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Flattery is all right if you don't inhale.
Flattery is all right if you don't inhale.
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.
By flatterers besieged
And so obliging that he ne'er obliged.
By flatterers besieged
And so obliging that he ne'er obliged.
They do not abuse the king that flatter him.
For flattery is the bellows blows up sin;
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They do not abuse the king that flatter him.
For flattery is the bellows blows up sin;
The thing the which is flattered, but a spark
To which that blast gives heat and stronger glowing;
Whereas reproof, obedient and in order,
Fits kings as they are men, for they may err.
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.]
O that men's ears should be
To counsel deaf but not to flattery!
O that men's ears should be
To counsel deaf but not to flattery!
Knavery and flattery are blood relations.
Knavery and flattery are blood relations.
Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished read more
Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people in order to betray them.
The best way to convince a fool that he is wrong is to let him have his own way.
The best way to convince a fool that he is wrong is to let him have his own way.
