Well, Love, going out of your way to tell people you find their compliments disingenuous when you could have just stayed silent on the matter definitely comes across as spiteful. I don't think your tone was misinterpreted so much as you failed to properly convey your point sans malice.
Even if the open windows of science at first make us shiver after the cozy indoor warmth of traditional humanizing myths, in the end the fresh air brings vigor, and the great spaces have a splendor of their own - Bertrand Russell
