiderable, should be sought for and rewarded. Methods are the master of masters.