“Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery”
– Charles Caleb Colton, 1820
Note: Similar versions of this quote can be found as far back as 1708:
- “You should consider that Imitation is the most acceptable part of Worship, and that the Gods had much rather Mankind should Resemble, than Flatter them.” (in a 1708 biography of Marcus Aurelius by Jeremy Collier and André Dacier)
- “Imitation is a kind of artless Flattery” (English writer Eustace Budgell, 1714)