The Icing on the Cake

Anything that only looks good at the expense of something else
should probably be given a better second look,
if it can bear it.

Meanwhile in the Revolutionist Camp:
One recruit thanked the leader of his Revolutionist camp for, as he put it,
“Never putting his wants before the welfare of the recruits.”
The older rebel winks, thinks,
“Nice the way that works out, since I got no wants of my own anyway.”

One up-to-date sire informed his genetic underling,
“Remember my boy,
the syrup on the sundae,
the cherry on the top,
the icing on the cake
is in the criticism,”
and the kid lost his appetite.

A thing separate from what it does, is a thing no more...

(Anything else is too inclusive.)