A man is perhaps ungrateful, but often less chargeable with ingratitud — Merit

"View the whole scene, with critic judgment scan, And then deny him merit if you can. Where he falls short, tis Natures fault alone Where he succeeds, the merits all his own."

"By merit raised To that bad eminence."

"The spurns That patient merit of the unworthy takes."

"The art of being able to make a good use of moderate abilities wins esteem and often confers more reputation than real merit."

"Le monde récompense plus souvent les apparences de mérite que le mérite même."

"Thy fathers merit sets thee up to view, And shows thee in the fairest point of light, To make thy virtues, or thy faults, conspicuous."