His manners, in harmony with the sacerdotal calmness of the face, were reserved and conventional; but he had supple, pliant ways which, though they never descended to wheedling, were not lacking in seduction; although as soon as his back was turned their charm seemed inexplicable.
Charm, when it takes its rise in the heart, leaves deep and lasting traces; that which is merely a product of art, or of eloquence, has only a passing power; it produces its immediate effect, and that is all.

But how many philosophers are there in life who are able to distinguish the difference?
Almost always the trick is played (to use a popular expression) before the ordinary run of men have perceived its methods.
Everything about this young man of twenty-seven was in harmony with his character; he obeyed his vocation by cultivating philanthropy,--the only expression which explains the philanthropist.

Theodose loved the People, for he limited his love for humanity.

Like the horticulturist who devotes himself to roses, or dahlias, or heart's-ease, or geraniums, and pays no attention to the plants his fancy has not selected, so this young La Rochefoucault-Liancourt gave himself to the workingmen, the proletariat and the paupers of the faubourgs Saint-Jacques and Saint-Marceau.

The strong man, the man of genius at bay, the worthy poor of the bourgeois class, he cut them off from the bosom of his charity.
The heart of all persons with a mania is like those boxes with compartments, in which sugarplums are kept in sorts: "suum cuique tribuere" is their motto; they measure to each duty its dose.