Backhanded Compliments Quotes

When I walk through an airport and people go, 'You're not fat!' I'm like, 'Thanks. That's great. Good to know I'm not fat today! Thank you!'

I hate to be defended in a newspaper. As long as all that is said is said against me, I feel a certain assurance of success. But as soon as honeyed words of praise are spoken for me, I feel as one that lies unprotected before his enemies.

There are reproaches which praise, and praises which defame.

Your flattery is as full of contempt as your insults were.

In the gay world, and in drag in particular, they love to put you on a pedestal and then two minutes later rip you down.

I know of no manner of speaking so offensive as that of giving praise, and closing it with an exception.

Anyone who tries to diss me in comparison to Queen, it just renders all their criticisms completely futile. That's quite pleasurable.

He hurts me most who lavishly commends.

I've been in things that have impressed people and they've come up to congratulate you but in a kind of, you-must-think-you're-really-special way.

Thank you, people who say 'Wow, you're really photogenic,' for not saying what you really mean: 'Wow, you're really ugly in person.'

But then when I'm in a halfway successful movie, it irritates the hell out of the critics in New York, because they'd like to kill my pictures if they could. So maybe I'm pretty good in the movie. Then they use all these words like I'm 'surprisingly' good, or 'shockingly enough,' I'm good. It's like I crawled out from under a magazine and they're surprised I can act.

With faint praises one another damn.