A Quote by Plautus

I much prefer a compliment, even if insincere, to sincere criticism.

Plautus

Quote Topics

Compliment Criticism Even Insincere Much Prefer Sincere

Quote Author

Plautus
Roman - Playwright
254 BC - 184 BC

Everyone says he's sincere, but everyone isn't sincere. If everyone was sincere who says he's sincere there wouldn't be half so many insincere ones in the world and there would be lots, lots, lots more really sincere ones!

Tennessee Williams

I try to ONLY ridicule people who's efforts are sincere. Very little trouble has been caused in the world by insincere efforts. An occasional seduction maybe. There were very few insincere Stalinists or Nazis.

P. J. O'Rourke

If you're sincere, praise is effective. If you're insincere, it's manipulative.

Zig Ziglar

It's nice to compliment people on what they're wearing, but don't make insincere compliments.

Letitia Baldrige

An insincere critic of a sincere person never wins.

Criss Jami

We love a good, hyped sound, but when it starts to sound insincere, that's when I lose interest. I hope that our music, even if it sounds polished, doesn't sound insincere.

Nate Ruess

Become abundant with your compliments to others. We're all so fragile, especially when we put on a brave face. A sincere compliment can penetrate beneath even the most sophisticated masks to soothe troubled souls.

Sarah Ban Breathnach

Sincerity doesn't mean anything. A person can be sincere and be more destructive than a person who is insincere.

Edward Albee

Sincerity is all that counts. It's a widespread modern heresy. Think again. Bolsheviks are sincere. Fascists are sincere. Lunatics are sincere. People who believe the earth is flat are sincere. They can't all be right. Better make certain that you've got something to be sincere about and with.

Tom Driberg

I appreciate a book intended to be judged by its cover. The insincere readers are often weeded out while the sincere readers remain curious.

Criss Jami

I much prefer the sharpest criticism of a single intelligent man to the thoughtless approval of the masses.

Johannes Kepler

The most sincere compliment we can pay is attention.

Walter Inglis Anderson

Who doesn't love a compliment? But every compliment comes with a warning: Beware—Do Not Overuse. Go ahead, sniff your compliment. Take a little sip. But don't chew, don't swallow. If you do, you risk abandoning the good work that inspired the compliment in the first place. If that happens, maybe it was the compliment and not the job well done that you were aiming for all along.

Jerry Spinelli

This fear of criticism displayed by the advocates of freedom of criticism cannot be attributed solely to craftiness. No, the majority of the Economists look with sincere resentment upon all theoretical controversies, factional disagreements, broad political questions, plans for organising revolutionaries, etc.

Vladimir Lenin

I don't have a very high opinion, actually, of the world of criticism - or the practice of criticism. I think I admire art criticism, criticism of painting and sculpture, far more than I do that of say films and books, literary or film criticism. But I don't much like the practice. I think there are an awful lot of bad people in it.