Christian Nestell Bovee Merit Quotations

In politics, merit is rewarded by the possessor being raised, like a target, to a position to be fired at.

A good thought is indeed a great boon, for which God is to be first thanked; next he who is the first to utter it, and then, in a lesser, but still in a considerable degree, the friend who is the first to quote it to us. Whoever adopts and circulates a just thought, participates in the merit that originated it.

The best evidence of merit is a cordial recognition of it whenever and wherever it may be found.

Merit is never so conspicuous as when coupled with an obscure origin, just as the moon never appears so lustrous as when it emerges from a cloud.