"We sometimes think that we hate flattery,..." - Quote by Francois De La Rochefoucauld
We sometimes think that we hate flattery, but we only hate the manner in which it is done.[Fr., On croit quelquefoir hair la flatterie; maid on ne hait que a maniere de flatter.]
More by Francois De La Rochefoucauld
“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.”
“Sincerity is a certain openness of heart. It is to be found in very few, and what we commonly look upon to be so is only a cunningsort of dissimulation, to insinuate ourselves into the confidence of others.”
“Perfect courage is to do without witnesses what one would be capable of doing with the world looking on.”
More on Flattery
“Let flattery, the handmaid of the vices, be far removed .”
“That's why the army sends all its future generals to what we call "charm school." As soon as you are a general, people think that you know everything. You think yourself that you have become omniscient and omnipotent. Be careful, because people want to do everything they can to please the general, and you need to guard against this.”
“By candle-light nobody would have taken you for above five-and-twenty.”
More on Self Deception
“Only one deception is possible in the infinite sense, self-deception.”
“The statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception.”
“He who imagines he can do without the world deceives himself much; but he who fancies the world cannot do without him is still more mistaken.”