The most engaging side of great men is not so much what they do as what they are, and does not depend upon their power of intellect but on their personal attractiveness.

Thus, there are men whose lives are far more eloquent than their speeches, and whose personal character is far greater than their deeds.
It is also to be observed, that while the best and most carefully-drawn of Plutarch's portraits are of life-size, many of them are little more than busts.

They are well-proportioned but compact, and within such reasonable compass that the best of them--such as the lives of Caesar and Alexander--may be read in half an hour.

Reduced to this measure, they are, however, greatly more imposing than a lifeless Colossus, or an exaggerated giant.

They are not overlaid by disquisition and description, but the characters naturally unfold themselves.