Let flattery, the handmaid of the vices, be far removed.
—Cicero (106BCE–43BCE) Roman Philosopher, Orator, Politician, Lawyer
What valor cannot win, flattery may.
—Publilius Syrus (fl.85–43 BCE) Syrian-born Roman Latin Writer
We sometimes imagine we hate flattery, but we only hate the way we are flattered.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
He that is much flattered soon learns to flatter himself.—We are commonly taught our duty by fear or shame, but how can they act upon a man who hears nothing but his own praises?
—Samuel Johnson (1709–84) British Essayist
Between flattery and admiration there often flows a river of contempt.
—Minna Antrim (1861–1950) American Writer, Epigrammist
Nature has hardly formed a woman ugly enough to be insensible to flattery upon her person; if her face is so shocking that she must in some degree be conscious of it, her figure and her air, she trusts, make ample amends for it.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
If we would not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could not harm us.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
A fool flatters himself, a wise man flatters the fool.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
Flattery, though a base coin, is the necessary pocket-money at court; where, by custom and consent, it has obtained such a currency, that it is no longer a fraudulent, but a legal payment.
—Earl of Chesterfield (1694–1773) English Statesman, Man of Letters
There is an oblique way of reproof, which takes off the sharpness of it, and an address in flattery, which makes it agreeable, though never so gross; but of all flatterers, the most skilful is he who can do what you like, without saying anything which argues he does it for your sake.
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744) English Poet
Flattery makes friends and truth makes enemies.
—Spanish Proverb
Many lick before they bite.
—Common Proverb
We sometimes think we hate flattery, when we only hate the manner in which we have been flattered.
—Francois de La Rochefoucauld (1613–80) French Writer
Flatterers are the worst kind of enemies.
—Tacitus (56–117) Roman Orator, Historian
The art of flatterers is to take advantage of the foibles of the great, to foster their errors, and never to give advice which may annoy.
—Moliere (1622–73) French Playwright
Flattery is the worst and falsest way of showing our esteem
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
Don’t flatter the rich, or appear to willing before the great.
—Thomas a Kempis (1379–1471) German Religious Priest, Writer
The skilful class of flatterers praise the discourse of an ignorant friend and the face of a deformed one.
—Juvenal (c.60–c.136 CE) Roman Poet
The habitude of pleasing by flattery makes a language soft; the fear of offending by truth makes it circuitous and conventional
—Walter Savage Landor (1775–1864) English Writer, Poet
There is no tongue that flatters like a lover’s; and yet in the exaggeration of his feelings, flattery seems to him commonplace.
—Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803–73) British Novelist, Poet, Politician
Nothing is so great an instance of ill-manner as flattery. If you flatter all the company, you please none; if you flatter only one or two, you affront the rest.
—Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) Irish Satirist
I would rather hear the pleased laugh of a child over some feature of my exhibition than receive as I did the flattering compliments of the Prince of Wales.
—P. T. Barnum (1810–91) American Businessperson, Entertainer
Flattery is all right so long as you don’t inhale.
—Adlai Stevenson (1900–65) American Diplomat, Politician, Orator
Avoid flatterers, for they are thieves in disguise.
—William Penn (1644–1718) American Entrepreneur, Political leader, Philosopher
He that loves to be flattered is worthy of the flatterer.
—William Shakespeare (1564–1616) British Playwright
Flattery is often a traffic of mutual meanness, where, although both parties intend deception, neither are deceived.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Imitation is the sincerest of flattery.
—Charles Caleb Colton (c.1780–1832) English Clergyman, Aphorist
Know thyself, thine evil as well as thy good, and flattery shall not harm thee; her speech shall be a warning, a humbling, and a guide; for wherein thou lackest most, there chiefly will thy sycophant commend thee.
—Martin Farquhar Tupper (1810–89) English Poet, Writer
Flattery is from the teeth out. Sincere appreciation is from the heart out.
—Dale Carnegie (1888–1955) American Self-Help Author
The aim of flattery is to soothe and encourage us by assuring us of the truth of an opinion we have already formed about ourselves.
—Edith Sitwell (1887–1964) British Poet, Literary Critic