#Fondness

Fondness and admiration are the social lubricant that oils one’s self-interest while acting as a verbal poison. They buy a momentary glow for relationships built on sand, always trading sincerity for a promising scent of negotiation. Far too often they serve as currency in a market of favors, wrapped in the flimsy paper of genuine feeling. Receivers savor the honeyed words but brace for the bitterness that follows. In their grand spectacle of flattery lies the deepest irony: the loneliest heart under the brightest praise.