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Servile flattery—the kind made mostly of lies—will endear a lot of different kinds of people to you. Sycophancy wins friends and influences people. But I’ve never known anyone—and certainly none of the people I call “hero”—who chased after an elusive dream—one that required sacrifice, courage, resolve, or just plain mettle—and seized it through unctuous flattery. Edison, Jefferson, Lincoln, Einstein, Twain, Socrates, Confucius, Poe, Da Vinci, King—none of them fawned his way into history. Instead, they waged war against the toadies and trucklers of the world. They left indelible handprints on the past because they had the audacity to be honest and because they knew the difference between loyalty and servility.—Trace Ambraise
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