A great empire and little minds go ill together.
Edmund BurkeRead
Flattery corrupts both the receiver and the giver.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Flattery leads to dishonesty and moral decay in both those who give it and those who receive it.
This quote by Edmund Burke highlights the moral implications of flattery, suggesting that it is a deceptive form of praise that can corrupt the integrity of both the person giving the flattery and the one receiving it. When people engage in flattery, they undermine genuine interactions and may foster an environment where truth becomes obscured by insincere compliments, consequently degrading relationships and personal values.
Themes
FlatteryCorruptionHonestyIntegrityRelationships
In practice
Example use cases
During a team meeting, you might share this quote to remind colleagues about the value of honest feedback.
More from Edmund Burke
All quotes →To read without reflecting is like eating without digesting.
Edmund BurkeRead
The hottest fires in hell are reserved for those who remain neutral in times of moral crisis.
Edmund BurkeRead
Society can overlook murder, adultery or swindling; it never forgives preaching of a new gospel.
Edmund BurkeRead
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
Edmund BurkeRead
Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites.
Edmund BurkeRead
Similar quotes
I was never more hated than when I tried to be honest. Or when, even as just now I've tried to articulate exactly what I felt to be the truth. No one was satisfied
Ralph EllisonRead
Truth is the beginning of every good thing, both in heaven and_x000D_ _x000D_ on earth; and he who would be blessed and happy should be from_x000D_ _x000D_ the first a partaker of truth, for then he can be trusted.
PlatoRead
…everything has a past. Everything – a person, an object, a word, everything. If you don’t know the past, you can’t understand the present and plan properly for the future.
Chaim PotokRead
I have criticized absent people so often, and then discovered, to my humiliation, that I was talking with their relatives, that I have grown superstitious about that sort of thing and dropped it.
Mark TwainRead
Negative thinking creates clouds at critical decision times.
John C. MaxwellRead
Letting your mind play is the best way to solve problems.
Bill WattersonRead