Merit quotes
374 quotes on this topic — from poets, philosophers, and thinkers across history.
Explore further
Browse quotes that often appear alongside merit — connected by shared ideas and recurring themes.
Quote collection
Follow a thought to its author, or read the full quote page.
"To be out of harmony with one's surroundings is of course a misfortune, but it is not always a misfortune to be avoided at all costs. Where the environment is stupid or prejudiced or cruel, it is a sign of merit to be out of harmony with it."
"Berkeley retains the merit of having shown that the existence of matter is capable of being denied without absurdity."
"Frege has the merit of ... finding a third assertion by recognising the world of logic which is neither mental nor physical."
"She alone had been blind to his merit. Why? Because he loved her and she did not love him. What was it in the human heart that made you despise a man because he loved you?"
"We have nothing to do but to receive, resting absolutely upon the merit, power, and love of our Redeemer."
"There is this notion that the lives of the comfortable-off middle class don't merit being treated seriously and with compassion."
"Success is a very hideous thing. Its false resemblance to merit deceives men."
"The merit claimed for the Anglican Church is that, if you let it alone, it will let you alone."
"To buried merit rise the tardy bust."
"See nations slowly wise, and meanly just, to buried merit raise the tardy bust."
"Merit rather enforces respect than attracts fondness."
"We must treat each man on his worth and merits as a man. We must see that each is given a square deal, because he is entitled to no more and should receive no less."
"Guessing right for the wrong reason does not merit scientific immortality."
"The great merit of Stephen Gould's account of the disastrous history of phychometrics is that he shifts the argument from a sterile contest between environmentalists and hereditarians and turns it into an argument between those who are impressed with what our biology stops us doing and those who are impressed with what it allows us to do."
"It has become harder and harder to find books on a monthly basis that I feel absolutely compelled to share, .. I will continue featuring books on the 'Oprah Winfrey Show' when I feel they merit my heartfelt recommendation."
"Love, all agreeable as it is, charms more by the fashion in which it displays itself, than by its own true merit."
"There is merit without rank, but there is no rank without some merit."
"The appearances of goodness and merit often meet with a greater reward from the world than goodness and merit themselves."
"That man, we may be sure, is a person of true worth, whom those who envy him most are yet forced to praise."
"There are two sorts of constancy in love one arises from continually discovering in the loved person new subjects for love, the other arises from our making a merit of being constant."
