Envy will merit, as its shade, pursue, But, like the shadow, proves the substance true. - Alexander Pope
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
I realized that conservatism was the philosophy that best suited me, with its emphasis on individual liberty, personal responsibility, and merit. - Mark R. Levin
To be wicked is never excusable, but there is some merit in knowing that you are; the most irreparable of vices is to do evil from stupidity. - Charles Baudelaire
Be thou the first true merit to befriend, his praise is lost who stays till all commend. - Alexander Pope
Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. - Mark Twain
In science, 'fact' can only mean 'confirmed to such a degree that it would be perverse to withhold provisional assent.' I suppose that apples might start to rise tomorrow, but the possibility does not merit equal time in physics classrooms. - Stephen Jay Gould
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
Nothing, how little so ever it be, if it is suffered for God’s sake, can pass without merit in the sight of God. - Thomas à Kempis
Mere grimness is as easy as grinning; but it requires something to put a handsome face on a story. Narratives become of suspicious merit in proportion as they lean to Newgate-like offenses, particularly of blood and wounds... - Leigh Hunt
Praise in the beginning is agreeable enough; and we receive it as a favor; but when it comes in great quantities, we regard it only as a debt, which nothing but our merit could extort.
Everything that is experienced through the five senses is all ‘discharge’. It is due to one’s merit karmas that everything works according to one’s wishes, but he claims, ‘I did it’ and when one faces losses, he will say, ‘God did it’ or ‘my horoscope is unfavorable’. - Dada Bhagwan
And that you seek forgiveness of your Lord, and then turn to Him. He will provide for you a goodly provision until an appointed term. And He will grant His grace to every one possessed of merit. And if you turn away, then surely, I fear for you the punishment of a dreadful day. - Anonymous The Quran
FREEBOOTER, n. A conqueror in a small way of business, whose annexations lack of the sanctifying merit of magnitude. - Ambrose Bierce
An unpublished writer should doubt themselves. They should constantly wonder whether what they’re creating has merit. And then, having doubted, they should take up their pen and see if they can’t make it better. - Johnny Rich
A few thoughts on crime and punishment:Punishment—either don’t merit it, or learn to embrace it.It is easy to endure punishment, much harder to accept it.Committing a crime is like incurring a debt: you can either pay it off now, or pay it off later—with interest. - Clifford Cohen
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
Whoever destroys a single life is as guilty as though he had destroyed the entire world; and whoever rescues a single life earns as much merit as though he had rescued the entire world. - The Talmud
What then remains, but well our power to use,And keep good humour still whate’er we lose?And trust me, dear, good humour can prevail,When airs, and flights, and screams, and scolding fail.Beauties in vain their pretty eyes may roll;Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul - Alexander Pope
When you remove the concept of reward and punishment on merit, the result is the utter destruction of social fabric. - Imran Khan
You speak of the good conduct of your ancestors. As your own conduct is under discussion, and not theirs, I cannot see how their former good character can at all serve your present purpose. Fortunately for our country, every man stands upon his own merit. - Stephen Decatur
POLONIUS : My Lord, I will use them according to their desert.HAMLET : God's bodykins man, better. Use every man after his desert, and who should 'scape whipping? Use them after your own honour and dignity. The less they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty. - William Shakespeare
When a ship without a functioning rudder and compass miraculously sails safely to the shore, let not the Captain take praise for such success. It is not his place to claim merit. He should nevertheless, be prosecuted for failing as a Captain. - Prinx Maurice
The lamentable expression: 'But it was only a dream", the increasing use of which - among others in the domain of the cinema - has contributed not a little to encourage such hypocrisy, has for a long while ceased to merit discussion. - André Breton
Humanity is mediocre. The majority of women are neither superior nor inferior to the majority ofmen. They are all equal. They all merit the same scorn. - Valentine de Saint-Point
Anyone with a great product to sell should never criticize competing products. Your product should sell on its own merit. Consumers want the best of the best, not the best of a bad situation. - Zack W. Van
If you wish your merit to be known, acknowledge that of other people. - Oriental Proverb
Never expose yourself unnecessarily to danger; a miracle may not save you...and if it does, it will be deducted from your share of luck or merit. - The Talmud
Reputation is an idle and most false imposition; oft got without merit, and lost without deserving. - William Shakespeare
Some people have goodness and merit buried deep inside and we glimpse it and see its value but ultimately it's covered by so much dirt that it's a 24/7 exercise in archaeology. - Kelli Jae Baeli
In truth, ideas and principles are independent of men; the application of them and their illustration is man's duty and merit. The time will come when the author of a view shall be set aside, and the view only taken cognizance of. This will be the millennium of Science. - Edward Forbes
No matter what genre of Author you are, the true merit of your work lies not within what dreams you inspire in others with your work, but who you help to to achieve their dreams. Author Jude Ouvrard has gone over and beyond, as had Author Anna Othitis in that department. - Books On Fire Tour
People are fond of spouting out the old clich%uFFFD about how Van Gogh never sold a painting in his lifetime. Somehow his example serves to justify to us, decades later, that there is somehow merit in utter failure. Perhaps, but the man did commit suicide. - Hugh Macleod
Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. - Mark Twain
The painter will produce pictures of little merit if he takes the works of others as his standard. - Leonardo da Vinci