Sayings about Praise
Trust not the praise of a friend nor the contempt of an enemy. ~ Italian Proverbs
When a father praises his son, he flatters himself. ~ American Proverbs
When a fool is cursed, he thinks he is being praised. ~ Ethiopian Proverbs
Beware the man who lavishes too much praise on you, he will later run you down. ~ Arabian Proverbs
Condemn a man within earshot; praise him at a distance. ~ Yugoslavian Proverb
If you praise the man who taps the palm tree, he’ll put water in the palm wine. ~ Zanzibar Proverbs
The most highly praised woman is the one about whom no one speaks. ~ Chinese Proverbs
Every peddler praises his own needles. ~ Portuguese Proverbs
He who dispraises a thing wants to buy it. ~ French Proverbs
A man trying to sell a blind horse always praises its feet. ~ German Proverbs
Don’t praise my good fortune before I’m dead and buried. ~ Tibetan Proverbs
Praise makes good people better and bad people worse. ~ Traditional Proverb
Neither blame or praise yourself. ~ Traditional Proverb
Abuse often starts with praise. ~ Japanese Proverbs
Women never praise without gossiping. ~ Chinese Proverb
Never praise life in front of death, nor the beautiful day in front of night. ~ Spanish Proverbs
Old praise dies unless you feed it. ~ English Proverbs
Praise the ripe field, not the green corn. ~ Irish Proverbs
The envious never give praise, they only take it in. ~ Mexican Proverbs
The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did. ~ African Proverb
Praise makes a bad man worse. ~ United States Proverb
A good book praises itself. ~ German Proverb
Women believe the strangest of lies as long as they are wrapped up in praise. ~ French Proverb
Pay the doctor, praise the Lord. ~ Jamaican Proverb
The praise of a thousand jesters counts for nothing against the reprimand of one wise man. ~ German Proverb
It is a sad situation for a son-in-law when his mother-in-law praises him. ~ Chinese Proverb
If one man praises you, a thousand will repeat the praise. ~ Japanese Proverb
Every sandpiper praises his own swamp. ~ Russian Proverb
Praise your horse tomorrow, your son when he has a beard, your daughter when she is married and yourself never. ~ Finnish Proverb
Every seller praises his wares. ~ Yiddish Proverb
Let someone else sing your praise. ~ New Zealander Proverb
In the presence of your neighbor don’t praise your wife or his. ~ Spanish Proverb
Self-praise is no recommendation. ~ Traditional Proverb
The work praises the man. ~ Irish Proverb
Let every man praise the bridge he goes over. ~ English Proverb
Undeserved praise is mockery disguised. ~ German Proverb
Good wine praises itself. ~ Dutch Proverb
We praised the bride, and she was found pregnant. ~ Tunisian Proverb
Praise the fine day in the evening. ~ Scottish Proverb
A puff of wind and popular praise weigh the same. ~ English Proverb
Wait for a month before you praise a horse, and for a year before you praise a woman. ~ Czech Proverb
The best way to get praise is to die. ~ Italian Proverb
Don’t praise your furnace when the house is cold. ~ Russian Proverb
Praise the young and they will blossom. ~ Irish Proverb
The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree said he would praise himself if no one else did. ~ Nigerian Proverb
If you would be praised, die. ~ Welsh Proverb
People blame themselves for the purpose of being praised. ~ Traditional Proverb
Don’t praise the bread that is not out of the oven. ~ Danish Proverb
When a proud man hears another praised, he feels himself injured. ~ English Proverb
Many men know how to flatter, few men know how to praise. ~ Greek Proverb
It is the greatest possible praise to be praised by a man who is himself deserving of praise. ~ Latin Proverb
Some people want to be praised for the rest of their lives for what they have done well for one day. ~ Chinese Proverb
The virtuous will be praised but not envied. ~ Iranian Proverb
Quotations about Praise
As the Greek said, “Many men know how to flatter, few men know how to praise.” ~ Wendell Phillips
Praising all alike, is praising none. ~ John Gay
We increase whatever we praise. The whole creation responds to praise, and is glad. ~ Charles Fillmore
Sweet is the scene where genial friendship plays the pleasing game of interchanging praise. ~ Oliver Wendell Holmes
We are all excited by the love of praise, and the noblest are most influenced by glory. ~ Cicero
The sweeter sound of woman’s praise. ~ Thomas Babington Macaulay
The praise that comes from love does not make us vain, but more humble. ~ James M. Barrie
A little praise is not only merest justice but is beyond the purse of no one. ~ Emily Post
To praise is an investment in happiness. ~ George M. Adams
The only way to escape the personal corruption of praise is to go on working. ~ Albert Einstein
He only profits from praise who values criticism. ~ Heinrich Heine
A little praise is good for a shy temper; it teaches it to rely on the kindness of others. ~ Walter Savage Landor
Praise in the beginning is agreeable enough, and we receive it as a favor; but when it comes in great quantities, we regard it only as a debt, which nothing but our merit could extort. ~ Oliver Goldsmith
There are three kinds of praise,–that which we yield, that which we lend, and that which we pay. We yield it to the powerful from fear, we lend it to the weak from interest, and we pay it to the deserving from gratitude. ~ Charles Caleb Colton
There’s not much you cannot do if you’ll give the credit to others. ~ Teeter M. Buchanan
There are two things people want more than sex and money…recognition and praise. ~ Mary Kay Ash
None can be pleased without praise, and few can be praised without falsehood. ~ Samuel Johnson
Get someone else to blow your horn and the sound will carry twice as far. ~ Will Rogers
It is not he who searches for praise who finds it. ~ Antoine de Rivarol
Praise undeserved is scandal in disguise. ~ Alexander Pope
Good things should be praised. ~ William Shakespeare
Praise, of all things, is the most powerful excitement to commendable actions, and animates us in our enterprises. ~ Jean de la Bruyere
The praises of others may be of use in teaching us, not what we are, but what we ought to be. ~ Augustus William Hare
Everyone has an invisible sign hanging from their neck saying, “Make me feel important.” Never forget this message when working with people. ~ Mary Kay
Try praising your wife, even if it does frighten her at first. ~ William Ashley Sunday
Praise God even when you don’t understand what He is doing. ~ Henry Jacobsen
The advantage of doing one’s praising for oneself is that one can lay it on so thick and exactly in the right places. ~ Samuel Butler
Never praise a sister to a sister in the hope of your compliments reaching the proper ears. ~ Rudyard Kipling
Praise does wonders for the sense of hearing. ~ Best of Bits and Pieces
He who praises you for what you have not, wishes to take from you what you have. ~ Don Juan Manuel
Praising an honest person who doesn’t deserve it, always wounds them. ~ Nicholas Boileau
Attach yourself to those who advise you rather than praise you. ~ Nicholas Boileau
Some blames are actually praise, and some praises are actually blame. ~ Francois De La Rochefoucauld
Sweet is the breath of praise when given by those whose own high merit claims the praise they give. ~ Hannah More
The sweetest of all sounds is praise. ~ Xenophon
Praise the Lord and pass the ammunition. ~ Howell M. Forgy
There’s nothing so rewarding as to make people realize they are worthwhile in this world. ~ Bob Anderson
Admiration; is our polite recognition of another’s resemblance to ourselves. ~ Ambrose Bierce
Some natures are too good to be spoiled by praise. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson
Those are greedy of praise prove that they are poor in merit. ~ Plutarch
Every ear is tickled with the sweet music of applause. ~ Isaac Barrow
Praise is only praise when well addressed. ~ John Gay
There is no belittling worse than to over-praise a man. ~ Owen Felltham
A man who does not love praise is not a full man. ~ Henry Ward Beecher
When you praise someone you call yourself his equal. ~ Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
The praise of a fool is incense to the wisest of us. ~ Benjamin Disraeli
Praise is the best diet for us, after all. ~ Sydney Smith
You may be liberal in your praise where praise is due: it costs nothing; it encourages much. ~ Horace Mann
He who praises everybody praises nobody. ~ Samuel Johnson
It is a great happiness to be praised of them that are most praiseworthy. ~ Philip Sidney
Praise invariably implies a reference to a higher standard. ~ Aristotle
Sometimes we deny being worthy of praise, hoping to generate an argument we would be pleased to lose. ~ Cullen Hightower
Praise the bridge that carried you over. ~ George Colman
He is not praised whose praiser deserveth not praise. ~ Gabriel Harvey
Allow no man to be so free with you as to praise you to your face. ~ Sir Richard Steele
Our praises are our wages. ~ William Shakespeare
A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice. ~ Francois Duc de la Rochefoucauld
Praise never gives us much pleasure unless it concur with our own opinion, and extol us for those qualities in which we chiefly excel. ~ David Hume
Earth, with her thousand voices, praises God. ~ Samuel Taylor Coleridge,
One should use praise to recognize what one is not. ~ Elias Canetti
Praise has different effects, according to the mind it meets with; it makes a wise man modest, but a fool more arrogant, turning his weak brain giddy. ~ Owen Felltham
He who loves praise, loves temptation. ~ Thomas Wilson
Praise is the reflection of virtue. ~ Francis Bacon
Appreciative words are the most powerful force for good on earth! ~ George W. Crane
In Praise of Idleness. ~ Book preview
