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#flattery — Public Fediverse posts

Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #flattery, aggregated by home.social.

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  1. A quotation from Richard Steele

    Whenever you commend, add your reasons for doing so; it is this which distinguishes the approbation of a man of sense from the flattery of sycophants and admiration of fools.

    Richard Steele (1672-1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
    Essay (1713-04-08), The Guardian No. 24

    More about this quote: wist.info/steele-richard/27436…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardsteele #admiration #commendation #compliment #flattery #folly #praise #praiseworthiness #sycophancy

  2. A quotation from Richard Steele

    A good name is fitly compared to a precious ointment, and when we are praised with skill and decency, it is indeed the most agreeable perfume: but if too strongly admitted into a brain of a less vigorous and happy texture, it will, like too strong and odour, overcome the senses, and prove pernicious to those nerves it was intended to refresh.

    Richard Steele (1672-1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
    Essay (1711-12-03), The Spectator, No. 238

    More about this quote: wist.info/steele-richard/85053…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardsteele #ego #flattery #goodname #praise #pride #reputation

  3. A quotation from Richard Steele

    Among all the diseases of the mind there is not one more epidemical or more pernicious than the love of flattery.

    Richard Steele (1672-1729) Anglo-Irish writer, journalist, playwright, politician
    Essay (1711-12-03), The Spectator, No. 238

    More about this quote: wist.info/steele-richard/21152…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #richardsteele #acclaim #adulation #celebrity #ego #flattery #mentalillness #pride

  4. AI flatters you: sycophantic models

    “Absolutely — that’s a very nuanced observation.”

    New research shows AI isn’t just ‘too agreeable’, it can actually change how we see ourselves.

    The 2026 Science study discussed in my vid found that sycophantic AI (flattering, people-pleasing, affirming) boosts our confidence even when we’re wrong, reduces willingness to fix conflicts, & makes us more dependent on the chatbot.

    And even a single flattering reply from the AI was enough to shift people’s judgement.

    What do you think – have you found AI chatbots too agreeable in their quest to be helpful? (I set ‘No Man’ Gems / Projects / Custom GPTs)

    Shout a coffee: https://buymeacoffee.com/benhutchinson

    https://youtube.com/shorts/zFYqxYV6M3s?feature=share

    #ai #artificialIntelligence #chatgpt #flattery #psychology
  5. The #cabinet has historically advised the #POTUS on a variety of matters, but in Trump’s 2nd term, it appears to have taken on a new mandate∶ #flattery.

    Marathon cabinet meetings, lasting 1–3 hrs, have become a hallmark of Trump’s 2nd presidency…. Often televised, the meetings provide an opportunity for ofcls to credit him for their dept’s accomplishments while still trying to claim some spotlight for themselves.

    #vanity #narcissism #MentalHealth #dysfunctional #autocracy #despotism #USpol

  6. @rameshgupta
    Nato is already dead. It died in the moment when Europeans could no longer rely on US help in case of an attack. They can't, so they need to and are acting already as if Nato doesn't exist.
    @copter_chief

    #Trump #Putin #Germany #NATO #stupid #flattery #Stupidity #blackmail #greed #US #Republicans #Democrats

  7. A quotation from Joseph Addison

       If men of eminence are exposed to censure on one hand, they are as much liable to flattery on the other. If they receive reproaches which are not due to them, they likewise receive praises which they do not deserve. In a word, the man in a high post is never regarded with an indifferent eye, but always considered as a friend or an enemy. For this reason persons in great stations have seldom their true characters drawn till several years after their deaths. Their personal friendships and enmities must cease, and the parties they were engaged in be at an end, before their faults or their virtues can have justice done them. When writers have the least opportunity of knowing the truth, they are in the best disposition to tell it.
       It is therefore the privilege of posterity to adjust the characters of illustrious persons, and to set matters right between those antagonists who by their rivalry for greatness divided a whole age into factions.

    Joseph Addison (1672-1719) English essayist, poet, statesman
    Essay (1711-06-26), The Spectator, No. 101

    More about this quote: wist.info/addison-joseph/83215…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #josephaddision #assessment #biography #condemnation #criticism #critics #factions #flattery #greatman #greatperson #greatness #history #loyalists #perspective #posterity #praise #divisiveness

  8. A quotation from La Rochefoucauld

    If we did not flatter ourselves, the flattery of others could do us no harm.
     
    [Si nous ne nous flattions point nous-mêmes, la flatterie des autres ne nous pourroit nuire.]

    François VI, duc de La Rochefoucauld (1613-1680) French epigrammatist, memoirist, noble
    Réflexions ou sentences et maximes morales [Reflections; or Sentences and Moral Maxims], ¶152 (1665-1678) [tr. Kronenberger (1959)]

    More about (and translations of) this quote: wist.info/la-rochefoucauld-fra…

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #larochefoucauld #adulation #blandishment #flattery #praise #selfcongratulations #selfdeception #selfesteem #selfglorification #selfpraising #selfregard #sycophancy

  9. The joint statement by some of the #US’ closest #allies signaled a possible turning point in the recent tensions over #sovereignty & #security nearly 24 hrs after Trump’s threat.

    It was also the most forceful rebuke of #Trump from #Europe allies since he returned to the White House almost a year ago. In recent months, Europeans have mostly opted for #diplomacy & #flattery around him, even when seeking to end the war in #Ukraine.

    #MafiaState #geopolitics #Greenland #NATO #law #InternationalLaw

  10. Won't be surprised if some journalists "voluntarily" give over their Pulitzers, what with all the pending news-media consolidations.

    And litterateurs giving their Nobel, Booker awards. Those Truths are obv. superior.

    Not to forget bravery awards.

    us.cnn.com/2026/01/16/politics

    #flattery #corruption

  11. #Trump has long been public about his greed for the prize, & #Machado dedicated it to him when she won it last year. However, the #NobelCommittee has stated that the #NobelPeacePrize is untransferable.

    #vanity #flattery #narcissism #envy #underserved #unfit #indecent

  12. “I told him this,” #Machado continued. “200 years ago General (Marquis de) Lafayette gave Simón Bolívar a medal with George Washington’s face on it. Bolivar since then kept the medal for the rest of his life.”

    “200 years in history, the people of Bolivar are giving back to the heir of Washington a medal, in this case the medal of the #NobelPeacePrize as a recognition for his unique commitment with our freedom.”

    #Trump #vanity #flattery #narcissism #greed #underserved #unfit #indecent

  13. I do not say the following lightly ∶

    This fucking bitch!!!!

    #Machado says she presented #Trump with her #NobelPeacePrize medal

    Venezuelan opposition leader #MaríaCorinaMachado said she “presented” Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize medal at their meeting Thursday.

    “I presented the president of the United States the medal, the Nobel Peace Prize,” Machado said.

    #vanity #flattery #narcissism #greed #underserved #unfit #indecent
    cnn.com/politics/live-news/tru

  14. "Targeting Miller’s menacing sychopancy gets at the heart of the two men’s connection. And if we can invent innovative ways to do it enough, we could even ruin Trump’s joy of having his own Hype Himmler."

    #Trump #StephenMiller #racism #misogyny #xenophobia #flattery #narcissism
    /3

  15. "Trump’s need for Miller’s fluffery undermines all the trappings of a strong, strict-father leader. Just imagine the disgusting sight of a grown man lathering a man who increasingly looks like a walking corpse with sick compliments and lies. You could imagine even this White House is getting the ick."

    #Trump #StephenMiller #racism #misogyny #xenophobia #flattery #narcissism
    /2

  16. "Trump obviously has a compulsive need for flattery that’s greater, perhaps, than his addiction to a eugenic worldview that justifies his racism, misogyny, and xenophobia. And through Miller, those two addictions come together.

    That’s why we need to go after Trump’s dependence on Miller as his Comfort Nazi."

    ~ Jason Sattler

    #Trump #StephenMiller #racism #misogyny #xenophobia #flattery #narcissism
    /1

    thecause.substack.com/p/time-t

  17. A quotation from Josh Billings

    Flattery iz like colone water, tew be smelt ov, not swallered.
     
    [Flattery is like cologne water, to be smelt of, not swallowed.]

    Josh Billings (1818-1885) American humorist, aphorist [pseud. of Henry Wheeler Shaw]
    Josh Billings’ Farmer’s Allminax, 1870-02 (1870 ed.)

    More about this quote: wist.info/billings-josh/1045/

    #quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #joshbillings #adulation #butteringup #fawning #flattery #obsequiousness #praise #servility #skepticism #sweettalk #sycophancy

  18. "I suspect the question the administration cares about is not 'is this legal,' 'is this a war crime,' 'is this murder' or even 'is this good for America,' but rather, 'isn’t this violence delightful?'”

    #Trump #narcissism #flattery #grift #EconomicElites #ethics #morality #corruption #WarCrimes #murder
    /8

  19. "The president inhabits a position of moral leadership. When the president and his officials sell their policies, they’re selling a version of what it means to be an American — what should evoke our love and our hate, our disgust and our delight."

    ~ Phil Klay

    #Trump #narcissism #flattery #grift #EconomicElites #ethics #morality #corruption #WarCrimes #murder
    /7

    nytimes.com/2025/12/05/opinion

  20. "If and when Donald Trump and those who serve him, and themselves, are eventually called to account, they will be confronted by that single word, in all its shades – and all its force."

    #Trump #narcissism #flattery #grift #EconomicElites #PaytoPlay #ethics #morality #corruption
    /6

  21. "The word corruption can be used in two ways. In its legal sense, it can refer to dishonest conduct by those in power, typically involving bribery. But it can also have a deeper meaning, referring to the corrosion of standards, the decline of norms and the removal of moral restraints."

    ~ Jonathan Freedland

    #Trump #narcissism #flattery #grift #EconomicElites #PaytoPlay #ethics #morality #corruption
    /5

    theguardian.com/commentisfree/

  22. "There is a sickening rationalization creeping across our nation which says that sucking up to Trump is just the cost of doing business in America at the moment."

    #Trump #narcissism #flattery #grift #EconomicElites #PaytoPlay #ethics #morality
    /4

  23. "Trump’s pardon-palooza is not just fueled by his own bitterness at being America’s first felon president, but also a desire for obsequious signs of fealty from the people he’s let off the hook. Thanks to the Supreme Court’s disastrous presidential immunity decision, there remains the specter of more pardons for anyone who puts loyalty to Trump ahead of loyalty to the Constitution."

    ~ Ron Filipkowski quoting Rolling Stone

    #Trump #narcissism #flattery #grift
    /3

    meidasplus.com/p/today-in-poli

  24. "As the collection of authoritarian grifters and neoconservative leftovers take to television and social media each day to sell their various cons and schemes to the public, Trump appears more and more to be a passive actor, watching as the people around him run his administration as they please."

    ~ Justin Glawe

    #Trump #narcissism #flattery #grift #EconomicElites #PaytoPlay #ethics #morality
    /2

    publicnotice.co/p/trump-boat-s

  25. "The degree to which Donald Trump demands fealty and obeisance and anus adulation as the price of his attention has risen from troubling to grotesque to comical. ...

    In the Divine Comedy, Dante depicts flatterers in the Eighth Circle of Hell wading in human excrement — because their words, uttered insincerely to prop up the egos of the unworthy, are pure shit."

    ~ Gene Weingarten

    #Trump #narcissism #flattery #grift #EconomicElites #PaytoPlay
    /1

    geneweingarten.substack.com/p/