How To Use Flattery In A Sentence

Flattery will get you nowhere.
The flattery made her expand.
Flattery, cajolement, humble supplication and the finer maneuvers of tact, all have this in mind. The Foundations of Personality
Deliciously charming or incredibly irritating, depending on your point of view, he is always ready with smooth-tongued flattery, eyes innocently beaming behind his spectacles.
You look at love in a wise way and see the difference between flattery and genuine feelings. The Sun

Sincere compliments from a coworker or a boss are nice, but outrageous flattery is often an attempt to draw you into a sociopath's snare. An Interview with Martha Stout
Positive criticism is a good friend. Insincere flattery is a fake friend. Dr T.P.Chia
Being proud and genteel New Englanders, the salon-goers covered up their patricide with flattery, duly noting Edwards's considerable intellect and pious reputation.
I always like to say" Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery European Scientists and America, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
And in Congress politics, fulsome flattery and obsequious loyalty play a vital role.
It is said that imitation is the sincerest flattery; and if Isabel was sometimes moved to gape at her friend aspiringly and despairingly it was not so much because she desired herself to shine as because she wished to hold up the lamp for Madame Merle. The Portrait of a Lady
I think flattery is the preferred method, though, publishing budgets being what they are. Swag-gering
And she allowed herself to be persuaded by cajoling flattery to do things no one else could have induced her to do. DISRAELI: A Personal History
To end on a nicer note, imitation is flattery -- especially when the imitator is a 3-year-old dressed up for church fall festival. CNN Transcript Nov 3, 2008
I am tempted sometimes to say that the only point of conspicuous compassion is action, the rest is self-flattery.
I was really pleased when he said how well I'd done, because he isn't known for flattery.
And she allowed herself to be persuaded by cajoling flattery to do things no one else could have induced her to do. DISRAELI: A Personal History
Tens of thousands in banking knew the deals they were closing made no sense and suspected that flattery and egomania had turned their and their masters' heads. Why omerta still suits the the City's mafiosi | Nick Cohen
Abject flattery and indiscriminate assentation degrade as much as indiscriminate contradiction and noisy debate disgust. Letters to his son on The Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman
The howdah, or seat which the Prince occupied, was of silver, embossed and gilt, having behind a place for a confidential servant, who waved the great chowry, or cow-tail, to keep off the flies; but who could also occasionally perform the task of spokesman, being well versed in all terms of flattery and compliment. The Surgeon's Daughter
There is certainly an element of self-flattery in this. Matthew Yglesias » One Man’s Pander
You are less influenced by flattery and promises and disciplined enough to focus on the facts. The Sun
In my opinion, Callicles, there are such processes, and this is the sort of thing which I term flattery, whether concerned with the body or the soul, or whenever employed with a view to pleasure and without any consideration of good and evil. Gorgias
You are less influenced by flattery and promises and disciplined enough to focus on the facts. The Sun
Some say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but in the cut-throat arena of fashion, sorry, it's not.
Court Masque, which mixed dancing with speech, was heavily larded with flattery of the Royal patrons and was notable for spectacular scenic effects but with little in the way of characterisation.
The greater one's love for a person, the less room for flattery. The proof of true love is to be unsparing in criticism.
And she allowed herself to be persuaded by cajoling flattery to do things no one else could have induced her to do. DISRAELI: A Personal History
Here imitation was sincere flattery. Times, Sunday Times
What is it they say about imitation and flattery? The Sun
He was not the sort of prince who adored flattery and adulation, public appearances and such.
Tolkien probably did not approve, thinking this mere flattery.
Never anything remotely close to condescending or evil, The Reader nevertheless suffers chiefly from a distasteful thematic overemphasis, though not far behind is the film's rather insistent self-flattery. Review Catch-Up: Doubt, Slumdog Millionaire, Defiance, The Wrestler, The Reader
There is nothing, indeed, that makes the judicious grieve more than maladroit flattery, which is as embarrassing to the victim as the clumsy caresses of the horse in the fable who tried to emulate the dog's gambols about his master.
If he come to see me" (as it has always been reckoned a piece of neighbourly kindness to visit the sick) "he speaks vanity; that is, he pretends friendship, and that his errand is to mourn with me and to comfort me; he tells me he is very sorry to see me so much indisposed, and wishes me my health; but it is all flattery and falsehood. Commentary on the Whole Bible Volume III (Job to Song of Solomon)
To enjoy flattery, let your guard down. The Times Literary Supplement
There is also the accent of his irresponsible courtiership, the facile and unashamed flattery he paid to such a woman as Princess Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 11, No. 22, January, 1873
It demands nothing of its audience and offers only a self-flattery that goes by the name of self-esteem.
He was not the sort of prince who adored flattery and adulation, public appearances and such.
Flattery is like friendship in show, but not in fruit. Socrates
For “democracy” or the “democratic spirit” (diabolical sense) leads to a nation without great men, a nation mainly of subliterates, full of the cocksureness which flattery breeds on ignorance, and quick to snarl or whimper at the first sign of criticism. Screwtape on Democracy | Diane Duane's weblog: "Out of Ambit"
She knew, truly enough however, that her godfather didn't believe in compliments and flattery unless they were earned.
She was all the more fascinating to the admiring eyes that watched her, because she sat alone, electrified by the inspiration and magnetism from within, and did not need the stimulus of another voice close by her side, breathing compliments and flattery, to brighten her eyes and call the blushes to her cheeks. Mae Madden
Mimicry is imitation and imitation is the best form of flattery.
Expert flattery may purchase an honest man.
Charm, flattery and lies. Times, Sunday Times
I was really pleased when he said how well I'd done, because he isn't known for flattery.
We must now consider the friendliness which is called affability, and the opposite vices which are flattery and quarreling. Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) Translated by Fathers of the English Dominican Province
The difference between appreciation and flattery? That is simple. One is sincere and the other insincere. One comes from the heart out; the other from the teeth out. One is unselfish; the other selfish. One is universally admired; the other universally condemned. Dale Carnegie
Salespeople are often accused of using artificial flattery.
To Ms. Rosenfeld, common sense became and remains not an honest method of seeking truth but a rhetoric of flattery and cajolery. All Things To All People
And imitation isn't just the best form of flattery, but often a good indication of who the trailblazers are.
Just remember—flattery will get you nowhere. There's no use trying to be nice to me so I'll give you what you want.
She wouldn't have to be sent on that three-month cruise to resist him -- that's male self-flattery. Sheila Weller: Mad Hopes for the Mad Men Women
It wasn't flattery; her good faith was manifest in her face and voice; and Selby suppled under it like a stroked cat. Those Who Smiled And Eleven Other Stories
The film star is blase about endless flattery now.
Indeed my fair one does not verbally declare in my favor; but then, according to the vulgar proverb, that actions speak louder than words, I have no reason to complain; since she evidently approves my gallantry, is pleased with my company, and listens to my flattery. The Coquette, or, The History of Eliza Wharton: A Novel Founded on Fact
The address starts with flattery and flunkeyism and ends with flattery and flunkeyism.
This proud, but humiliated, most complicated of politicians was not averse to flattery.
If imitation truly is the sincerest form of flattery, his dad James should feel chuffed.
Expert flattery may purchase an honest man.
This proud, but humiliated, most complicated of politicians was not averse to flattery.
If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could never harm us. Francois de La Rochefoucauld
Expert flattery may purchase an honest man.
O, that men's ears should be To counsel deaf, but not to flattery! William Shakespeare
Most people seem, owing to ambition, to wish to be loved rather than to love; which is why most men love flattery; for the flatterer is a friend in an inferior position, or pretends to be such and to love more than he is loved; and being loved seems to be akin to being honoured, and this is what most people aim at. The Nicomachean Ethics
Its really hard not to like a guy who has for the most part embraced his cheese factor and realizes that being parodied is a form of flattery. William Shatner Starts SciFi DVD Club
All comments welcome, though keep in mind this is a light fluff question meant in the sincerest flattery of the opposite sex. Interview question for my Super-Sekrit Friends
Clarissa smiled her appreciation of the statement but didn't comment on her flattery anymore.
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Charles Caleb Colton
I don't like flattery or attention. Times, Sunday Times
No amount of folderol, flummery or flattery makes it easier to swallow.
Oh well. they say the highest form of flattery is impersonation. Think Progress » Matalin Defends Coulter’s Attack on 9/11 Widows
Against every cajolement of one who was an adept in the arts of blandishment, promise and flattery, Kościuszko had but one argument: that of the straight-forward devotion that saw his country outraged, and that would accept no compromise where duty to that country and to his own honour were concerned. Kościuszko A Biography
I have received more compliments and more flattery than is healthy for me.
No amount of folderol, flummery or flattery makes it easier to swallow.
Ultimately this is where my self-flattery points: my brain.
The art would be to carry it, if possible, to some indirect flattery; such as commending those virtues in some other person, in which that prince either thinks he does, or at least would be thought by others to excel. Letters to his son on The Art of Becoming a Man of the World and a Gentleman
He begins with a little flattery, praising our very presence.
He enjoyed the company of his conquests and relished the flattery. The Sun
Through a combination of cynicism and self-flattery, we put their accomplishments on a par with the banalities of contemporary celebrity culture.
With subtle flattery she had gradually been accepted by the housekeeper.
And Tildy was content to be the unwooed drudge if Aileen could receive the flattery and the homage. The Four Million
I do not say this as a gesture of misplaced self-flattery, since what I plan to do here is very modest indeed.
I'm in 170th place and 44 minutes behind the winner: to call me an also-ran would be flattery.
Another difference is that I don't see this, um, "talent" of Brown's to be a good thing, based as it is in fabrication and flattery. Fiction
So, notwithstanding the suggestion of the article, obviously not all such comments are merely insincere flattery.
But now, as to be silent of men's defects and vices is a piece of flattery, and flattery a degenerous and unworthy thing; yet, that all people may not promiscuously think themselves called upon to reprove and declare against whatsoever they see amiss in others, and so mistake that for charity and duty, which is indeed nothing else but sauciness and impertinence, it will be convenient to shew, Sermons Preached Upon Several Occasions. Vol. V.
So I have to make do with second best but, as the saying goes, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. ALASTAIR MCLEAN'S 'NIGHT WATCH'
In other news this week, I learned first hand that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Joel Epstein: Finding the Money to Build Out LA's 30/10 Transportation Initiative
If making a speech, flattery will get you anywhere. Times, Sunday Times
In parrhesia, the speaker chooses "truth instead of falsehood or silence, the risk of death instead of life and security, criticism instead of flattery and moral duty instead of self-interest and moral apathy". Let the law save whistleblowers, not silence them | Nick Cohen
He enjoyed the company of his conquests and relished the flattery. The Sun
So grab a bag of popcorn, sit back and enjoy and before you rate please remember that I love you all and that flattery will get you everywhere!
And she allowed herself to be persuaded by cajoling flattery to do things no one else could have induced her to do. DISRAELI: A Personal History
But you see others borrowing from us - and the highest form of flattery is imitation. The Sun
Sensible move really, as imitation isn't always the most sincere form of flattery. The Sun
You recognise sincere people and genuine opportunities and won't be fooled by flattery, especially when money is involved. The Sun
The skirt did not reach her calves at the ideal point for flattery.
Cook called the delusive point Cape Flattery and added: "It is in this very latitude (48 degrees 15 minutes) that geographers have placed the pretended Straits of Juan de Fuca; but we saw nothing like it; nor is there the least possibility that any such thing ever existed. Vikings of the Pacific The Adventures of the Explorers who Came from the West, Eastward
Sensible move really, as imitation isn't always the most sincere form of flattery. The Sun
Walker has parlayed a Bill Clinton appointment as Comptroller General into a lifetime career as a benefit-cut advocate, a career that not only pays well but provides enough over-the-top media flattery to embarrass a Maharajah. Richard (RJ) Eskow: The Ministry of Truth: New Fronts in the War on Social Security
But, indeed, this Imperial debauch has in it something worse than the mere larkiness which is my present topic; it has an element of real self-flattery and of sin. Alarms and Discursions
Whose favours, because they be in high authority with their prince, by assentation and flattery they labour to obtain. The First Book. The First Book of the Communication of Raphael Hythloday, Concerning the Best State of a Commonwealth
There are some who fear that lavish praise equates flattery.
You are less influenced by flattery and promises and disciplined enough to focus on the facts. The Sun
You look at love in a wise way and see the difference between flattery and genuine feelings. The Sun
My idea of running amanuenses is by praise, not pudding, flattery and not coins! Vailima Letters
You are less influenced by flattery and promises and disciplined enough to focus on the facts. The Sun
Cut out your banana oil ; flattery doesn't work here.
Surely I know not, Señor Teniente" -- he had dropped the "capitan" as too transparent flattery. A Wounded Name
Just because she had a direct line to the throne and its power, she was dotted over and swarmed with flattery and adoration.
I usually have all kinds of flattery and nice words, and I could this time, too.
Oh well, it's not like I expected chivalry and flattery.
You are less influenced by flattery and promises and disciplined enough to focus on the facts. The Sun
He possessed a graceful address, which, without flattery, I may say is peculiar to our family, and he was justly considered the first watchmaker in Blois, a town which has long excelled in the horologic art. Memoirs of Robert-Houdin
But if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Anonymous 4 must be blushing all over.
Flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver. Edmund Burke
Flattery will get you nowhere / anywhere you wish to go.
He needed Bill's insincere flattery, even though he was only partly swayed by it.
The self-flagellation about our failure to act against evil is at the same time a form of self-flattery.
He is ambitious and susceptible to flattery.
Despite all of the blather about "doing it for my children," he strikes me as someone who never stopped to figure out what he wanted to do if he was elected -- putting aside the usual reasons of ego and self-flattery, just why he wants to be president. Bob Wright and Jonah Goldberg on the memes about Obama's rhetoric.
Encouraged by success, he went to Rome, collected rich patrons, and with fulsome flattery won, but failed to keep, the favour of the tyrant Domitian.
Sincere compliments from a coworker or a boss are nice, but outrageous flattery is often an attempt to draw you into a sociopath's snare. An Interview with Martha Stout
Some say that imitation is the highest form of flattery, but in the cut-throat arena of fashion, sorry, it's not.
James was extremely susceptible to flattery.
In my experience, most leakers, even of highly classified material, are motivated by surprisingly petty interests – things like spite, flattery, and a desire to win intramural debates by other means. The Volokh Conspiracy » End of an era?
Flattery will get you nowhere / anywhere you wish to go.
With a little flattery I might persuade him to do the job.
‘Okay, you get off this time but just make sure you know, flattery only gets you so far,’ she flouted.
Still, some basic reporting can be done (and I think I can say without self-flattery or self-abnegation that I am not a conduit of choice for national-security leaking).
He's been credited with creating an aching portrait of the fading American heartland, but Alexander Payne isn't all that excited by idle flattery.
Flattery usually works like a charm with him.
If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, indifference is surely disregard in its deadliest strain. Times, Sunday Times
You look at love in a wise way and see the difference between flattery and genuine feelings. The Sun
Joy arising from imagination of a man's own power and ability is that exultation of the mind which is called glorying: which, if grounded upon the experience of his own former actions, is the same with confidence: but if grounded on the flattery of others, or only supposed by himself, for delight in the consequences of it, is called vainglory: which name is properly given; because a well-grounded confidence begetteth attempt; whereas the supposing of power does not, and is therefore rightly called vain. Leviathan
Beauty, find thyself in love, not in the flattery of thy mirror.
Thou appearest to all the Greeks to be fond of thy wife; (and this I say, not stealing under thee imperceptibly with flattery;) by her I implore thee; O wretched me for my woes, to what have I come? but why must I suffer thus? The Tragedies of Euripides, Volume I.
A bit of élan and sleight of hand and perhaps just a twist of snobbery and insincere flattery wouldn't go amiss. Times, Sunday Times
To seek or gain favor by fawning or flattery.
The reporter known as Cojo is arguably as famous as many of the actors he interviews with his signature blend of flattery and fabulosity.
[54] 'In his own mode of acting,' must be understood here of his honourable mode of acting; though there are also _malae artes_, such as faithlessness, cunning, flattery, and the like. C. Sallusti Crispi De Bello Catilinario Et Jugurthino
Beauty, find thyself in love, not in the flattery of thy mirror.
Here feel we but the penalty of Adam, the seasons 'difference, as the icy fang and churlish chiding of the winter's wind, which, when it bites and blows upon my body, even till I shrink with cold, I smile and say this is no flattery: these are counsellors that feelingly persuade me what I am. Whatever the Fuck You Want
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. Jonathan Swift
But doubtless, also, the masters are, in many cases, the object of a merely interested cultus, sitting aloft like Louis Quatorze, giving and receiving flattery and favour; and the dogs, like the majority of men, have but foregone their true existence and become the dupes of their ambition. Memories and Portraits
Through relentless flattery and sycophancy, he amassed a circle of influential friends and a considerable fortune.
You look at love in a wise way and see the difference between flattery and genuine feelings. The Sun
"They say that imitation is a form of flattery, " Shane said.
It inverts the typical opera prologue, traditionally dedicated to monarchical flattery.
There is nothing that so poisons princes as flattery, nor anything whereby wicked men more easily obtain credit and favour with them; nor panderism so apt and so usually made use of to corrupt the chastity of women as to wheedle and entertain them with their own praises. The Essays of Montaigne — Complete
Obsequiousness tends to refer to a desire to ingratiate oneself, and to win benefits through flattery.
Mr. Blaine's wonderful magnetism, the impression he made upon every one, and his tactful flattery of local pride, did a great deal to remove the prejudices against him, which were being fomented by a propaganda of a "mugwump" committee in New York. My Memories of Eighty Years
I like being compared to all good musicians but I dare say that is just because of self-flattery.
A smarmy radio station Director considers himself positively brilliant by getting rid of a troublesome author through insincere flattery.
Boosterism, flattery, jollying one's councillors towards a decision are vital.
The film star is blase about endless flattery now.
Here character, diction and motive come together, and all the preciousness and self-flattery drop away.
In addition, there's a new book about Shyamalan, The Man Who Heard Voices: Or, How M. Night Shyamalan Risked His Career on a Fairy Tale and the making of this film, which is apparently an exercise in obsequious flattery. Actions Speaking Loudly as Words
He treated us as children, he told us a simplistic fairy story laced with cheap flattery.
Yes, flattery and a show of interest will get you everywhere.
You're too intelligent to fall for his flattery.
The neighborhood of Cape Flattery, Washington, is occupied by the Makah, one of the Wakashan tribes, who probably wrested this outpost of the family from the Salish (Clallam) who next adjoin them on Puget Sound. Seventh Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1885-1886, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1891
He, being every day alarmed at the prospect of a successor, addressed himself to the task of conciliating Valens, who was of a rustic and rather simple character, by tickling him with all kinds of disguised flattery and caresses, calling his uncouth language and rude expressions "flowers of Ciceronian eloquence. The Roman History of Ammianus Marcellinus During the Reigns of the Emperors Constantius, Julian, Jovianus, Valentinian, and Valens
Holbrooke's flattery, though, did not deter Podesta, who kept insisting on some kind of cogent answer about objectives and metrics. Afghanistan for Dummies
They say flattery is the way to a woman's heart -- and imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! 'Man up, Harry Reid!' Mama Grizzlies and our manliness recession
He enjoyed the company of his conquests and relished the flattery. The Sun
Flattery brings friends, but the truth begets enmity.
He doorsteps the cast with his usual barrage of front and flattery, which gets him farther than he probably deserves. Times, Sunday Times
Flattery and the flatterer are pleasant; since the flatterer is a seeming admirer and a seeming friend. The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume I (of X) - Greece
This is not aq Clinton backer getting his comeuppance --- this is an Arkansas governor paying homage to his predecessor with the highest form of flattery ---- imitation. Huckabee Lashes Out At "Left-Wing" Huffington Post
You look at love in a wise way and see the difference between flattery and genuine feelings. The Sun
Flattery and flatterers are pleasant: the flatterer is a man who, you believe, admires and likes To do the same thing often is pleasant, since, as we saw, anything habitual is pleasant. Rhetoric
There was the little park (or so the city fathers dubbed it; in fact the term was pure flattery). GALILEE
These folks are his friends, after all; they'll heed his call, possibly after he's softened them up with flattery.
You are not inclined toward flattery, so any compliment you give is earned.
He had merely spoken kindly and sincerely to her, not using the meaningless flattery most courtiers employed in her presence.
Compassion turns out to be a form of self-flattery. Presidential Moisture
Probably he did it, either in flattery to the tyrant, or else that he might throw off from himself both the trouble and the odium that might arise upon the occasion of condemning Jesus, whom he judged to be an innocent man, and whom in some measure he pitied, looking upon him as a sort of a delirant person, one not very well in his wits: which opinion also From the Talmud and Hebraica
Now that the blatant flattery is out of the way, on to nicknames. What’s In A (Nick)Name? | Her Bad Mother
The panegyric is a piece of courtly flattery in accordance with the cringing and fawning manners of the times. Handbook of Universal Literature From the Best and Latest Authorities
Nothing in this world is harder than speaking the truth, nothing easier than flattery. Fyodor Dostoyevsky
He never was unprovided with snuff and flattery, both which he dealt liberally among them, listened patiently to their old stories, and told them others of the King of France, and King James, by which they were quite captivated, and concluded by entreating that they impress their children with attachment and duty to their chief, and they would not fail to come to his funeral and assist in the coranach _keir_. Memoirs of the Jacobites of 1715 and 1745 Volume II.
Public [= o] la, as we saw, damned one poor man to a wretched immortality, and another was called pitilessly over the coals, because he had mixed a grain of flattery with a bushel of truth. Thackeray
Beauty, find thyself in love, not in the flattery of thy mirror.
At work, you see through flattery and know who really has your interests at heart. The Sun
And Rolf is a fan - if the old adage about imitation being the sincerest form of flattery holds true.
sick to death of flattery
Party upstairs thinks that, all things considered, he'd rather have a President who read and liked to read than one who preferred to watch television, the whole question just leads to self-flattery. Lance Mannion:
If imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, indifference is surely disregard in its deadliest strain. Times, Sunday Times
a thousand years since_: neither am I moved with certain courtly decencies, which I esteem it flattery to praise in presence; no, it is flattery to _praise in absence: that is_, when _either_ the virtue is absent, _or -- the occasion_ is absent, and so the praise is _not natural_, but _forced_, either in truth, _or -- in time_. The Philosophy of the Plays of Shakspere Unfolded
Some praises proceed merely of flattery; and if he be an ordinary flatterer, he will have certain common attributes, which may serve every man; if he be a cunning flatterer, he will follow the arch-flatterer, which is a mans self; and wherein a man thinketh best of himself, therein the flatterer will uphold him most: but if he be an impudent flatterer, look wherein a man is conscious to himself that he is most defective, and is most out of countenance in himself, that will the flatterer entitle him to perforce, spreta conscientia [in disdain of conscience]. LIII. Of Praise
Newly appointed ministers have always been the targets of inflated flattery from vested interests eager to gain an early place in their affections.
And she allowed herself to be persuaded by cajoling flattery to do things no one else could have induced her to do. DISRAELI: A Personal History
Manipulation through flattery is sometimes innocuous and sometimes sinister. An Interview with Martha Stout
Flattery will get you nowhere.
His premise is a cheery one, that flattery lies between praise and porky pies, something that can certainly be abused by charlatans and rogues but which also acts as a social lubricant.
I always like to say "Immigration is the sincerest form of flattery European Scientists and America, Arnold Kling | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty
The flattery sounds over-the-top but the feelings are sincere. The Sun

How To Use Flattery In A Sentence

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