Flattery Worketh Ruin
Scientific Illustrations
Proverbs 26:28
A lying tongue hates those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth works ruin.


The stem of the ivy is furnished with root-like suckers which insinuate their spurs into the bark of trees or on the surface of a wall. Who has not seen with regret some noble ash-tree covered with ivy, in whose embrace it rapidly yields up its life? Surely the root is draining the tree of its sap, and transferring it to its own veins. Thus does a sycophant gradually extend his influence over a patron until the manliness of that patron succumbs to his ascendancy. The hero is ruined, and the flatterer flourishes in his place. Beware of the insinuating aptitudes of the parasite! Let him, like ivy on a wall, keep his proper situation. Protect a noble nature from his advances.

(Scientific Illustrations.)



Parallel Verses
KJV: A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.

WEB: A lying tongue hates those it hurts; and a flattering mouth works ruin.




Flattery Cannot Compensate for the Damage it Works
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