What drink'st thou oft, instead of homage sweet,
But poisoned flattery?

What drink'st thou oft, instead of homage sweet,
But poisoned flattery?

Nay, do not think I flatter.
For what advancement may I hope from thee,
That no revenue read more

Nay, do not think I flatter.
For what advancement may I hope from thee,
That no revenue hast but thy good spirits
To feed and clothe thee? Why should the poor be flattered?
No, let the candied tongue like absurd pomp,
And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee
Where thrift may follow fawning.

Flattery is the worst and falsest way of showing our esteem

Flattery is the worst and falsest way of showing our esteem

Flattery is like cologne water, to be smelt of, not swallowed.

Flattery is like cologne water, to be smelt of, not swallowed.

It is easy to flatter; it is harder to praise.

It is easy to flatter; it is harder to praise.

For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is
very wickedness; their throat is an open read more

For there is no faithfulness in their mouth; their inward part is
very wickedness; their throat is an open sepulchre; they flatter
with their tongue.

When Fortune flatters, she does it to betray.

When Fortune flatters, she does it to betray.

To be a man's own fool is bad enough; but the vain man is everybody's.

To be a man's own fool is bad enough; but the vain man is everybody's.

No adulation; 'tis the death of virtue;
Who flatters, is of all mankind the lowest
Save he read more

No adulation; 'tis the death of virtue;
Who flatters, is of all mankind the lowest
Save he who courts the flattery.