Praise (n.) should go to the work, not the worker: "No matter who did it, it is well done."
Praise (n.) awkwardly given did Rousseau more harm than the severest of his censures: he was born to tell useful hard truths, not to commend.
Praise (n.) can be a weapon: Rameau praised the overture so extravagantly that everyone understood it could not be Rousseau's own.
Praise (n.) can wound the one who does not receive it: every compliment paid the negligent ambassador on his secretary became a new grievance against the secretary.
Praise (n.) given in private and withdrawn in public is a storm warning: one lady wrote that the author of Emile merited a statue, then asked for her letter back.