He would punish everyone who deserved it: why, he wouldn't have minded being punished himself if he deserved it; but, then, he never did deserve it. 303

-Eliot, George pseudonym of  MaryAnn Evans
  Of  Tom Tulliver. The Mill on the Floss, bk.1. ch.5.

They were always†getting more credit than they deserved, more sorrow than they could bear, climbing into jobs before they were ready and failing just when they were succeeding.

-Reston,James B(arrett)
  Of John F, Robert F and Edward M Kennedy. Deadline.

It is not enough to refuse the Legion d'Honneur.One should never have deserved it.

-Satie, Erik Alfred Leslie
Of Maurice Ravel, who had declined the honour. Quoted by Alister Kershaw in TheAustralian,1991.