The world oftener rewards the appearance of merit than merit itself.
[Le monde récompense plus souvent les apparences du mérite que le mérite même.]
François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613–1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶166 (1665-1678) [tr. Bund/Friswell (1871)]
(Source)
Present in the 1st (1665) edition. In manuscript form, this maxim was much longer:The world, failing to recognize true merit, has no intention of rewarding it; thus, it elevates to positions of greatness and dignity only those who possess superficial charms, generally crowning whatever glitters — even though not all that glitters is gold.
[Le monde, ne connoissant pas le véritable mérite, n’a garde de le vouloir récompenser ; aussi n’élève-t-il pas à ses grandeurs et à ses dignités que des personnes qui ont de belles qualités, et il couronne généralement tout ce qui luit, quoique tout ce qui luit ne soit pas de l’or.]
See also ¶162.
(Source (French)). Other translations:The appearances of Goodness and Desert often meet with a greater reward from the World, than real Goodness and Desert itself.
[tr. Stanhope (1694), ¶167]The appearance of merit is oftener rewarded by the world than merit itself.
[pub. Donaldson (1783), ¶310; ed. Lepoittevin-Lacroix (1797), ¶160]The affectation of merit is oftener rewarded than merit itself.
[ed. Carvill (1835), ¶273]The world more often rewards the appearances of merit than it does merit itself.
[ed. Gowens (1851), ¶169]Apparent virtue is more often praised than true merit.
[tr. Heard (1917), ¶166]The world bestows its prizes more often upon the semblance of merit than upon merit itself.
[tr. FitzGibbon (1957), ¶166]The world oftener rewards the appearance of merit than merit itself.
[tr. Kronenberger (1959), ¶166]The world more often rewards outward signs of merit than merit itself.
[tr. Tancock (1959), ¶166]The world more often rewards the appearance of merit than it does the thing itself.
[tr. Whichello (2016) ¶166]
