The smile of a politician is strong and friendly, but noncommittal.
Yawns are hard to refute.
The etiquette of romantic love is as elaborate as that surrounding the Emperor of China.
Pity drowns in numbers.
Call on literary convention, and it will gladly tell your story for you.
Placing the extraordinary at the center of the ordinary, as realism does, is a great comfort to us stay-at-homes.