Context

645 – “I have no prejudice against sect or race, but want each individual to be judged by his own merit.”

–Ulysses S Grant, 18th President of the United States of America

Context: Written in a letter where Grant explains the situation regarding his issuing of General Order No. 11, which expelled all Jews from his military district. He says he issued the order when upset after being  reprimanded over reports that some people, who happened to be Jewish, were accused of crossing the Union lines, in defiance of an earlier order, to sell black market goods, specifically cotton. He says that he regrets the order, and that he did not defend it then, and would not defend it now. For full context, the full letter can be read online through the link in the source.
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642 – “To arrive at a just estimate of a renowned man’s character one must judge it by the standards of his time, not ours. Judged by the standards of one century, the noblest characters of an earlier on lose much of their lustre; judged by the standards of today, there is probably no illustrious man of four or five centuries ago whose character could meet the test at all points.”

–Mark Twain
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