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.]

'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.

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

Knavery and flattery are blood relations.

Knavery and flattery are blood relations.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

A fool can no more see his own folly than he can see his ears.

A fool can no more see his own folly than he can see his ears.