"There is nothing which so poisons princes as flattery, nor anything whereby wicked men more easily obtain credit and favor with them."

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Once you are thought selfish, not only are you forgiven a life designed mainly to suit yourself, which in anyone else would appear monstrous, but if an impulse to generosity should by chance overpower you, you will get five times the credit of some poor selfless soul who has been oozing kindness for years.

— Carolyn Heilbrun