“You deserve a longer letter than this; but it is my unhappy fate seldom to treat people so well as they deserve.”

“Is Fate getting what you deserve, or deserving what you get?”

“People get the government their behavior deserves. People deserve better than that.”

“He does not deserve your praise, but he deserves to be treated as if someday he might.”

“Men will treat you the way you let them. There is no such thing as 'deserving' respect; you get what you demand from people.”

“The role and function of backbench politicians deserves to be treated with respect.”

“Society should treat all equally well who have deserved equally well of it, that is, who have deserved equally well absolutely. This is the highest abstract standard of social and distributive justice; towards which all institutions, and the efforts of all virtuous citizens, should be made in the utmost degree to converge.”

“I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.”

“A part of kindness consists in loving people more than they deserve.”

“Great minds had rather deserve contemporaneous applause, without obtaining it, than obtain, without deserving it; if it follow them, it is well, but they will not deviate to follow it. With inferior minds the reverse is observable.”