Incense intoxicates and every one wishes for it.
Incense intoxicates and every one wishes for it.
Meaning in plain English
Praise can cloud judgement when it becomes something a person continually seeks. Notice whether admiration is helping recognition or making honest disagreement harder to hear.
Example
A director thanks colleagues for praise but also asks what failed in the project before judging its success.
Deeper explanation and when to use it
Incense becomes a metaphor for praise that overwhelms the recipient. The desire for it makes flattery attractive even when it offers little useful information. Someone receiving admiration can ask what specific work is being recognised and whether criticism still has a place. Appreciation itself is not the problem: sincere thanks can support cooperation. The exaggerated claim that everyone wants incense points to a temptation rather than proving a universal motive. Read the image as a question about dependence on approval, not a condemnation of religious practice.
When to use it
Use it when admiration seems to be displacing honest feedback.
Keep in mind
Do not assume that every compliment is manipulative or that enjoying recognition makes someone incapable of good judgement.
Edsverb editorial interpretation · agent reviewed · 2026-10-05. This explains the saying; it does not establish its historical origin.
- Source
- A Polyglot of Foreign Proverbs (1857)
Printed page 33; French section, paragraph 652; source wording: L’encens entête et tout le monde en veut.
Read the original context ↗ - Attribution confidence
- traditional · historical anthology
Preserved as printed; independently unverified. - Historical coordinate
- Undated
No reliable date supplied by the collection. - Rights & edition
- Public domain (United States)
Translations and rights may differ elsewhere.
Provenance and licences ↗