Chapter 16. The King Will Flee the Harm Done by Flatterers

¹ And indeed, the king will regard his true friend not as a harsh disciplinarian but as a gentle counselor; and toward flatterers, as toward his enemies, he will feel bitterness, and knit his brow heavily against them. For in truth, the ministers of flattery mix a deadly honeyed drink: they love, but also bite; they fawn, but also tear apart; they let honey drip from their lips, even as the aftertaste they leave is bitterer than gall. To such men he will open neither the doors of his palace nor the doors of his ears; rather, he will sail past them as past the Sirens, his ears stopped with wax and with wise words.[1]