He who boasts of his ancestry praises the merits of another

He who boasts of his descent, praises the deed of another.

— Seneca the Younger

Constant success shows us but one side of the world. For as it surrounds us with friends who will tell us only our merits,…

— Charles Caleb Colton

Throughout the early and mid-1990s, the Clinton administration debated the merits of paying for AIDS testing and counseling of vulnerable populations overseas.

— Barton Gellman

I've never compromised who I am not ever. If I've gotten anywhere in my life it's been on my own merits.

— Cher

Corporate corruption has ecological merits. It's helping to preserve that species known as Democrats - thought to be endangered as recently as the year 2000.

— P. J. O'Rourke

As for pineapple, it's far more versatile than you might think, and certainly merits wider use than in Hawaiian pizzas and pina coladas and…

— Yotam Ottolenghi

Whatever may be the merits of a religious system, its effects upon the mass of mankind must depend in an important degree upon its…

— Benjamin Robbins Curtis

None merits the name of Creator but God and the poet.

— Torquato Tasso

“Valys also didn't think I was good enough for him. He made that clear every time he acted like a martyr forced to settle.…

— Nenia Campbell

“Nature evaluates a character on the basis of its merits, not demerits.”

— Raheel Farooq

“You yourself desire rank and standing; then help others to get rank and standing. You want to turn your merits to account; then help…

— Confucius

Don't look for more honor than your learning merits.

— Jewish Proverb

It would be amazing if we were just basically judged on the merits of what we do, but we're not. That's not part of…

— Aspen Ladd

Well, just that there would be somebody in the office and the voters - it was more or less an understanding in the entire…

— Stephen Breyer

Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits.

— Mason Cooley