I recommend to you, in my last, an innocent piece of art: that of flattering people behind their backs, in presence of those who, to make their own c… - Philip Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

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I recommend to you, in my last, an innocent piece of art: that of flattering people behind their backs, in presence of those who, to make their own court, much more than for your sake, will not fail to repeat, and even amplify, the praise to the party concerned. This is of all flattery the most pleasing, and consequently the most effectual.