People who accomplish anything worthwhile and attract attention are liable to become targets for society's reactions. Some of these are likely to be approving, and some maliciously disapproving. The first kind may seem sweeter than the second, but both can be deeply hurtful to anyone who is not spiritually prepared to see both as phases of personal sense and defend himself against them. Whichever they may be—bouquets or brickbats—those who are wise will not allow either to hinder their progress. They will not be set up by one or upset by the other. They will stick closely to the work they have to do and under God's guidance learn how to profit by whatever may be helpful in either, and use it as guidance in correcting anything in themselves that may need correction.

Experience shows that of these two hazards, compliments or malicious criticisms, the latter are less perilous and easier to handle. Their power to hurt is quickly neutralized when it is recognized that malice is not from God but from mortal mind and has, therefore, no true authority. Expressions of love and integrity come from God, immortal Mind, and always bless; but hatred, jealousy, malice, are from His counterfeit, mortal mind, and have no power to injure anyone. Men and women who express the honesty derived from God are invariably protected by their humble readiness to examine evidence, accept justified criticism, and admit they could do better. Where there is integrity, even if wounded pride causes temporary suffering, it comes quickly to the rescue to urge the application of even grater energy to whatever there is to do.

Compliments are pleasant but often more dangerous. When derived from Truth and Love, they can be blessings. Generous verbal bouquets can often express honest, selfless appreciation of good and meet a human need for encouragement in one who is losing heart. They may express something of God's love and be of real value in promoting progress. But bouquets that are insincere, consisting of unwarranted flattery, prompted by self-interest, can be deeply damaging. Softer and more subtle than brickbats, they may be sweet and soothing to personal sense. Emitting a heady perfume, they may dull the healthy expression of self-criticism in the one who receives them, and paralyze his mental muscles that might otherwise be flexing for a further effort to attain better results. The flatterer's compliments, motivated as they are by dishonesty and self-interest, impoverish. They induce loss of spiritual strength in himself as well as in the object of his appreciation.

Flattery is an enemy. But this enemy is without power over the individual whose gaze is fixed on divine Principle, and whose undistorted vision is clearly aware of the woefully wide gap that still exists between the standard of God's perfection and his present attainment. It cannot harm one who humbly heeds Mrs. Eddy's advice, "Consult thy every-day life; take its answer as to thy aims, motives, fondest purposes, and this oracle of years will put to flight all care for the world's soft flattery or its frown." ^{Message to The Mother Church for 1902, p. 17;}

The God-given quality of spiritual self-knowledge is inherent in man. It is a faculty of Spirit to be found in everyone. Its human expression is not self-condemnation but true self-appreciation—including the ability to recognize one's own true, spiritual identity as man in God's perfect likeness and to examine and honestly compare one's human status with that vision. This quality is a trustworthy weapon of defense against all the bouquets and brickbats that the world may throw, enabling one correctly to appraise their value, to profit by those that are genuine, and to reject the others as worthless and without power to harm.

Christian Science teaches watchfulness and wisdom in dealing with the compliments and criticisms of the carnal mind, but it also teaches the right use of frank appraisal and loving encouragement among friends. There were times in Christ Jesus' ministry when he sharply scolded or gently approved the actions of those around him. "Get thee behind me, Satan," he once said to Peter. "Thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men." ^{Matt. 16:23;} But on another occasion he commended this disciple's vision in recognizing the Christ, saying, "Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." ^{v. 17;}

A posy of appreciation may support the flagging courage of a friend. A loving word exposing a fault may save him from months of fruitless effort. Both carry the healing authority of divine Truth and Love if the motive for these actions proceeds from this eternal source. We should not withhold them for fear of the harm that their counterfeits can cause. Mrs. Eddy writes, "He who is afraid of being too generous has lost the power of being magnanimous." ^{The First Church of Christ, Scientist, and Miscellany, p. 165;}

There is a place for both compliments and criticism in human experience. If motivated by the Mind "which was also in Christ Jesus," ^{Phil. 2:5.} they only bless. The individual who expresses that Mind in alertness, integrity, and selfless wisdom will be always serene, and be able to convert experience into a stairway to success.

Naomi Price