Daily Inspiration Quote by Ninon de Lenclos

Flattery, Ninon de Lenclos suggests, is most convincing when it leaks out by accident. The line treats compliments less like crafted gifts and more like tells: the verbal equivalent of a blush, a laugh you didnt plan, a glance that lands a beat too long. Prepared praise is performance, and performance always has an audience in mind. Unthinking praise, by contrast, feels like evidence. It implies the speaker was briefly unguarded, overtaken by genuine admiration before strategy could step in and tidy the moment.

That idea fits de Lenclos's world and her brand. As a famous salonniere and courtesan in 17th-century France, she lived inside a culture where language was currency and social life was a perpetual audition. Compliments could be weapons, bribes, or formalities, deployed to climb, seduce, or survive. In that environment, the most valuable thing wasnt eloquence; it was the rare sensation of sincerity. Her sentence flatters the listener while also indicting the speaker: if you have to rehearse your admiration, maybe you are negotiating, not noticing.

The subtext is quietly ruthless. It warns that polished praise can be manipulative, and it raises the bar for intimacy: real esteem reveals itself in involuntary moments. Its also a little self-protective, a rule for reading people when everyone is trained to charm. De Lenclos turns a social anxiety into a social test: dont trust the compliment; trust the slip.