--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: False praise can please, and calumny…" description: "\"False praise can please, and calumny affright None but the vicious, and the hypocrite.\" — Horace" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06d/horace-172_calumny_false-praise-can-please-and-calumny-affr_1924235.jpg" --- # False praise can please, and calumny affright None but the… ![“False praise can please, and calumny affright None but the vicious, and the hypocrite.” quote by Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06d/horace-172_calumny_false-praise-can-please-and-calumny-affr_1924235.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06d/horace-172_calumny_false-praise-can-please-and-calumny-affr_1924235.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06d/horace-172_calumny_false-praise-can-please-and-calumny-affr_1924235.jpg) > “False praise can please, and calumny affright None but the vicious, and the hypocrite.” [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Complimenting the wicked pleases them, while criticism frightens only the vicious and hypocritical. **In simple terms:** Flattery works on the wicked; criticism scares the corrupt. Key Takeaway Use honest feedback, not empty praise. Themes honesty criticism virtue Mood thoughtful serious Type advice philosophical When to use this quote - leadership - personal growth - political discourse Key Concepts ethics psychology Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance truth and kindness? - When is criticism necessary? A Different Perspective Empty praise can breed complacency and false confidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Affright Vicious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affright-vicious-2973260/) [Calumny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calumny/) [False Praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/false-praise-951754/) [Hypocrite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/hypocrite/) [Please](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/please/) [Praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praise/) [Praise Calumny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praise-calumny-2973259/) [Vicious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vicious/) [Vicious Hypocrite](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vicious-hypocrite-2973258/) ## Related quotes > [I have performed my duty to my God, my country, and my family. I have nothing to fear in approaching death. To me it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-johnson/i-have-performed-my-duty-to-my-god-my-country-and-my-family-i-have/) [Andrew Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-johnson/) > [False praise is worse than no praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/felix-dennis/false-praise-is-worse-than-no-praise/) [Felix Dennis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/felix-dennis/) > [False praise is always confined to the great.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-home-lord-kames/false-praise-is-always-confined-to-the-great/) [Henry Home, Lord Kames](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-home-lord-kames/) > [Wise people prefer to benefit from constructive criticism rather than be ruined by false praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shiv-khera/wise-people-prefer-to-benefit-from-constructive-criticism-rather-than/) [Shiv Khera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shiv-khera/) > [True praise comes often even to the lowly; false praise only to the strong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/true-praise-comes-often-even-to-the-lowly-false-praise-only-to-the/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Flee flattery, false praise and fair weather friends](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fraser-young/flee-flattery-false-praise-and-fair-weather-friends/) [Fraser Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fraser-young/) > [Only praise behavior that you want to be repeated. Never use false praise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dean-smith/only-praise-behavior-that-you-want-to-be-repeated-never-use-false/) [Dean Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dean-smith/) > [There are calumnies against which even innocence loses courage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/there-are-calumnies-against-which-even-innocence-loses-courage/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Something of calumny always sticks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-boileau-despreaux/something-of-calumny-always-sticks/) [Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-boileau-despreaux/) > [I never think it necessary to repeat calumnies; they are sparks, which, if you do not blow them, will go out of themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-boerhaave/i-never-think-it-necessary-to-repeat-calumnies-they-are-sparks-which/) [Herman Boerhaave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-boerhaave/) > [“Majority of people prefer a good name to a bad name, but to me, anyone can call me anything, as long as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/majority-of-people-prefer-a-good-name-to-a-bad-name-but-to-me-anyone/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny-fear, ignorance, bigotry and smear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-chase-smith/i-do-not-want-to-see-the-republican-party-ride-to-political-victory/) [Margaret Chase Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-chase-smith/) > [No matter how valuable you are and your ideas, fools will certainly play both of you down, so exclude yourselves from the inflammatory environs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/no-matter-how-valuable-you-are-and-your-ideas-fools-will-certainly/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [“He made a pit and digged it. He was cunning in his plans and industrious in his labors. He stooped to the dirty work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-h-spurgeon/he-made-a-pit-and-digged-it-he-was-cunning-in-his-plans-and/) [Charles H. Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-h-spurgeon/) > [Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about. And since we know least about ourselves, we are ready to believe all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/our-credulity-is-greatest-concerning-the-things-we-know-least-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Horace > [Strange - is it not? That of the myriads who Before us passed the door of Darkness through, Not one returns to tell us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/strange-is-it-not-that-of-the-myriads-who-before-us-passed-the-door/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Finxerunt animi, raro et perpauca loquentis. (To action little, less to words inclinded.)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/finxerunt-animi-raro-et-perpauca-loquentis-to-action-little-less-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [No verse can give pleasure for long, nor last, that is written by drinkers of water.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/no-verse-can-give-pleasure-for-long-nor-last-that-is-written-by/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Fate with impartial hand turns out the doom of high and low; her capacious urn is constantly shaking the names of all mankind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/fate-with-impartial-hand-turns-out-the-doom-of-high-and-low-her/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [A word, once sent abroad, flies irrevocably.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/a-word-once-sent-abroad-flies-irrevocably/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“Natales grate numeras? (Do you count your birthdays with gratitude?)”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/natales-grate-numeras-do-you-count-your-birthdays-with-gratitude/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [ In a moment comes either death or joyful victory. \[Lat., Horae Momento cita mors venit aut victoria laeta.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/in-a-moment-comes-either-death-or-joyful-victory-lat-horae-momento/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori - It is a sweet and becoming thing to die for ones country.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/dulce-et-decorum-est-pro-patria-mori-it-is-a-sweet-and-becoming-thing/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [ Neither men, nor gods, nor booksellers' shelves permit ordinary poets to exist. \[Lat., Mediocribus esse poetis Non homines, non di, non concessere columnae.\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/neither-men-nor-gods-nor-booksellers-shelves-permit-ordinary-poets-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Don't yield to that alluring witch, laziness, or else be prepared to surrender all that you have won in your better moments.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/don-t-yield-to-that-alluring-witch-laziness-or-else-be-prepared-to/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Avoid inquisitive persons, for they are sure to be gossips, their ears are open to hear, but they will not keep what is entrusted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/avoid-inquisitive-persons-for-they-are-sure-to-be-gossips-their-ears/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [“You may drive out Nature with a pitchfork, yet she still will hurry back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/you-may-drive-out-nature-with-a-pitchfork-yet-she-still-will-hurry/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [There is a proper measure in all things, certain limits beyond which and short of which right is not to be found. Who so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/there-is-a-proper-measure-in-all-things-certain-limits-beyond-which/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Never despair while under the guidance and auspices of Teucer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/never-despair-while-under-the-guidance-and-auspices-of-teucer/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) > [Alas, Postumus, the fleeting years slip by, nor will piety give any stay to wrinkles and pressing old age and untamable death.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/alas-postumus-the-fleeting-years-slip-by-nor-will-piety-give-any-stay/) [Horace](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) [Explore all 1,000 Horace quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/) ## More Calumny quotes > [“He made a pit and digged it. He was cunning in his plans and industrious in his labors. He stooped to the dirty work…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-h-spurgeon/he-made-a-pit-and-digged-it-he-was-cunning-in-his-plans-and/) [Charles H. Spurgeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-h-spurgeon/) > [No matter how valuable you are and your ideas, fools will certainly play both of you down, so exclude yourselves from the inflammatory environs…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/no-matter-how-valuable-you-are-and-your-ideas-fools-will-certainly/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [I do not want to see the Republican party ride to political victory on the Four Horsemen of Calumny-fear, ignorance, bigotry and smear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-chase-smith/i-do-not-want-to-see-the-republican-party-ride-to-political-victory/) [Margaret Chase Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-chase-smith/) > [“Majority of people prefer a good name to a bad name, but to me, anyone can call me anything, as long as it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-bassey-johnson/majority-of-people-prefer-a-good-name-to-a-bad-name-but-to-me-anyone/) [Michael Bassey Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-bassey-johnson/) > [I never think it necessary to repeat calumnies; they are sparks, which, if you do not blow them, will go out of themselves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herman-boerhaave/i-never-think-it-necessary-to-repeat-calumnies-they-are-sparks-which/) [Herman Boerhaave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herman-boerhaave/) > [Something of calumny always sticks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicolas-boileau-despreaux/something-of-calumny-always-sticks/) [Nicolas Boileau-Despreaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicolas-boileau-despreaux/) > [Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about. And since we know least about ourselves, we are ready to believe all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/our-credulity-is-greatest-concerning-the-things-we-know-least-about/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [He has outsoared the shadow of our night; envy and calumny and hate and pain, and that unrest which men miscall delight, can touch…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/percy-bysshe-shelley/he-has-outsoared-the-shadow-of-our-night-envy-and-calumny-and-hate/) [Percy Bysshe Shelley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/percy-bysshe-shelley/) > [After upwards of two thousand years Epicurus has been exonerated from the reproach that the doctrines of his philosophy recommended the pleasures of sensuality…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-benton-clulow/after-upwards-of-two-thousand-years-epicurus-has-been-exonerated-from/) [William Benton Clulow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-benton-clulow/) > [“Saint John of the Ladder explains it thus: "The devil tempts us to commit sin; and when he does not succeed, he points scornfully…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fr-belet/saint-john-of-the-ladder-explains-it-thus-the-devil-tempts-us-to/) [Fr. Belet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fr-belet/) > [Mobs may assemble, calumny may defame, but the work of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-smith-jr/mobs-may-assemble-calumny-may-defame-but-the-work-of-god-will-go/) [Joseph Smith, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-smith-jr/) > [A man calumniated is doubly injured -- first by him who utters the calumny, and then by him who believes it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herodotus/a-man-calumniated-is-doubly-injured-first-by-him-who-utters-the/) [Herodotus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herodotus/) > [Christ taught us truth; the Devil teaches us falsehood, and strives in every way to contradict every truth; devising various calumnies against it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-of-kronstadt/christ-taught-us-truth-the-devil-teaches-us-falsehood-and-strives-in/) [John of Kronstadt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-of-kronstadt/) > [But silence never shows itself to so great an advantage, as when it is made the reply to calumny and defamation, provided that we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-addison/but-silence-never-shows-itself-to-so-great-an-advantage-as-when-it-is/) [Joseph Addison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-addison/) > [There is something mean in human nature that prefers to think evil, that gives a willing ear and a ready welcome to calumny, a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-le-gallienne/there-is-something-mean-in-human-nature-that-prefers-to-think-evil/) [Richard Le Gallienne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-le-gallienne/) [Browse all 94 Calumny quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/calumny/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "False praise can please, and calumny affright None but the vicious, and the hypocrite.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Horace" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/false-praise-can-please-and-calumny-affright-none-but-the-vicious-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Calumny" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/false-praise-can-please-and-calumny-affright-none-but-the-vicious-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06d/horace-172_calumny_false-praise-can-please-and-calumny-affr_1924235.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06d/horace-172_calumny_false-praise-can-please-and-calumny-affr_1924235.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/06d/horace-172_calumny_false-praise-can-please-and-calumny-affr_1924235.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“False praise can please, and calumny affright None but the vicious, and the hypocrite.” — Horace", "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": "Horace", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "False praise can please, and calumny...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/false-praise-can-please-and-calumny-affright-none-but-the-vicious-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace/false-praise-can-please-and-calumny-affright-none-but-the-vicious-and/#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 } } ] } ```