His flattery of his new hosts was widely quoted.
But a Sirio Maccioni defanged of his flattery and his eye for hierarchy is hardly a Sirio Maccioni at all.
Only Tiamat stood her ground, seeking first to throw him off his guard by flattery about his quick rise to leadership, but Marduk angrily denounced her and the older generation: "The sons [had to] withdraw [for] the fathers were acting treacherously, and [now] you, who gave birth to them, bear malice to the offspring".
Abe said had been looking forward to his golf game for some time – and he opted for some time-honored flattery of his US counterpart by suggesting his command of the clubs wasn't a patch on Trump's.
His extraordinary achievements, coupled with his own ineffable sense of destiny and the flattery of his companions, may have combined to produce this effect.
Those documents show that Mr. Kissinger employed a good deal more flattery in his wrangling with foreign leaders than his personal accounts might suggest.
He has been most persuasive when attacking the mayor's flaws: his showy flattery of Hugo Chávez, his spendthrift ways and his shoddy tolerance of political clientism.
Valenti attached a note, saying, "Funny, how all of a sudden I am now bright, charming, delightful — when a year ago, I was a valet and a clumsy Texas oaf!" In the movie colony, his flamboyance fit right in, his flattery was well received, his verbal affectation was much admired.
"Imitation is the highest form of flattery," is his grimaced response.
An 11-page memorandum he sent her shortly before Christmas 2006 played down the threat posed by Mr. Obama, while indulging in what the authors call "pure flattery" of his client.
