--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Compliments make me vain: & when I am…" description: "\"Compliments make me vain: & when I am vain, I am insolent & overbearing. It is a pity, too, because I love compliments. I love them even when they are ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/mark-twain-22_children_compliments-make-me-vain-when-i-am-vain_2331260.jpg" --- # Compliments make me vain: & when I am vain, I am insolent… ![“Compliments make me vain: & when I am vain, I am insolent & overbearing. It is a pity, too, because I love compliments. I love them even when they are not so. My child, I can live on a good compliment two weeks with nothing else to eat.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/mark-twain-22_children_compliments-make-me-vain-when-i-am-vain_2331260.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/mark-twain-22_children_compliments-make-me-vain-when-i-am-vain_2331260.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/mark-twain-22_children_compliments-make-me-vain-when-i-am-vain_2331260.jpg) > “Compliments make me vain: & when I am vain, I am insolent & overbearing. It is a pity, too, because I love compliments. I love them even when they are not so. My child, I can live on a good compliment two weeks with nothing else to eat.” [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Compliments can become a crutch, leading to vanity and arrogance, yet the speaker still craves them for sustenance. **In simple terms:** Compliments may foster vanity but also provide emotional nourishment. Key Takeaway Balance appreciation with self‑worth independent of praise. Themes pride social interaction self‑esteem Mood humorous critical Type observational philosophical When to use this quote - daily life - public speaking - parenting - social media Key Concepts psychology of praise ego dependency Questions to Reflect On - How do compliments affect your self‑image? - Can you find internal sources of validation? A Different Perspective Reliance on external validation can undermine genuine confidence. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Children](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) [Compliments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compliments/) [Overbearing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/overbearing/) [Pity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pity/) [Vain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vain/) [Vanity](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vanity/) [Week](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/week/) ## Related quotes > [My List of Virtues contain'd at first but twelve: But a Quaker Friend having kindly inform'd me that I was generally thought proud; that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/my-list-of-virtues-contain-d-at-first-but-twelve-but-a-quaker-friend/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [Anyone, without any great penetration, may distinguish the dispositions consequent on wealth; for its possessors are insolent and overbearing, from being tainted in a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aristotle/anyone-without-any-great-penetration-may-distinguish-the-dispositions/) [Aristotle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aristotle/) > [Why, all delights are vain, but that most vain Which, with pain purchased, doth inherit pain: As, painfully to pore upon a book, To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/why-all-delights-are-vain-but-that-most-vain-which-with-pain/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Vain, very vain is my search to find; that happiness which only centers in the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/vain-very-vain-is-my-search-to-find-that-happiness-which-only-centers/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [The common practice of keeping up appearances with society is a mere selfish struggle of the vain with the vain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-ruskin/the-common-practice-of-keeping-up-appearances-with-society-is-a-mere/) [John Ruskin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-ruskin/) > [If you are vain it is vain to sign your pictures and vain not to sign them. If you are not vain it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fairfield-porter/if-you-are-vain-it-is-vain-to-sign-your-pictures-and-vain-not-to-sign/) [Fairfield Porter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fairfield-porter/) > [I'm vain, I can be vain!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nick-viall/i-m-vain-i-can-be-vain/) [Nick Viall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nick-viall/) > [Vain, very vain, my weary search to find That bliss which only centers in the mind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/vain-very-vain-my-weary-search-to-find-that-bliss-which-only-centers/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [“If I really seem vain, it is that I am only vain in my ways—not in my heart. The worst women are those vain…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-hardy/if-i-really-seem-vain-it-is-that-i-am-only-vain-in-my-ways-not-in-my/) [Thomas Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-hardy/) > [Why, all delights are vain; but that most vain, Which, with pain purchas'd, doth inherit pain.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/why-all-delights-are-vain-but-that-most-vain-which-with-pain-purchas/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Measures are too often decided, not according to the rules of justice and the rights of the minor party, but by the superior force…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-madison/measures-are-too-often-decided-not-according-to-the-rules-of-justice/) [James Madison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-madison/) > [It is all a question of sensitiveness. Brute force and overbearing may make a terrific effect. But in the end, that which lives by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/d-h-lawrence/it-is-all-a-question-of-sensitiveness-brute-force-and-overbearing-may/) [D. H. Lawrence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/d-h-lawrence/) > [For more than a year, he'd felt destined to marry Isabel Arundell; now, suddenly, he wasn't so sure. He loved her, that was certain,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-hodder/for-more-than-a-year-he-d-felt-destined-to-marry-isabel-arundell-now/) [Mark Hodder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-hodder/) > [It's incredibly easy as a director to be egotistical. Of course, it is because you have 200 people on set every day listening to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-mazer/it-s-incredibly-easy-as-a-director-to-be-egotistical-of-course-it-is/) [Dan Mazer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-mazer/) > [“Another large share of it comes from overbearing or critical parents who don’t let their kids screw up on their own often enough,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-manson/another-large-share-of-it-comes-from-overbearing-or-critical-parents/) [Mark Manson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-manson/) ## More by Mark Twain > [Sing like no one's listening, love like you've never been hurt, dance like nobody's watching, and live like its heaven on earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/sing-like-no-one-s-listening-love-like-you-ve-never-been-hurt-dance/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If you had made the acquiring of ignorance the study of your life, you could not have graduated with higher honor than you could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-you-had-made-the-acquiring-of-ignorance-the-study-of-your-life-you/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“The Creator sat upon the throne, thinking. Behind him stretched the illimitable continent of heaven, steeped in a glory of light and color; before…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-creator-sat-upon-the-throne-thinking-behind-him-stretched-the/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-s-easy-to-quit-smoking-i-ve-done-it-hundreds-of-times/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“It is never wrong to do the right thing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/it-is-never-wrong-to-do-the-right-thing/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A man accustomed to American food and American domestic cookery would not starve to death suddenly in Europe, but I think he would gradually…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-man-accustomed-to-american-food-and-american-domestic-cookery-would/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There is nothing training can't cannot do. Nothing is above its reach.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-is-nothing-training-can-t-cannot-do-nothing-is-above-its-reach/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I never write Metropolis for seven cents because I can get the same price for city. I never write policeman because I can get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-never-write-metropolis-for-seven-cents-because-i-can-get-the-same/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The higher animals get their teeth without pain or inconvenience. Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“As far as I can see, Italy, for fifteen hundred years, has turned all her energies, all her finances, and all her industry to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/as-far-as-i-can-see-italy-for-fifteen-hundred-years-has-turned-all/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Begin with the determination to succeed and the work is half done already.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/begin-with-the-determination-to-succeed-and-the-work-is-half-done/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Many public-school children seem to know only two dates—1492 and 4th of July; and as a rule they don't know what happened on either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/many-public-school-children-seem-to-know-only-two-dates-1492-and-4th/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [If we could imagine such a man, that is a man who could invent the fly and send him out on his mission and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/if-we-could-imagine-such-a-man-that-is-a-man-who-could-invent-the-fly/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [You perceive, now, that these things are all impossible except in a dream. You perceive that they are pure and puerile insanities, the silly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/you-perceive-now-that-these-things-are-all-impossible-except-in-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [Lord save us all from a hope tree that has lost the faculty of putting out blossoms.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/lord-save-us-all-from-a-hope-tree-that-has-lost-the-faculty-of/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) [Explore all 3,277 Mark Twain quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## More Children quotes > [I am certain that children always know more than they are able to tell, and that makes the big difference between them and adults,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacques-lusseyran/i-am-certain-that-children-always-know-more-than-they-are-able-to/) [Jacques Lusseyran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacques-lusseyran/) > [Behind every successful child is an adult who believed in him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-warren/behind-every-successful-child-is-an-adult-who-believed-in-him/) [Rick Warren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-warren/) > [I believe in freedom to do what you want if you aren't hurting others, but pictures of obese protesters giving their children big gulps.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/philip-defranco/i-believe-in-freedom-to-do-what-you-want-if-you-aren-t-hurting-others/) [Philip DeFranco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/philip-defranco/) > [If the audience likes your work, if they like you, they don't think whether you are married or have children or not. I made…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dimple-kapadia/if-the-audience-likes-your-work-if-they-like-you-they-don-t-think/) [Dimple Kapadia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dimple-kapadia/) > [It doesnt seem to me strange that children should like the macabre, the sensational, and the forbidden.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-hecht/it-doesnt-seem-to-me-strange-that-children-should-like-the-macabre/) [Anthony Hecht](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-hecht/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gratitude isn't just a feeling, it's an action. Expressing gratitude by writing in a journal, taking a photo, or shooting a video creates a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janice-kaplan/gratitude-isn-t-just-a-feeling-it-s-an-action-expressing-gratitude-by/) [Janice Kaplan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janice-kaplan/) > [My embarrassing confession is that my father is a 'Camelot: The Musical' obsessive. So as a child, when we were going to visit relatives…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-chibnall/my-embarrassing-confession-is-that-my-father-is-a-camelot-the-musical/) [Chris Chibnall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-chibnall/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [My school was one of the most beautiful places a child can grow up in. You are surrounded by nature - cats, dogs, birds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/my-school-was-one-of-the-most-beautiful-places-a-child-can-grow-up-in/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [A lesser complaint: hair extensions. There are moments on 'All My Children' when half the women actors, young and old, seem to be afflicted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-paglia/a-lesser-complaint-hair-extensions-there-are-moments-on-all-my/) [Camille Paglia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-paglia/) > [As a child, I had a lot of older gay men taking care of me. There's a trust there. I feel like little girls…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-cho/as-a-child-i-had-a-lot-of-older-gay-men-taking-care-of-me-there-s-a/) [Margaret Cho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-cho/) > [If my child had prejudice in his head, I'd be ashamed. I would see it as my failure as a parent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/if-my-child-had-prejudice-in-his-head-i-d-be-ashamed-i-would-see-it/) [Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/) > [“Children's lives are always beginning and adults' lives are always ending. Or is it the opposite? Your childhood is always ending and your adult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alison-espach/children-s-lives-are-always-beginning-and-adults-lives-are-always/) [Alison Espach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alison-espach/) > [As a child I was very involved with sports and I knew at age 9 that I wanted to be an Olympic champion.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marion-jones/as-a-child-i-was-very-involved-with-sports-and-i-knew-at-age-9-that-i/) [Marion Jones](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marion-jones/) [Browse all 62,396 Children quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/children/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Compliments make me vain: & when I am vain, I am insolent & overbearing. It is a pity, too, because I love compliments. I love them even when they are not so. My child, I can live on a good compliment two weeks with nothing else to eat.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/compliments-make-me-vain-when-i-am-vain-i-am-insolent-overbearing-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Children" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/compliments-make-me-vain-when-i-am-vain-i-am-insolent-overbearing-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/mark-twain-22_children_compliments-make-me-vain-when-i-am-vain_2331260.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/mark-twain-22_children_compliments-make-me-vain-when-i-am-vain_2331260.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/399/mark-twain-22_children_compliments-make-me-vain-when-i-am-vain_2331260.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Compliments make me vain: & when I am vain, I am insolent & overbearing. It is a pity, too, because I love…” — Mark Twain", "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": "Mark Twain", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Compliments make me vain: & when...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/compliments-make-me-vain-when-i-am-vain-i-am-insolent-overbearing-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/compliments-make-me-vain-when-i-am-vain-i-am-insolent-overbearing-it/#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 } } ] } ```