"I believe that love--not imitation--is the sincerest form of flattery. Your imitator thinks that you can be duplicated; your lover knows you can't."
— Marilyn Vos Savant

"The public wants work which flatters its illusions."
— Gustave Flaubert

"I do not know whether anyone has ever succeeded in not enjoying praise. And, if he enjoys it, he naturally wants to receive it. And if he wants to receive it, he cannot help but being distraught at losing it. Those who are in love with applause have their spirits starved not only when they are blamed off-hand, but even when they fail to be constantly praised. "
— John Chrysostom

"It flattered her, where she was most susceptible of flattery, to think how, wound about in their hearts, however long they lived she would be woven..."
— Virginia Woolf (To the Lighthouse)

"In the best, the friendliest and simplest relations flattery or praise is necessary, just as grease is necessary to keep wheels turning. "
— Leo Tolstoy (War and Peace)

"flattery = fattery"
— aaron ma~