It is possible to be below flattery as well as above it.

The Puritan hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

I have seen the hippopotamus, both asleep and awake; and I can assure you that, awake or asleep, he is the ugliest of the works of God.

It is possible to be below flattery as well as above it.