In view of all this, I have no doubt that Cambyses was completely out of his mind; it is the only possible explanation of his assault upon, and mockery of, everything which ancient law and custom have made sacred in Egypt. If anyone, no matter who, were given the opportunity of choosing from amongst all the nations in the world the set of beliefs which he thought best, he would inevitably, after careful consideration of their relative merits, choose that of his own country. Everyone without exception believes his own native customs, and the religion he was brought up in, to be the best; and that being so, it is unlikely that anyone but a madman would mock at such things. There is abundant evidence that this is the universal feeling about the ancient customs of one's country. One might recall, in particular, an anecdote of Darius. When he was king of Persia, he summoned the Greeks who happened to be present in his court, and asked them what they would take to eat the dead bodies of their fathers. They replied that they would not do it for any money in the world. Later, in the presence of the Greeks, and through an interpreter, so that they could understand what was said, he asked some Indians, of the tribe called the Callatiae, who do in fact eat their parents' dead bodies, what they would take to burn them. They uttered a cry of horror and forbade him to mention such a dreadful thing. One can see by this what custom can do, and Pindar, in my opinion, was right when he called it king of all.
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None merits the name of Creator but God and the poet.
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Whoever is admitted or sought for, in company, upon any other account than that of his merit and manners, is never respected there, but only made use of. We will have such-a-one, for he sings prettily; we will invite such-a-one to a ball, for he dances well; we will have such-a-one at supper, for he is always joking and laughing; we will ask another because he plays deep at all games, or because he can drink a great deal. These are all vilifying distinctions, mortifying preferences, and exclude all ideas of esteem and regard. Whoever is had (as it is called) in company for the sake of any one thing singly, is singly that thing, and will never be considered in any other light; consequently never respected, let his merits be what they will.
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When you overpay small people you frighten them. They know that their merits or activities entitle them to no such sums as they are receiving. As a result their boss soars out of economic into magic significance. He becomes a source of blessings rather than wages. Criticism is sacrilege, doubt is heresy.
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The person who knows one thing and does it better than anyone else, even if it only be the art of raising lentils, receives the crown he merits. If he raises all his energy to that end, he is a benefactor of mankind and its rewarded as such.
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Who is the happiest of men? He who values the merits of others, and in their pleasure takes joy, even as though t'were his own.
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If you wish in this world to advance, your merits you're bound to enhance You must stir it and stump it, and blow your own trumpet, or trust me, you haven't a chance.
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Grace is not against good works It simply does not bless on the basis of good works. We receive blessing from God based solely on the merits of His Son--blessings freely given to us in Christ and nowhere else. The completeness that is in Christ mean deliverance from trying to 'be good' and 'do right' in order to be accepted by God.
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Faith is a cop-out. If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it cant be taken on its own merits.
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Remove advertising, disable a person or firm from proclaiming its wares and their merits, and the whole of society and of the economy is transformed. The enemies of advertising are the enemies of freedom.
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If you wish in this world to advance Your merits you're bound to enhance You must stir it and stump it, And blow your own trumpet, Or, trust me, you haven't a chance.
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Faith is a cop-out. If the only way you can accept an assertion is by faith, then you are conceding that it can’t be taken on its own merits.
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If you push her around in terms of her husband, women are going to get pissed off and say she should be judged on her merits.
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He who boasts of his ancestry praises the merits of another. - Hercules Furens
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Jealousy would be far less torturous if we understood that love is a passion entirely unrelated to our merits.
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Don't look for more honor than your learning merits.
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Riches and power are but gifts of blind fate, whereas goodness is the result of one's own merits.
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We ought not to judge of men's merits by their qualifications, but by the use they make of them.
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The tendency of things runs steadily to this point, namely, to put every man on his merits, and to give him so much power as he naturally exer...
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We know our friends by their defects rather than by their merits.
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