compliments

The praises of others may be of use
in teaching us not what we are,
but what we ought to be.

Augustus Hare

 
Those who praise others enrich themselves far more than they do the one praised.  To praise is an investment in happiness.  The poorest human being has something to give that the richest could not buy.

George Matthew Adams

     
Praise is like sunlight to the warm human spirit; we cannot flower and grow without it.  And yet, while most of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold wind of criticism, we are somehow reluctant to give our fellow the warm sunshine of praise.

Jess Lair
   

In the best, the friendliest and simplest relations flattery or praise is necessary, just as grease is necessary to keep wheels turning.

Leo Tolstoy
War and Peace

   
Your depression is connected to your insolence
and refusal to praise. Whoever feels himself walking
on the path, and refuses to praise--that man or woman
steals from others every day--is a shoplifter!

The sun became full of light when it got hold of itself.
Angels only began shining when they achieved discipline.
The sun goes out whenever the cloud of not-praising comes.
The moment the foolish angel felt insolent, he heard the door close.

Rumi

   
As we begin to praise ourselves and our world, we begin to blossom in ways that are beautiful to behold.

John Marks Templeton

  

Praise is sometimes a good thing for the diffident and the
despondent.  It teaches them properly to rely on
the kindness of others.

Letitia Landon

   

quotations - contents - welcome page - obstacles
the people behind the words - our current e-zine - articles and excerpts
Daily Meditations, Year One - Year Two - Year Three - Year Four
     

Sign up for your free daily spiritual or general quotation
~ ~ Sign up for your free daily meditation

  

   

Consider carefully before you say a hard word to a person,
but never let a chance to say a good one go by.

George Horace Lorimer

   

We would worry less if we praised more.  Thanksgiving
is the enemy of discontent and dissatisfaction.

Harry A. Ironside

    

I do not know whether anyone has ever succeeded in not enjoying
praise. And, if we enjoy it, we naturally wants to receive it. And
if we want to receive it, we cannot help but being distraught at
losing it.  Those who are in love with applause have their spirits
starved not only when they are blamed off-hand, but even
when they fail to be constantly praised.

John Chrysostom

    
The trouble with most of us is that we'd rather be
ruined by praise than saved by criticism.

Norman Vincent Peale
   

Blessed are they who have learned to admire but not envy, to follow but
not imitate, to praise but not flatter, and to lead but not manipulate.

William Arthur Ward

 

Perhaps once in a hundred years a person may be ruined by excessive
praise, but surely once every minute someone dies inside for lack of it.

Cecil G. Osborne

   

   
Most of us forget to take time for wonder, praise and gratitude until it
is almost too late. Gratitude is a many-colored quality, reaching in all
directions. It goes out for small things and for large; it is a God-ward going.

Faith Baldwin
Many Windows, Seasons of the Heart
   

If all we ever offer is blanket praise without any meaning behind it,
kids will always seek approval because they'll never feel satisfied.
If we offer genuine encouragement for their accomplishments,
they won't need our approval; they'll approve of themselves.

Kelly Bartlett
Encouraging Words for Kids

    

I have yet to find the person, however exalted his or her station,
who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under
a spirit of approval than under a spirit of criticism.

Charles Schwab

   

 

A refusal of praise is a desire to be praised twice.

François de la Rochefoucauld

  
They only profit from praise who value criticism.

Heinrich Heine
  

The French believe that kids feel confident when they're able
to do things for themselves, and do those things well. After
children have learned to talk, adults don't praise them for saying
just anything. They praise them for saying interesting
things, and for speaking well.

Pamela Druckerman
Bringing Up Bébé

   

The more you praise and celebrate your life,
the more there is in life to celebrate.

Oprah Winfrey

  
Our dependency makes slaves out of us, especially if this
dependency is a dependency of our self-esteem. If you need
encouragement, praise, pats on the back from everybody,
then you make everybody your judge.

Fritz Perls
 

Undeserved praise causes more pangs of conscience later than
undeserved blame, but probably only for this reason, that our
power of judgment are more completely exposed by being
over-praised than by being unjustly underestimated.

Friedrich Nietzsche

   

  
Praise is warming and desirable, what the human race lives on like
bread.  But praise is an earned thing.  It has to be deserved
like an honorary degree or a hug from a child.

Phyllis McGinley
  

What happens when we begin to praise our own abilities?  And this is not
focusing on an inflated ego, but on appreciation and praise.  What happens
when we begin sincerely to give thanks for our wonderful minds and our
strong and healthy bodies?  It's not at all difficult to believe that our own
senses of confidence and self-worth are actually activated and strengthened.

John Marks Templeton

 

A little praise is not only merest justice
but is beyond the purse of no one.

Emily Post

 

We have some inspiring and motivational books that may interest you.  Our main way of supporting this site is through the sale of books, either physical copies or digital copies for your Amazon Kindle (including the online reader).  All of the money that we earn through them comes back to the site in one way or another.  Just click on the picture to the left to visit our page of books, both fiction and non-fiction!

   
Praise is the only gift for which people are really grateful.

Marguerite, Countess of Blessington
   

I praise loudly; I blame softly.

Catherine II

   

There isn't much that tastes better than
praise from those who are wise and capable.

Selma Lagerlof

  
Praise, like gold and diamonds, owes its value only to its scarcity.

Samuel Johnson
  

One thing scientists have discovered is that often-praised
children become more intelligent than often-blamed
ones.  There’s a creative element in praise.

Thomas Dreier

 

The trouble with most of us is that we would rather
be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.

Norman Vincent Peale

  

quotations - contents - welcome page - obstacles
the people behind the words - our current e-zine - articles and excerpts
Daily Meditations, Year One - Year Two - Year Three - Year Four
     

Sign up for your free daily spiritual or general quotation
~ ~ Sign up for your free daily meditation

  
If each of us were to confess our most secret desire, the one that inspires
all our plans, all our actions, one would say:  "I want to be praised."

E.M. Cioran
  

The greatest efforts of the race have always been traceable to the love
of praise, as the greatest catastrophes to the love of pleasure.

John Ruskin

  

Praise keeps productivity and quality high.  This works especially with
those who do routine jobs over a long period of time.  We all appreciate
recognition.  No one can every get too much approval.

Priscilla Elfrey

  

        

Yes, life can be mysterious and confusing--but there's much of life that's actually rather dependable and reliable.  Some principles apply to life in so many different contexts that they can truly be called universal--and learning what they are and how to approach them and use them can teach us some of the most important lessons that we've ever learned.
My doctorate is in Teaching and Learning.  I use it a lot when I teach at school, but I also do my best to apply what I've learned to the life I'm living, and to observe how others live their lives.  What makes them happy or unhappy, stressed or peaceful, selfish or generous, compassionate or arrogant?  In this book, I've done my best to pass on to you what I've learned from people in my life, writers whose works I've read, and stories that I've heard.  Perhaps these principles can be a positive part of your life, too!
Universal Principles of Living Life Fully.  Awareness of these principles can explain a lot and take much of the frustration out of the lives we lead.

      
   

     

Explore all of our quotations pages--these links will take you to the first page of each topic, and those pages will contain links to any additional pages on the same topic (there are five pages on adversity, for example).

HOME - contents - Daily Meditations - abundance - acceptance - achievement - action - adversity
advertising - aging - ambition- anger - anticipation - anxiety - apathy - appreciation - arrogance
art - attitude - authenticity - awakening - awareness - awe - balance - beauty - being yourself
beliefs - body - brooding - busyness - caring - celebration - challenges -
change - character
charity - children -
choices - Christianity - coincidence - commitment - common sense - community
comparison
- compassion - competition - complaining - compliments - compromise - confidence
conformity - conscience - contentment - control - cooperation - courage -
covetousness
creativity - crisis - criticism - cruelty -  death - decisions - desire - determination - disappointment
discipline - discouragement - diversity - doubt - dreams - earth - education - ego - emotions
encouragement - enlightenment - enthusiasm - envy - eternity - ethics - example - exercise
experience - failure - faith - fame - family - fate - fathers - fault-finding - fear - feelings - finances
flowers - forgiveness - freedom - friendship - frustration - fun - the future - garden of life - gardening
generosity - gentleness - giving - goals - God - goodness - grace - gratitude - greatness - greed - grief
growing up - guilt - habit - happiness - hatred - healing - health - heart - helpfulness - home
honesty - hope - hospitality - humility - hurry - ideals - identity - idleness  - idolatry - ignorance
illusion - imagination - impatience - individuality - the inner child - inspiration - integrity - intimacy
introspection - intuition - jealousy - journey of life - joy - judgment - karma - kindness - knowledge
language - laughter - laziness - leadership - learning - letting go - life - listening - loneliness
love - lying - magic - marriage - materialism - meanness - meditation - mindfulness - miracles
mistakes - mistrust - moderation - money - mothers - motivation - music - mystery - nature
negative attitude - now - oneness - open-mindedness - opportunity - optimism - pain - parenting
passion - the past - patience - peace - perfectionism - perseverance - perspective - pessimism
play - poetry - positive thoughts - possessions - potential - poverty - power - praise - prayer
prejudice - pride - principle - problems - progress - prosperity - purpose - racism - reading - recreation
reflection - relationships - religion - reputation - resentment - respect - responsibility - rest
revenge - risk - role models - running - ruts - sadness - safety - seasons of life - self - self-love
self-pity - self-reliance - self-respect selfishness - serving others - shame - silence - simplicity
slowing down - smiles -solitude - sorrow - spirit - stories - strength - stress - stupidity - success
suffering - talent - the tapestry of life - teachers - thoughts - time - today - tolerance - traditions
trees - trust - truth - unfulfilled dreams - values - vanity - virtue - vulnerability - walking - war
wealth - weight issues - wisdom - women - wonder - work - worry - worship - youth

spring
- summer - fall - winter
Christmas - Thanksgiving - New Year - America - The Tao - Zen sayings
Native American wisdom - The Law of Attraction - Buddhist wisdom
obstacles to living life fully - e-zine archives - quotations contents
our most recent e-zine - Great Thinkers - the people behind the words - articles & excerpts