--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Praise is well, compliment is well, but…" description: "\"Praise is well, compliment is well, but affection-that is the last and most precious reward that any man can win, whether by character or achievement.\"..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/039/mark-twain-22_achievement_praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-af_65207.png" --- # Praise is well, compliment is well, but affection-that is… ![“Praise is well, compliment is well, but affection-that is the last and most precious reward that any man can win, whether by character or achievement.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/039/mark-twain-22_achievement_praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-af_65207.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/039/mark-twain-22_achievement_praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-af_65207.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/039/mark-twain-22_achievement_praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-af_65207.png) > “Praise is well, compliment is well, but affection-that is the last and most precious reward that any man can win, whether by character or achievement.” [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. Affection is the ultimate reward, surpassing praise and compliments, earned through personal character or achievements. **In simple terms:** Affection is the highest reward. Key Takeaway Character and deeds earn lasting love. Themes value of affection reward hierarchy character vs achievement human connection intrinsic vs extrinsic reward Mood warmth gratitude inspiration Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - receiving genuine love - building deep relationships - recognizing true worth - seeking lasting fulfillment - valuing inner qualities Key Concepts affection praise compliment character achievement Practical Applications - leadership development - personal branding Questions to Reflect On - What actions cultivate genuine affection? - How does affection differ from superficial praise? A Different Perspective null ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Achievement](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/achievement/) [Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection/) [Affection Precious](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/affection-precious-872531/) [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Compliment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compliment/) [Compliment Affection](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/compliment-affection-872530/) [Lasts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasts/) [Love](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/love/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Praise](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praise/) [Praise Compliment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/praise-compliment-872532/) [Precious Reward](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precious-reward-872533/) [Pride](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/pride/) [Rewards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rewards/) [Success](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/success/) [Wells](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wells/) [Winning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/winning/) ## Related quotes > [As precious as knowledge itself is the learning. As precious as any reward is the earning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-gray/as-precious-as-knowledge-itself-is-the-learning-as-precious-as-any/) [John Gray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-gray/) > [“What is precious is not the reward but the work. And I wish you to understand that. If you work and study in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-tolstoy/what-is-precious-is-not-the-reward-but-the-work-and-i-wish-you-to/) [Leo Tolstoy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-tolstoy/) > [Do not offer a compliment and ask a favor at the same time. A compliment that is charged for is not valuable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/do-not-offer-a-compliment-and-ask-a-favor-at-the-same-time-a/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [One compliment can keep me going for a whole month.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/one-compliment-can-keep-me-going-for-a-whole-month/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [None but an ass pays a compliment and asks a favour at the same time. There are many asses.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/none-but-an-ass-pays-a-compliment-and-asks-a-favour-at-the-same-time/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I can live for two months on a good compliment.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/i-can-live-for-two-months-on-a-good-compliment/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A sincere compliment is always grateful to a lady, so long as you don't try to knock her down with it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-sincere-compliment-is-always-grateful-to-a-lady-so-long-as-you-don/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [There are three infallible ways of pleasing an author, and the three form a rising scale of compliment: 1, to tell him you have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/there-are-three-infallible-ways-of-pleasing-an-author-and-the-three/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [The happy phrasing of a compliment is one of the rarest of human gifts, and the happy delivery of it another.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-happy-phrasing-of-a-compliment-is-one-of-the-rarest-of-human/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [A public library is the most enduring of memorials, the trustiest monument for the preservation of an event or a name or an affection;…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/a-public-library-is-the-most-enduring-of-memorials-the-trustiest/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [I've got the public. I don't care about the critics. I did at one time. I don't any more. I did when I needed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leroy-neiman/i-ve-got-the-public-i-don-t-care-about-the-critics-i-did-at-one-time/) [LeRoy Neiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leroy-neiman/) > [Sometimes after a compliment about my characterization skills, I'm asked if I model my characters on real people. Emphatically, no. And sort of, yes.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brent-weeks/sometimes-after-a-compliment-about-my-characterization-skills-i-m/) [Brent Weeks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brent-weeks/) > [The words I LOVE YOU, sometimes fooled us... But when someone says I TRUST YOU.. That's a better compliment, a true care with faith...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-reolope/the-words-i-love-you-sometimes-fooled-us-but-when-someone-says-i/) [Janet Reolope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-reolope/) > [I see the joy in life and I see the joy in simple things. I over-compliment. I over-praise. I over-express my feelings toward people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherry-lansing/i-see-the-joy-in-life-and-i-see-the-joy-in-simple-things-i-over/) [Sherry Lansing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherry-lansing/) > [Hot legs, bring your Mother, too.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rod-stewart/hot-legs-bring-your-mother-too/) [Rod Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rod-stewart/) ## 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 Achievement quotes > [You, of Canada, are building a magnificent record of achievement. My country rejoices in it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwight-d-eisenhower/you-of-canada-are-building-a-magnificent-record-of-achievement-my/) [Dwight D. Eisenhower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwight-d-eisenhower/) > [“If attempting to make the world a civilized one, makes you a bad woman in the eyes of the dumb patriarchal society, then, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/if-attempting-to-make-the-world-a-civilized-one-makes-you-a-bad-woman/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [One achieves true human dignity only when one serves. Only he is great who subjects himself to taking part in the achievement of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jose-antonio-primo-de-rivera/one-achieves-true-human-dignity-only-when-one-serves-only-he-is-great/) [Jose Antonio Primo de Rivera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jose-antonio-primo-de-rivera/) > [Needs cause motivation. Deep-rooted desires for esteem, affection, belonging, achievement, self-actualization, power, and control motivate us to push for what we want and need…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lorii-myers/needs-cause-motivation-deep-rooted-desires-for-esteem-affection/) [Lorii Myers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lorii-myers/) > [Each man is capable of doing one thing well. If he attempts several, he will fail to achieve distinction in any.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/each-man-is-capable-of-doing-one-thing-well-if-he-attempts-several-he/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [It's tragic what America has become because there is a great segment of society that now resents luxury and success and achievement by others.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-leach/it-s-tragic-what-america-has-become-because-there-is-a-great-segment/) [Robin Leach](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-leach/) > [To preserve an unclouded capacity for the enjoyment of life is an unusual moral and psychological achievement. Contrary to popular belief, it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathaniel-branden/to-preserve-an-unclouded-capacity-for-the-enjoyment-of-life-is-an/) [Nathaniel Branden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathaniel-branden/) > [Joel Lane documents a life we don’t quite live, in a city we can’t quite find: half glimpsed and half imagined, we know it’s…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chaz-brenchley/joel-lane-documents-a-life-we-don-t-quite-live-in-a-city-we-can-t/) [Chaz Brenchley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chaz-brenchley/) > [The main substantive achievement of neoliberalism has been to redistribute rather than to generate wealth and income.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-harvey/the-main-substantive-achievement-of-neoliberalism-has-been-to/) [David Harvey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-harvey/) > [Every profession has an ideology and a drive for power that goes far beyond its achievements and it is the task of democracy to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-feyerabend/every-profession-has-an-ideology-and-a-drive-for-power-that-goes-far/) [Paul Feyerabend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-feyerabend/) > [We have Internet now and people are not stupid. But it seems that some people are trying to push the same agenda of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bassem-youssef/we-have-internet-now-and-people-are-not-stupid-but-it-seems-that-some/) [Bassem Youssef](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bassem-youssef/) > [“If you find a way where there seems to be no way, that’s what we call miracle, not personal achievement.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nkwachukwu-ogbuagu/if-you-find-a-way-where-there-seems-to-be-no-way-that-s-what-we-call/) [Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nkwachukwu-ogbuagu/) > [The Baseball Hall of Fame is something every player dreams about, but being a member of God's Hall of Fame is the greatest achievement…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-carter/the-baseball-hall-of-fame-is-something-every-player-dreams-about-but/) [Gary Carter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-carter/) > [Cease speaking of enemies when an achievement can kindle a great light. Solitude will transmit the message better than the murmurs of crowds.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nicholas-roerich/cease-speaking-of-enemies-when-an-achievement-can-kindle-a-great/) [Nicholas Roerich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nicholas-roerich/) > [Every scene is a challenge. There are technical challenges, but often it's the simplest challenge where you feel a sense of achievement when you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/roger-deakins/every-scene-is-a-challenge-there-are-technical-challenges-but-often/) [Roger Deakins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/roger-deakins/) [Browse all 3,867 Achievement quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/achievement/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Praise is well, compliment is well, but affection-that is the last and most precious reward that any man can win, whether by character or achievement.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-affection-that-is-the-last-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Achievement" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-affection-that-is-the-last-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/039/mark-twain-22_achievement_praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-af_65207.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/039/mark-twain-22_achievement_praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-af_65207.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/039/mark-twain-22_achievement_praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-af_65207.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Praise is well, compliment is well, but affection-that is the last and most precious reward that any man can…” — 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": "Praise is well, compliment is well,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-affection-that-is-the-last-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-affection-that-is-the-last-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 } } ] } ```