We sometimes imagine we hate flattery, but we only hate the way we are flattered.

We sometimes imagine we hate flattery, but we only hate the way we are flattered.

'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.

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.

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.

Knavery and flattery are blood relations.

Knavery and flattery are blood relations.

Of praise a mere glutton, he swallow'd what came,
And the puff a dunce, he mistook it for fame;
read more

Of praise a mere glutton, he swallow'd what came,
And the puff a dunce, he mistook it for fame;
Till his relish grown callous, almost to displease,
Who pepper'd the highest was surest to please.

It is better to fall among crows than flatterers; for those devour only the dead--these the living.

It is better to fall among crows than flatterers; for those devour only the dead--these the living.

Nobody can describe a fool to the life, without much patient self-inspection.

Nobody can describe a fool to the life, without much patient self-inspection.

Flattery was formerly a vice; it has now become the fashion.
[Lat., Pessimum genus inimicorum laudantes.]

Flattery was formerly a vice; it has now become the fashion.
[Lat., Pessimum genus inimicorum laudantes.]