The refusal of praise is merely the desire to be praised twice.

Yrch! Such a cynical view! I know that it is often true, but as a generalisation it rankles muchly. Almost as much as the argument that all altruism is inherently selfish. I find the desire to deny the possibility of purity of motive distressing. I am fortunate to know dozens of people who would deny praise for no other reason than their sincerely held conviction that it was unwarranted. I wonder if the duck de la Rochefoucald simply arrived at the conclusion that what was true of his nature was true of all people.