Flattery works like a drug. Willis Regier More Quotes by Willis Regier More Quotes From Willis Regier Flatter yourself critically. Willis Regier self-respect respect Say what you want without saying it yourself: quote. Very useful, this, sometimes lovely, and versatile, too: big thoughts in small pieces, neatly wrapped and bundled in bulk, in different flavors for different tastes. Willis Regier flavor lovely want Quotations calcify into clichés. Willis Regier quotations Cunning authors cut to be quoted. Willis Regier cunning cutting Great quotation collections glean the millennia, distill essences, and battle for bragging rights about who’s bigger, who’s smarter, who’s best. Who-knows-who-said-what has a market, a history, and a hall of fame. Willis Regier bragging-rights battle essence Quotations cause all kinds of trouble. Willis Regier causes kind trouble Quotation lovers love rare words. Willis Regier lovers-love quotations lovers Maria Edgeworth grumbled against vandals who ruined immortal works by quoting the life out of them. "How far our literature may in future suffer from these blighting swarms, will best be conceived by a glance at what they have already withered and blasted of the favourite productions of our most popular poets." Shakespeare, Milton, and Dryden, scissored, patched, and frayed. Willis Regier literature suffering may Care for yourself enough to listen carefully to what you say to yourself. Willis Regier care enough self At its best, flattery is truth well dressed, and it is best dressed with fine see-through fabrics. Honest flattery can caress a lover, cover up a gaffe, and muffle aggression. Willis Regier cover-ups fabric lovers Misquotation is quotology’s swamp. Amateur quoters mix and mangle Shakespeare and Scripture. Professors gaffe and printers bungle. It’s a mess we must wade into. Willis Regier swamps wade scripture [D]ifferent people have different quotational gravity. Willis Regier gravity different people If you flatter yourself properly you will be better able to enjoy yourself. Stretch your joy so that others enjoy you too. Willis Regier able joy happiness A little flattery, like a warm bath and soft towel, will let you get along with yourself, lie down with yourself, and sleep. Willis Regier compassion sleep lying Ralph Keyes calls quotation collectors "quotographers," the men and women who gather catchwords, watchwords, war words, winged words, maxims, mottos, sayings, and quips into books of a thousand pages. Through the centuries quotation collectors have saved quotations that would otherwise be lost. Willis Regier men war book Quotology disdains no quotations whatsoever, a duty it bears stoutly, with bloodshot eyes and sagging shelves. Willis Regier sagging eye bears Quotologists encounter happy surprises, bright books by faded authors, treasures hidden under dust. Willis Regier encounters dust book In phrases as brief as a breath worldly wisdom concentrates. Willis Regier worldly-wisdom breaths phrases Like pollen on a honeybee, flattery clings to the things you tell yourself. Willis Regier pollen flattery Flattery.... gets its kicks by flirting with insult and ridicule. Willis Regier flirting insult flattery
