Honour, I say, or honest Fame, <br />I mean the substance, not the name; <br />(Not that light heap of tawdry wares, <br />Ermin, Coronets, and Stars, <br />Which often is by merit sought, <br />By gold and flatt'ry oft'ner bought. <br />The shade, for which Ambition looks, <br />In Selden's or in Ashmole's books): <br />But the true glory which proceeds, <br />Reflected bright from honest deeds, <br />Which we in our Own breast perceive, <br />And Kings can neither take nor give.<br /><br />Matthew Prior<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/upon-honour-a-fragment/
