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FLATTERY: THE MAGIC WAND FOR SUCCESS
By : M.R.Sethi
FLATTERY is one of
the most remarkable inventions of man. Its effects are marvelous.
‘Money makes the mare go' is a well-known proverb. But flattery
makes everything go. Even the most difficult of situations can be
tackled with flattery.
Tactful wives always know how to flatter their husbands into
purchasing them costly dresses, cosmetics, jewellery etc. Wives are
at their best in flattery on or around the Pay Day. The wife's
lavish flattery makes the husband feel as if he were a paradigm of
perfection. With her magic wand of flattery, a wife transforms her
husband into one as handsome as Adonis. The most stingy man is
likened to King Harish Chandra, the legendary charitable king. This
continues till the husband is left with a light pocket and a heavy
heart.
My wife, whose wagging tongue relentlessly bombards me with newer
and newer phrases of criticism throughout the month, suddenly
becomes a soft-spoken lady on the first of the month. In the morning
when I leave for the office, she would give me a fond embrace "Dear,
don't be late in the evening; I'll die of waiting" is her parting
injunction. I simply fail to understand why she didn't die on the
remaining twenty nine days of the month.
But I daren't disobey her and rush home in the evening, if only to
find her demeanor pleasant for at least once a month. I find her
waiting with her broad smile causing the corners of her mouth to
touch her earrings. The next stage is my journey to the shopping
mall and when I return with my wife hanging on my arms (apart from
the shopping bags), and with my hands full and the wallet empty.
Thus my wife makes fool of me and finds in me a willing fool.
Jonathan Swift wrote the following lines perhaps for persons like
me:
It is an old maxim in the schools
That flattery’s the food of fools.
Flattery is not a modern invention; it was used in ancient times
also. Shakespeare in his Julius Caesar describes the effectiveness
of flattery:
"Unicorns may be betrayed with trees,
And bears with glasses, elephants with holes,
Lions with toils, and men with flattery."
Clever employees know how to get into the good books of their
employers without putting in hard work. They simply flatter their
bosses. A good-for-nothing boss is also described by his flatterers
as a strong administrator and a person having "all the qualities of
head and heart", although he may have a heart of a chicken and a
head full of chaff.
Some people pose to be immune to flattery. But such men can also be
tackled by clever flatterers. According to a writer, “Flattery is
telling the other person precisely what he thinks about himself” and
clever flatterers always know what his victim thinks about himself.
He inflates the ego of his boss by boosting his boss’s image of
himself.
If he posses to be immune to flatterers, the knave tells him, "Sir,'
I don't flatter you. I know you are a man who dislikes flattery."
And lo and behold ! The boss is flattered !
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