Flattery Quotes - Page 12

• The reason that adulation is not displeasing is that, though untrue, it shows one to be of consequence enough, in one way or other, to induce people to lie.

  Lord Byron

  Lying, People, Way

  Lord Byron (2013). “Delphi Complete Works of Lord Byron (Illustrated)”, p.2986, Delphi Classics

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• And this is woman's fate: all her affections are called into life by winning flatteries, and then thrown back upon themselves to perish; and her heart, her trusting heart, filled with weak tenderness, is left to bleed or break!

  Letitia Elizabeth Landon

  Heart, Fate, Winning

  Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1835). “The Miscellaneous Poetical Works”, p.173

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• Abject flattery and indiscriminate assentation degrade, as much as indiscriminate contradiction and noisy debate disgust. But a modest assertion of one's own opinion, and a complaisant acquiescence in other people's, preserve dignity.

  Doug Stanhope

  People, Acquiescence, Dignity

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• I recommend to you, in my last, an innocent piece of art: that of flattering people behind their backs, in presence of those who, to make their own court, much more than for your sake, will not fail to repeat, and even amplify, the praise to the party concerned. This is of all flattery the most pleasing, and consequently the most effectual.

  Doug Stanhope

  Art, People, Pieces

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• Because all men are apt to flatter themselves, to entertain the addition of other men's praises is most perilous.

  Walter Raleigh

  Men, Praise

  Sir Walter Raleigh (1829). “The Works of Sir Walter Ralegh, Kt., Now First Collected: Miscellaneous works”

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• Flatterers are the worst kind of traitors, for they will strengthen thy imperfections, encourage thee in all evils, correct thee in nothing, but so shadow and paint thy follies and vices as thou shalt never, by their will, discover good from evil, or vice from virtue.

  Walter Raleigh

  Evil, Imperfection, Shadow

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• If we never flattered ourselves we should have but scant pleasure.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Should Have, Pleasure, Flattered

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• After watching the State of the Union address the other night [1994], I'm reminded of the old adage that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Only in this case, it's not flattery, but grand larceny: the intellectual theft of ideas that you and I recognize as our own. Speech delivery counts for little on the world stage unless you have convictions, and, yes, the vision to see beyond the front row seats.

  Ronald Reagan

  Leadership, Night, Ideas

  Remarks on the Occasion of 83rd Birthday Gala, delivered 3 February 1994

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• We never slam the door on flattery, we nudge it shut like a man rejecting his mistress: if she nudges back, we're delighted – and if she breaks it down, we rejoice.

  Walter Wangerin

  Men, Doors, Mistress

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• flattery would be worse than vain; there is no consolation in flattery.

  Charlotte Bronte

  Would Be, Vain, Consolation

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• A fool can no more see his own folly than he can see his ears.

  William Makepeace Thackeray

  Ears, Fool, Folly

  William Makepeace Thackeray (1870). “Miscellanies: Prose and Verse”, p.87

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• But here's the joy: my friend and I are one, Sweet flattery!

  William Shakespeare

  Sweet, Joy, Excitement

  William Shakespeare (1864). “The Works of William Shakespeare”, p.1036

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• I get out my work and have a show for myself before I have it publicly. I make up my own mind about it-how good or bad or indifferent it is. After that, the critics can write what they please. I have already settled it for myself so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free.

  Georgia O'Keeffe

  Writing, Mind, Criticism

  Georgia O'Keeffe (1977). “Georgia O'Keeffe”, Viking Pr

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• O Beauty, find thyself in love, not in the flattery of thy mirror.

  Rabindranath Tagore

  Beauty, Mirrors, Thyself

  Rabindranath Tagore, Mohit Kumar Ray (2007). “Poems”, p.400, Atlantic Publishers & Dist

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• The simulated approval and affection with which parents and teachers are often urged to solve behavior problems are counterfeit. So are flattery, backslap-ping, and many other ways of "winning friends.

  B. F. Skinner

  Teacher, Winning, Parent

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• Sometimes we think we dislike flattery, but it is only the way it is done that we dislike.

  Francois de La Rochefoucauld

  Thinking, Done, Way

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• Some folks pay a compliment like they went down in their pocket for it.

  Kin Hubbard

  Pay, Pockets, Compliment

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• The best way to sell yourself to others is first to sell the others to yourself. Check yourself against this list of obstacles to a pleasing personality: interrupting others; sarcasm; vanity; being a poor listener; insincere flattery; finding fault; challenging others without good cause; giving unsolicited advice; complaining; attitude of superiority; envy of others' success; poor posture and dress.

  Harold Geneen

  Attitude, Sarcasm, Vanity

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• Attention is a silent and perpetual flattery.

  Sophie Swetchine

  Attention, Silent, Perpetual

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• Popular culture is a place where pity is called compassion, flattery is called love, propaganda is called knowledge, tension is called peace, gossip is called news, and auto-tune is called singing.

  Criss Jami

  Compassion, Auto Tune, Gossip

  Criss Jami (2015). “Killosophy”, p.80, Criss Jami

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• There can hardly, I believe, be imagined a more desirable pleasure than that of praise unmixed with any possibility of flattery.

  Richard Steele

  Believe, Praise, Pleasure

  Joseph Addison, Sir Richard Steele (1826). “The Spectator: With Notes, and a General Index”, p.310

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• The god-who-serves-ME requires flattery, not worship.

  Tom Wells

  Worship

  Tom Wells (1985). “A vision for missions”, Banner of Truth

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• Flattery won't hurt you if you don't swallow it.

  Kin Hubbard

  Hurt, Ifs

  Kin Hubbard, David S. Hawes (1995). “The Best of Kin Hubbard: Abe Martin's Sayings and Wisecracks, Abe's Neighbors, His Almanack, Comic Drawings”, p.28, Indiana University Press

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• Persons who discover a flatterer, do not always disapprove him, because he imagines them considerable enough to deserve his applications.

  William Shenstone

  Imagine, Enough, Application

  William Shenstone (1804). “Essays on Men and Manners”, p.142

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• The most that can be said of flattery is that it is sometimes a cheap psychological trick with which charlatans and dishonest people lull others into a state of carelessness while they pick their pockets.

  Napoleon Hill

  People, Pockets, Sometimes

  Napoleon Hill (2009). “How To Sell Your Way Through Life”, p.20, John Wiley and Sons

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