Noble causes have a deplorable effect on the morals of the persons who espouse them.

kissing someone out of pity is always a mistake.

His masculinity was only too apparent

I sometimes wonder what it would be like to be the respected patriarch of an ordinary English family." "Very boring, Emerson.

Martyrdom is often the result of excessive gullibility.

He hesitated for a moment. Then he said softly, "I love you, Mother." He took my hand and kissed it, and folded my fingers round the stem of the rose. He had stripped it of its thorns.

The approval of a cat cannot but flatter the recipient.