But indeed, though he was capable of being profoundly bored, he was at his ease in the most diverse societies, and no form of conversation not absolutely foolish came amiss to him.

He had read so many books, and seen so much of the world, he held such strong opinions, and expressed them with such placid freedom, that he never failed to command attention, or to deserve it.

Contemptuous enough, perhaps too contemptuous, of human frailties, he at least knew how to make them entertaining, and his urbane irony dissolved pretentious egoism.
It is a familiar saying that men's characters and habits are formed in the earliest years of their lives.

Froude was by profession and by choice a man of letters.

He loved writing, and whatever he read, or heard, or saw, turned itself without effort into literary shape.
The occupations and amusements of his life can be traced in his Short Studies.