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Show FLATTERY AND REAL PRAISE. 11 Distinction That Is Worthy of Careful II Consideration. i "Wo sometimes fancy wo hato flat- II ery, when in truth It is tho manner of I! it we dislike," said La Rochefoucauld. I1 Stripped of Its cynicism, the saying 1 comes to this: that while praise is eternally pleasant, there are fashions in flattery, and those fashions change very completely. Flattery is Innocent or despicable, not according to wheth- er or not it oversteps the limits of the m accurate, but whether or not It pro- coeds from an Interested or a disln- m forested motive. There aro moments when a true statement of honorific fact made for tho selfish purpose or tho speaker may bo gross flattery, while an exaggerated speech may ce Justified by its good intention. in real question Is not what was saw, but why It was said. That Is the only test by which we can divide the contemptible con-temptible from the harmless Kino. Surely thero Is less of tho worse son than there was or do we but nanw ourselves? |