Remember, man does not live on bread alone: sometimes he needs a little buttering up.

The line plays on the biblical proverb “man shall not live by bread alone,” pivoting from physical sustenance to emotional and social nourishment. “Buttering up” suggests praise, encouragement, or affirmation—sometimes sincere, sometimes strategic. Read charitably, it underscores a leadership and relationship principle often associated with motivational writing: people need recognition and positive reinforcement, not just material provision or bare necessities. Read more skeptically, it hints at flattery as a social lubricant. Either way, the quip highlights how morale and interpersonal validation can be as consequential to human thriving as food is to survival.