Let us be thankful for the fools; but for them the rest of us could not succeed.

Let us be thankful for the fools; but for them the rest of us could not succeed.

Nay, do not think I flatter.
For what advancement may I hope from thee,
That no revenue read more

Nay, do not think I flatter.
For what advancement may I hope from thee,
That no revenue hast but thy good spirits
To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be flattered?
No, let the candied tongue like absurd pomp,
And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee
Where thrift may follow fawning.

The skilful class of flatterers praise the discourse of an
ignorant friend and the face of a deformed one.
read more

The skilful class of flatterers praise the discourse of an
ignorant friend and the face of a deformed one.
[Lat., Adulandi gens prudentissima laudat
Sermonem indocti, faciem deformis amici.]

If you can't love, learn how to flatter.

If you can't love, learn how to flatter.

Knavery and flattery are blood relations.

Knavery and flattery are blood relations.

To be a man's own fool is bad enough; but the vain man is everybody's.

To be a man's own fool is bad enough; but the vain man is everybody's.

Flattery is all right so long as you don't inhale.

Flattery is all right so long as you don't inhale.

Avoid flatterers, for they are thieves in disguise.

Avoid flatterers, for they are thieves in disguise.

Mine eyes
Were not in fault, for she was beautiful;
Mine ears, that heard her flattery; nor read more

Mine eyes
Were not in fault, for she was beautiful;
Mine ears, that heard her flattery; nor my heart,
That thought her like her seeming. It had been vicious
To have mistrusted her.