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

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

Flattery is like friendship in show, but not in fruit

Flattery is like friendship in show, but not in fruit

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!

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

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.

Avoid flatterers, for they are thieves in disguise.

Avoid flatterers, for they are thieves in disguise.

Flattery is telling the other person precisely what he thinks about himself

Flattery is telling the other person precisely what he thinks about himself

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.

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.