Every man kills the
Every man kills the things that he loves. Some with a look, some with flattery, the coward with a kiss. Eric Jerome Dickey
Flattery
Our credulity is greatest
Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about. And since we know least about ourselves, we are ready to believe all that is said about us. Hence the mysterious power of both flattery and calumny. Eric Hoffer
We rightly scorn those
We rightly scorn those who have no made use of their defects, who have not exploited their deficiencies, and have not been enriched by their losses, as we despise any man who does not suffer at being a man or simply at being. Hence no graver insult can be inflicted than to call someone ‘happy’, … Read more
Flattery is a challenge.
Flattery is a challenge. The proper turning away from it, undercutting, diminishing it without offense or vehemence, is a social grace sweeter even than the swift determination to keep ahead in the race of hospitality. Elizabeth Hardwick
Flattery is praise without
Flattery is praise without foundation. Eliza Leslie
You cannot rationalize what
You cannot rationalize what is not rational to begin with – as if lying were called truthization. There is no way to obtain more truth for a proposition by bribery, flattery, or the most passionate argument – you can make more people believe the proposition, but you cannot make it more true. Eliezer Yudkowsky
Beware of flattery! \\’tis
Beware of flattery! ’tis a flowery weed, Which oft offends the very idol-vice, Whose shrine it would perfume. Elijah Fenton
The voice of history
The voice of history is often little more than the organ of hatred or flattery. Edward Gibbon
Flattery is a foolish
Flattery is a foolish suicide; she destroys herself with her own hands. Edward Gibbon
Flattery is no more
Flattery is no more than what raises in a man’s mind an idea of a preference which he has not. Edmund Burke