The Ancient Mariner seizes the guest at the wedding feast and will not let go until he has told all his story: the prototype of the bore.
Everyone values the good nature of a man with a gun.
Tales of adultery are much improved by period costumes.
Advice is more agreeable in the mouth than in the ear.
The mind scolds the heart, which makes excuses and goes its own way.
Even the most abject have a sense of superiority based on powerful though undefined merits.