I like to receive compliments, but at the same time, I have a hard time receiving them because sometimes I feel like they're only given to me because somebody thinks they have to. As an example: I'm an actor. I have friends who always come to see the shows I'm in. When I leave the dressing room and meet them after a show, I always cringe, because I feel like most of them feel they are obligated to give me a compliment, and sometimes they do so when I can easily tell that they didn't like either a) my performance or b) the show in general. And I understand their dilemma because when I go to see MY friends in shows, I'm the same way. I feel wrong not saying anything at all.
But as other people have said, you can tell when somebody is really complimenting you and when somebody is feeding you a line of bullshit. My fiance is one of the only people I'll take compliments from because if she thinks something I did sucked, she'll tell me right off the bat. I can understand why people aren't honest with me, who would want to come out of a show and hear "you sucked?" Not me! I guess I just want everyone to genuinely like my performance.
I like what Lebell said: "Recieving praise graciously is as great a gift as giving praise." That is so true, and I'll relate it again to acting. Many actors are very critical of themselves, and when they hear "hey, you were fantastic," they respond with "nah, I sucked tonight." An answer like that does nothing but insult the person who gave the compliment. It makes them feel stupid for enjoying a shit performance. So when I'm in a situation like that, I always smile and say "thank you, and thank you so much for coming," because that's the honest truth.