True Merit Quotes

“Franklin correctly saw the danger of creating a meritocratic aristocracy. His proposals for what became the University of Pennsylvania were designed not to filter a new elite but to provide opportunities and enrichment for all young people to succeed as best they could, whatever their level of talent. He aimed at what he called "true merit," which he defined as "an inclination joined with an ability to serve mankind, one's country, friends, and family, which... should indeed be the great aim and end of all learning.”
― Walter Isaacson, The Greatest Sentence Ever Written