Sincerest Quotes
Small word swaps that change the whole joke.
The well-worn line about copying someone as a form of praise gets bent here, once toward pain instead of admiration and once into an immigration pun. For more short, punchy lines, see our Lyrical quotes.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What's the original saying these quotes are riffing on?
It's a well-known line calling copied behavior a compliment to whatever's being copied, which each quote here bends slightly differently.
Is one of these versions meant as a pun?
Yes, a version swaps in immigration for imitation, creating a wordplay joke rather than a sincere statement.
Does any version turn the saying darker?
One does, replacing the usual warm framing with pain instead, giving the familiar phrase an unexpectedly bleak edge.
Why include three versions of nearly the same line?
Seeing them together highlights how small a change it takes to shift a phrase from sincere to comic to unsettling.
Are these quotes attributed to well-known writers?
They're presented here as short, standalone lines without emphasis on a single famous origin, since variations of the saying have circulated widely.
The third version restores the phrase closer to its familiar shape, letting readers compare all three in one place. For related turns of phrase, try Powers and Greatest Joys.
