Deserve Quotes
It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them.
"It is better to deserve honors and not have them than to have them and not deserve them."— Mark Twain
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Meaning of this quote
Deserving recognition matters more than receiving it without merit. Twain separates genuine worth from the unreliable distribution of public honour.
Key takeaway:
Give more weight to deserving recognition than to collecting it.
Origin of the quote
Signed Twain aphorism on a New Willard Hotel menu, January 28, 1906.
Who actually said this?
VerifiedThe Shapell Manuscript Foundation provides the manuscript and transcription. The post omits an introductory qualification and modernizes ampersands.
