532. Improvements

Whatever you are practicing, learning, doing, trying-out etc., love the fact that you are getting better and better at it, not that someone might praise you for it.

401. Flattery vs Sincere Praise

Beware of flatterers for they will turn on you when it suits them. Learn to recognise sincere praise and distinguish it from the words others think you want to hear. To help you in this, cultivate a taste for bald truth. Prefer it to euphemism. You may have to use diplomacy yourself but always try to see through the diplomacy of others. Always prefer to hear the truth, however unpleasant it may be, than to hear a pleasant lie. For that reason, always encourage those around you to speak the truth pleasantly and discourage pleasant untruths. 

Study the situations of others; see where their interests lie. Then you will be able to judge the truth of what they say for they will always speak for their own interests. (By interests here we mean those things that are of advantage to them, not their hobbies).