--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Sure flattery never traveled so far as…" description: "\"“Sure flattery never traveled so far as three thousand miles; it is now only for truth, which over takes all things, to reach you at this distance.”\" —..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/446/alexander-pope-235_thousand-miles_sure-flattery-never-traveled-so-far-as-t_764354.jpg" --- # Sure flattery never traveled so far as three thousand… ![“Sure flattery never traveled so far as three thousand miles; it is now only for truth, which over takes all things, to reach you at this distance.” quote by Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/446/alexander-pope-235_thousand-miles_sure-flattery-never-traveled-so-far-as-t_764354.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/446/alexander-pope-235_thousand-miles_sure-flattery-never-traveled-so-far-as-t_764354.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/446/alexander-pope-235_thousand-miles_sure-flattery-never-traveled-so-far-as-t_764354.jpg) > ““Sure flattery never traveled so far as three thousand miles; it is now only for truth, which over takes all things, to reach you at this distance.”” [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The quote suggests that flattery is limited in reach, whereas truth travels far and ultimately prevails. **In simple terms:** Flattery is short‑lived; truth endures and spreads. Key Takeaway Prioritize truth over empty praise. Themes truth flattery communication integrity Mood thoughtful inspirational Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - public speaking - writing - leadership - personal relationships Key Concepts honesty influence reputation Questions to Reflect On - When is truth more powerful than flattery? - How can we recognize genuine praise? A Different Perspective Flattery can sometimes be effective in the short term. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Truth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/truth/) ## Related quotes > [“One does not need to journey a thousand miles to find the truth within.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiki-flinthart/one-does-not-need-to-journey-a-thousand-miles-to-find-the-truth-within/) [Aiki Flinthart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiki-flinthart/) > [Truth takes no account of centuries.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-wordsworth/truth-takes-no-account-of-centuries/) [William Wordsworth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-wordsworth/) > [Staring down hard truth takes guts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joan-bauer/staring-down-hard-truth-takes-guts/) [Joan Bauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joan-bauer/) > [When truth takes a backseat to ego and politics, trust is lost.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-lencioni/when-truth-takes-a-backseat-to-ego-and-politics-trust-is-lost/) [Patrick Lencioni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-lencioni/) > [“I am grateful that I got kicked in the ass. That I had a taste of reality before I traveled too far and that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alessandra-torre/i-am-grateful-that-i-got-kicked-in-the-ass-that-i-had-a-taste-of/) [Alessandra Torre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alessandra-torre/) > [“That you traveled as far away from this place as you possibly could, only to find yourself back, and it’s all concertinaed down to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/loreth-anne-white/that-you-traveled-as-far-away-from-this-place-as-you-possibly-could/) [Loreth Anne White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/loreth-anne-white/) > [We've traveled too far, and our momentum has taken over; we move idly towards eternity, without possibility of reprieve or hope of explanation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-stoppard/we-ve-traveled-too-far-and-our-momentum-has-taken-over-we-move-idly/) [Tom Stoppard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-stoppard/) > [“And have you traveled very far? Far as the eye can see. How often have you been there? Often enough to know. What did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-beatles/and-have-you-traveled-very-far-far-as-the-eye-can-see-how-often-have/) [The Beatles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-beatles/) > [“You've traveled this far on the back of every mistake, ridden in dark-eyed and morose but calm as a house after the TV set…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dorianne-laux/you-ve-traveled-this-far-on-the-back-of-every-mistake-ridden-in-dark/) [Dorianne Laux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dorianne-laux/) > [You have to go where the truth takes you, and that doesn't always take you in exactly the same place where people you speak…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-grann/you-have-to-go-where-the-truth-takes-you-and-that-doesn-t-always-take/) [David Grann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-grann/) > [Truth is within ourselves; it takes no rise From outward things, whate'er you may believe. There is an inmost centre in us all, Where…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-browning/truth-is-within-ourselves-it-takes-no-rise-from-outward-things-whate/) [Robert Browning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-browning/) > [The search for truth takes you where the evidence leads you, even if, at first, you don't want to go there.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bart-d-ehrman/the-search-for-truth-takes-you-where-the-evidence-leads-you-even-if/) [Bart D. Ehrman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bart-d-ehrman/) > [You have traveled far, but the hardest part of a journey is always the next step.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-morris/you-have-traveled-far-but-the-hardest-part-of-a-journey-is-always-the/) Jackie Morris > [“The truth never takes a backseat ”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-rosenburg/the-truth-never-takes-a-backseat/) Alex Rosenburg > [Truth takes the stamp of the souls it enters. It is rigorous and rough in arid souls, but tempers and softens itself in loving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-joubert/truth-takes-the-stamp-of-the-souls-it-enters-it-is-rigorous-and-rough/) [Joseph Joubert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-joubert/) ## More by Alexander Pope > [How do we know that we have a right to kill creatures that we are so little above, as dogs, for our curiosity or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/how-do-we-know-that-we-have-a-right-to-kill-creatures-that-we-are-so/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [To wake the soul by tender strokes of art, To raise the genius, and to mend the heart; To make mankind, in conscious virtue…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/to-wake-the-soul-by-tender-strokes-of-art-to-raise-the-genius-and-to/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [A mighty maze! But not without a plan.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/a-mighty-maze-but-not-without-a-plan/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Let such teach others who themselves excel, And censure freely who have written well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/let-such-teach-others-who-themselves-excel-and-censure-freely-who/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [For I, who hold sage Homer's rule the best, Welcome the coming, speed the going guest.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/for-i-who-hold-sage-homer-s-rule-the-best-welcome-the-coming-speed/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Like following life through creatures you dissect, You lose it in the moment you detect.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/like-following-life-through-creatures-you-dissect-you-lose-it-in-the/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [When two people compliment each other with the choice of anything, each of them generally gets that which he likes least.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/when-two-people-compliment-each-other-with-the-choice-of-anything/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Such labour'd nothings, in so strange a style, Amaze th' unlearn'd and make the learned smile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/such-labour-d-nothings-in-so-strange-a-style-amaze-th-unlearn-d-and/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Charms strike the sight, but merit wins the soul.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/charms-strike-the-sight-but-merit-wins-the-soul/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [She went from opera, park, assembly, play, To morning walks, and prayers three hours a day. To part her time 'twixt reading and bohea,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/she-went-from-opera-park-assembly-play-to-morning-walks-and-prayers/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [I am satisfied to trifle away my time, rather than let it stick by me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/i-am-satisfied-to-trifle-away-my-time-rather-than-let-it-stick-by-me/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [The greatest advantage I know of being thought a wit by the world is, that it gives one the greater freedom of playing the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/the-greatest-advantage-i-know-of-being-thought-a-wit-by-the-world-is/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Then say not Man's imperfect,Heav'n in fault; Say rather, Man's as perfect ashe ought:](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/then-say-not-man-s-imperfect-heav-n-in-fault-say-rather-man-s-as/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [First follow Nature, and your judgment frame By her just standard, which is still the same: Unerring nature, still divinely bright, One clear, unchanged,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/first-follow-nature-and-your-judgment-frame-by-her-just-standard/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) > [Who shall decide when doctors disagree, And soundest casuists doubt, like you and me?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/who-shall-decide-when-doctors-disagree-and-soundest-casuists-doubt/) [Alexander Pope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) [Explore all 850 Alexander Pope quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/) ## More Thousand miles quotes > [“There is a night that never comes to an end… The clock of the world turns under its own shadow. Midnight is a moving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/there-is-a-night-that-never-comes-to-an-end-the-clock-of-the-world/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Georgia O’Keeffe moved to rural New Mexico, from which she would sign her letters to the people she loved, “from the faraway nearby.” It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-solnit/georgia-o-keeffe-moved-to-rural-new-mexico-from-which-she-would-sign/) [Rebecca Solnit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-solnit/) > [“What does Africa — what does the West stand for? Is not our own interior white on the chart? black though it may prove,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/what-does-africa-what-does-the-west-stand-for-is-not-our-own-interior/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [“We had moved there, three years earlier, leaving behind our family home which was situated in the township of another state, over a thousand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katrina-kahler/we-had-moved-there-three-years-earlier-leaving-behind-our-family-home/) [Katrina Kahler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katrina-kahler/) > [“I hesitate, then put my other hand on top of his. We're partners. Always have been, even when I hate him, when he's a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackson-pearce/i-hesitate-then-put-my-other-hand-on-top-of-his-we-re-partners-always/) [Jackson Pearce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackson-pearce/) > [“Your brain… weighs three pounds and has one hundred thousand miles of blood vessels. contains more connections than there are stars in the Milky…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-perlmutter/your-brain-weighs-three-pounds-and-has-one-hundred-thousand-miles-of/) [David Perlmutter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-perlmutter/) > [Maybe it's important to open up I people- people who are right there with you, not some thousand miles away in another universe. Or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bryan-lee-o-malley/maybe-it-s-important-to-open-up-i-people-people-who-are-right-there/) [Bryan Lee O'Malley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bryan-lee-o-malley/) > [“The journy of a thousand miles starts beneath your feet.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/master-sheng-yen/the-journy-of-a-thousand-miles-starts-beneath-your-feet/) Master Sheng Yen > [“So, fiancé is it, now? I guess it was easier to say than to say she is the woman who took off on a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-morgan/so-fianc-is-it-now-i-guess-it-was-easier-to-say-than-to-say-she-is/) [Alex Morgan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-morgan/) > [I walked a thousand miles just to slip this skin.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-walked-a-thousand-miles-just-to-slip-this-skin/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [“The last time I’d been unwell, suicidally depressed, whatever you want to call it, the reactions of my friends and family had fallen into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marian-keyes/the-last-time-i-d-been-unwell-suicidally-depressed-whatever-you-want/) [Marian Keyes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marian-keyes/) > [“The money that could have saved the Shuttle, and the money we send to random countries, that we use to remake unchangeable countries ten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dave-eggers/the-money-that-could-have-saved-the-shuttle-and-the-money-we-send-to/) [Dave Eggers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dave-eggers/) > [But you'd have to walk a thousand miles In my shoes, just to see What it's like, to be me I'll be you, let's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eminem/but-you-d-have-to-walk-a-thousand-miles-in-my-shoes-just-to-see-what/) [Eminem](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eminem/) > [“I've seen the devil of violence, and the devil of greed, and the devil of hot desire; but, by all the stars! these were…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-conrad/i-ve-seen-the-devil-of-violence-and-the-devil-of-greed-and-the-devil/) [Joseph Conrad](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-conrad/) > [I would walk a thousand miles To feel your hugs and see your smiles But then one day we had to part The hardest…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-collins/i-would-walk-a-thousand-miles-to-feel-your-hugs-and-see-your-smiles/) [Gail Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-collins/) Browse all 378 Thousand miles quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Sure flattery never traveled so far as three thousand miles; it is now only for truth, which over takes all things, to reach you at this distance.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Alexander Pope" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/sure-flattery-never-traveled-so-far-as-three-thousand-miles-it-is-now/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Thousand miles" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/sure-flattery-never-traveled-so-far-as-three-thousand-miles-it-is-now/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/446/alexander-pope-235_thousand-miles_sure-flattery-never-traveled-so-far-as-t_764354.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/446/alexander-pope-235_thousand-miles_sure-flattery-never-traveled-so-far-as-t_764354.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/446/alexander-pope-235_thousand-miles_sure-flattery-never-traveled-so-far-as-t_764354.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sure flattery never traveled so far as three thousand miles; it is now only for truth, which over takes all…” — Alexander Pope", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Alexander Pope", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-pope/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Sure flattery never traveled so far...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/sure-flattery-never-traveled-so-far-as-three-thousand-miles-it-is-now/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-pope/sure-flattery-never-traveled-so-far-as-three-thousand-miles-it-is-now/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```