Flattery Quotes

What really flatters a man is that you think him worth flattery.

~ George Bernard Shaw

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

Some fellows pay a compliment like they expected a receipt.

~ Kin Hubbard

I can live for two months on a good compliment.

~ Mark Twain

A compliment is a gift not to be thrown away carelessly unless you want to hurt the giver.

~ Eleanor Hamilton

Tis an old maxim in the schools That flattery's the food of fools - Yet now and then your men of wit Will condescend to take a bit.

~ Jonathan Swift

The true test of independent judgement is being able to dislike someone who admires us.

~ Sydney J. Harris

Once in a century a man may be ruined or made insufferable by praise. But surely once a minute something generous dies for want of it.

~ John Masefield

Few human beings are proof against the implied flattery of rapt attention.

~ Jack Woodford

Some natures are too good to be spoiled by praise.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

An ingenuous mind feels in unmerited praise the bitterest reproof.

~ Walter Savage Landor

It is simpler and easier to flatter men than to praise them.

~ Jean Paul Richter

What a situation!' cried Miss Squeers; '...What is the reason that men fall in love with me, whether I like it or not, and desert their chosen intendeds for my sake?' 'Because they can't help it, miss,' replied the girl; 'the reason's plain.' (If Miss Squeers were the reason, it was very plain.)

~ Charles Dickens

We should keep silent about those in power; to speak well of them almost implies flattery; to speak ill of them while they are alive is dangerous, and when they are dead is cowardly.

~ Jean De La Bruyère

Flattery is like cologne water, to be smelt, not swallowed.

~ Josh Billings