'Tis an old maxim in the schools,
That flattery's the food of fools;
Yet now and then read more

'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.

Let flattery, the handmaid of the vices, be far removed (from
friendship).
[Lat., Assentatio, vitiorum adjutrix, procul amoveatur.]

Let flattery, the handmaid of the vices, be far removed (from
friendship).
[Lat., Assentatio, vitiorum adjutrix, procul amoveatur.]

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.

They who delight to be flattered, pay for their folly by a late
repentance.
[Lat., Qu se laudari read more

They who delight to be flattered, pay for their folly by a late
repentance.
[Lat., Qu se laudari gaudent verbis subdolis,
Sera dant peonas turpes poenitentia.]

Nature has hardly formed a woman ugly enough to be insensible to flattery upon her person.

Nature has hardly formed a woman ugly enough to be insensible to flattery upon her person.

Knavery and flattery are blood relations.

Knavery and flattery are blood relations.

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.

Where Young must torture his invention
To flatter knaves, or lose his pension.

Where Young must torture his invention
To flatter knaves, or lose his pension.

Flattery is all right if you don't inhale.

Flattery is all right if you don't inhale.