For praise is
endurable only as long as the person who is being
praised recognizes that everything which is said is
appropriate to him, Whatever goes beyond that
is alien, and outright flattery. 
“Yet,” said she, “I know many who like it if, in
praising them, one bestows upon them qualities
which they do not possess; for example, if they are
old, congratulates them upon their youthfulness, or
if they are ugly, clothes them in the beauty of a
Nireus or a Phaon. They think that their appearance will be transformed by these compliments, and

 

that they will regain their youth afresh, as Pelias
thought to do.