--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: To say a compliment well is a high art…" description: "\"To say a compliment well is a high art and few possess it.\" — Mark Twain" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/mark-twain-22_art_to-say-a-compliment-well-is-a-high-art-a_2528449.png" --- # To say a compliment well is a high art and few possess it. ![“To say a compliment well is a high art and few possess it.” quote by Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/mark-twain-22_art_to-say-a-compliment-well-is-a-high-art-a_2528449.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/mark-twain-22_art_to-say-a-compliment-well-is-a-high-art-a_2528449.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/mark-twain-22_art_to-say-a-compliment-well-is-a-high-art-a_2528449.png) > “To say a compliment well is a high art and few possess it.” [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. Giving a compliment skillfully is an art that few master, requiring sincerity and insight. **In simple terms:** Good compliments are rare and valuable. Key Takeaway Practice thoughtful praise. Themes communication compliment artistry Mood encouraging warm Type social educational When to use this quote - leadership - relationship building - teaching Key Concepts emotional intelligence social skill Questions to Reflect On - How can you improve your ability to compliment others? - What makes a compliment feel authentic? A Different Perspective Not everyone can give genuine compliments. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) [Flattery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flattery/) [High art](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/high-art/) ## Related quotes > [“To Polish the Gold & Help Others Shine . . . Be complimentary: Find something positive to say to compliment another person. Whether they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/susan-c-young/to-polish-the-gold-help-others-shine-be-complimentary-find-something/) [Susan C. Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/susan-c-young/) > [“All who have achieved excellence in art possess one thing in common; that is, a mind to be one with nature, throughout the seasons.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/all-who-have-achieved-excellence-in-art-possess-one-thing-in-common/) [Matsuo Bashō](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [Whatever may be thought of my art, it is my own; and I would rather possess a freehold, though but a cottage, than live…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-constable/whatever-may-be-thought-of-my-art-it-is-my-own-and-i-would-rather/) [John Constable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-constable/) > [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/) > [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/) > [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/) > [“You may say, “I’d compliment him if he did something right.” Well, he did at least one thing right. He married you!”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-evans/you-may-say-i-d-compliment-him-if-he-did-something-right-well-he-did/) [Tony Evans](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-evans/) > [“I love men. I also hate men; I wouldn't want to be in a world without them but I have to say, it's not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donna-lynn-hope/i-love-men-i-also-hate-men-i-wouldn-t-want-to-be-in-a-world-without/) [Donna Lynn Hope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donna-lynn-hope/) > [“To flatter a young man, tell him that you thought that he was older than he is. To flatter an old woman, tell her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mokokoma-mokhonoana/to-flatter-a-young-man-tell-him-that-you-thought-that-he-was-older/) [Mokokoma Mokhonoana](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mokokoma-mokhonoana/) > [“baloney is flattery so thick it cannot be true; blarney is flatter so thin we like it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/monsignor-fulton-j-sheen/baloney-is-flattery-so-thick-it-cannot-be-true-blarney-is-flatter-so/) Monsignor Fulton J. Sheen > [Complimenting someone in an exaggerated way is known as flattery, and flattery will generally get you anything you want...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/complimenting-someone-in-an-exaggerated-way-is-known-as-flattery-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The world is grown so full of dissimulation and compliment, that men's words are hardly any signification of their thoughts.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-steele/the-world-is-grown-so-full-of-dissimulation-and-compliment-that-men-s/) [Richard Steele](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-steele/) > [I never paid you a compliment, Rachel, in my life. Successful love may sometimes use the language of flattery, I admit. But hopeless love,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilkie-collins/i-never-paid-you-a-compliment-rachel-in-my-life-successful-love-may/) [Wilkie Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilkie-collins/) > [We despise no source that can pay us a pleasing attention.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/we-despise-no-source-that-can-pay-us-a-pleasing-attention/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/praise-is-well-compliment-is-well-but-affection-that-is-the-last-and/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) ## 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 Art quotes > [True works of art contain their own theory and give us the measurement according to which we should judge them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/true-works-of-art-contain-their-own-theory-and-give-us-the/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [Before Noah, men having only water to drink, could not find the truth. Accordingly...they became abominably wicked, and they were justly exterminated by the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-franklin/before-noah-men-having-only-water-to-drink-could-not-find-the-truth/) [Benjamin Franklin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-franklin/) > [“Hear the sum of the whole matter in the compass of one brief word — every art possessed by man comes from Prometheus.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aeschylus/hear-the-sum-of-the-whole-matter-in-the-compass-of-one-brief-word/) [Aeschylus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aeschylus/) > [I think most artists feel like they're outside society - no matter how many accolades they receive, or how much money is in your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-rose/i-think-most-artists-feel-like-they-re-outside-society-no-matter-how/) [Aaron Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-rose/) > [The capacity to be puzzled is the premise of all creation, be it in art or in science.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erich-fromm/the-capacity-to-be-puzzled-is-the-premise-of-all-creation-be-it-in/) [Erich Fromm](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erich-fromm/) > [That's the great secret of creativity. You treat ideas like cats: you make them follow you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/that-s-the-great-secret-of-creativity-you-treat-ideas-like-cats-you/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [“So, really," continued Jacob as if this were perfectly normal to expound on art in these circumstances, "when you think about it, the artists…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/justina-chen-headley/so-really-continued-jacob-as-if-this-were-perfectly-normal-to-expound/) [Justina Chen Headley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/justina-chen-headley/) > [“There are two options in art; either to adopt philosophical life by dissecting art, or to write your own philosophical life and claim it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taf-teh/there-are-two-options-in-art-either-to-adopt-philosophical-life-by/) Taf Teh > [The house has to serve comfort. The work of art is revolutionary; the house is conservative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-loos/the-house-has-to-serve-comfort-the-work-of-art-is-revolutionary-the/) [Adolf Loos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-loos/) > [During human progress, every science is evolved out of its corresponding art.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-spencer/during-human-progress-every-science-is-evolved-out-of-its/) [Herbert Spencer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-spencer/) > [In literature and art memory is a synonym for invention. It is the life-blood of imagination, which faints and dies when the veins are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-aris-willmott/in-literature-and-art-memory-is-a-synonym-for-invention-it-is-the/) [Robert Aris Willmott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-aris-willmott/) > [I think a business guy is different from an artist. They walk different paths. Artists create the best outputs when they're having fun. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/g-dragon/i-think-a-business-guy-is-different-from-an-artist-they-walk/) [G-Dragon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/g-dragon/) > [“The only thing--I tell you this straight from the heart--that disgusts me in Salzburg is that one can't have any proper social intercourse with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/the-only-thing-i-tell-you-this-straight-from-the-heart-that-disgusts/) [Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wolfgang-amadeus-mozart/) > [The sublime in art is the attempt to express the infinite without finding in the realm of phenomena any object which proves itself fitting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/the-sublime-in-art-is-the-attempt-to-express-the-infinite-without/) [Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/georg-wilhelm-friedrich-hegel/) > [Art isn't done to decorate apartments, but to wage war against the enemy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pablo-picasso/art-isn-t-done-to-decorate-apartments-but-to-wage-war-against-the/) [Pablo Picasso](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pablo-picasso/) [Browse all 48,643 Art quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/art/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "To say a compliment well is a high art and few possess it.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mark Twain" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/to-say-a-compliment-well-is-a-high-art-and-few-possess-it/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Art" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/to-say-a-compliment-well-is-a-high-art-and-few-possess-it/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/mark-twain-22_art_to-say-a-compliment-well-is-a-high-art-a_2528449.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/mark-twain-22_art_to-say-a-compliment-well-is-a-high-art-a_2528449.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2d9/mark-twain-22_art_to-say-a-compliment-well-is-a-high-art-a_2528449.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“To say a compliment well is a high art and few possess it.” — 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": "To say a compliment well is...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/to-say-a-compliment-well-is-a-high-art-and-few-possess-it/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/to-say-a-compliment-well-is-a-high-art-and-few-possess-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 } } ] } ```