Merit

Famous quotes containing the word merit:

“The arrogance that accompanies merit offends us even more than the arrogance of people who are lacking in merit: since merit itself offends us.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)

“Fame is an accident; merit a thing absolute.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)

“Sentimentalists ... adopt whatever merit is in good repute, and almost make it hateful with their praise. The warmer their expressions, the colder we feel.... Cure the drunkard, heal the insane, mollify the homicide, civilize the Pawnee, but what lessons can be devised for the debauchee of sentiment?”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)