Some people displease with merit, and others' very faults and defects are pleasing.

Self-interest makes some people blind, and others sharp-sighted.

People's personalities, like buildings, have various facades, some pleasant to view, some not.

There is merit without elevation, but there is no elevation without some merit. [Fr., Il y a du merite sans elevation mais il n'y a point d'elevation sans quelque merite.]

There is a season for man's merit as well as for fruit. [Fr., Le merite des hommes a sa saison aussi bien que les fruits.]

The world rewards the appearance of merit oftener than merit itself. [Fr., Le monde recompense plus souvent les apparences de merite que le merite meme.]