"Be advised that all flatterers live at the expense of those who listen to them"
About this Quote
Flattery, La Fontaine warns, is not free; it runs on a quiet form of predation. The line lands like a polite legal notice ("Be advised") and then slips in the punch: the flatterer survives by extracting something from the flattered. Not just money, though that is often the endgame, but attention, trust, access, the little surrender of judgment that happens when praise hits the ego at the right angle. The brilliance is the economic metaphor: someone is always paying, and the currency is usually self-respect.
As a 17th-century poet navigating a courtly culture obsessed with rank and favor, La Fontaine knew how praise functioned as social technology. In Louis XIV's France, where proximity to power was a livelihood, the flatterer wasn't merely obnoxious; he was a professional. Compliments became investment pitches, and the listener became the mark. The quote carries the same moral circuitry as his fables, especially "The Fox and the Crow", where the crow's vanity is literally cashed out in cheese. La Fontaine's gift is making that transaction feel inevitable, almost mechanical: vanity creates demand; the flatterer supplies; the listener pays.
The subtext is less "never accept praise" than "notice what praise is asking you to overlook". Flattery works by offering an inflated self-image in exchange for lowered defenses. The listener's mistake isn't enjoying it; it's mistaking it for truth.
As a 17th-century poet navigating a courtly culture obsessed with rank and favor, La Fontaine knew how praise functioned as social technology. In Louis XIV's France, where proximity to power was a livelihood, the flatterer wasn't merely obnoxious; he was a professional. Compliments became investment pitches, and the listener became the mark. The quote carries the same moral circuitry as his fables, especially "The Fox and the Crow", where the crow's vanity is literally cashed out in cheese. La Fontaine's gift is making that transaction feel inevitable, almost mechanical: vanity creates demand; the flatterer supplies; the listener pays.
The subtext is less "never accept praise" than "notice what praise is asking you to overlook". Flattery works by offering an inflated self-image in exchange for lowered defenses. The listener's mistake isn't enjoying it; it's mistaking it for truth.
Quote Details
| Topic | Fake Friends |
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