Praise is a more ingenious, concealed, and subtle kind of flattery, that satisfies both the giver and the receiver, though by verydifferent ways. The one accepts it as a reward due to his merit; the other gives it that he may be looked upon as a just and discerning person.
Francois de La RochefoucauldTimidity is a fault for which it is dangerous to reprove persons whom we wish to correct of it.
Francois de La RochefoucauldGratitude, in most men, is only a strong and secret hope of greater favors.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld