Praise without merit is more harmful than unearned criticism.
To praise princes for virtues they do not possess is to insult them without fear of consequences.
Flattery is false money, which would not be current were it not for our vanity.
Flattery is a counterfeit money which, but for vanity, would have no circulation.
He who praises everybody, praises nobody.
Never was flattery lost on a poet's ear; a simple race, they waste their toil for the vain tribute of a smile.
I hate careless flattery, the kind that exhausts you in your efforts to believe it.
Oh, great reviews are the worst. They mislead you more than the bad ones, because they only fuel your ego. Then you only want another one, like potato chips or something, and the best thing you get is fat and bloated. I'd rather just refuse, thanks.
I know that's the sort of thing people say and I really hate it when people say the sort of things people say. I always think, 'You don't mean that, you just think it sounds good.
Calling a young artist 'great' these days can give one the heebie-jeebies: The word has been denatured in the past decade.
I am surrounded by flatterers and fools.
Perfumed and gallant words make our ears belch.
Praising all alike, is praising none.