The best patriot is he who is ready to save his country at the cost of his own ease, whether of body or of mind.

It does not matter who or what you are; it is what or who the world thinks you to be, that is of importance." Which of us has not listened to a score of such arguments, not always from the lips of a friend, but most often in that still, small voice which rarely has the courage to stand out against the tendency of the age?
There is nothing so contagious as laxity of conscience.
Barebone listened to the good-natured, sympathetic voice with a make-believe conviction which was part of his readiness to put off an evil moment.

Colville was a difficult man to quarrel with.

It seemed bearish and ill-natured to take amiss any word or action which could only be the outcome of a singularly tender consideration for the feelings of others.
But when they entered Madame de Chantonnay's drawing-room--when Dormer, impelled by some instinct of the fitness of things, stepped aside and motioned to his companion to pass in first--the secret they had in common yawned suddenly like a gulf between them.

For the possession of a secret either estranges or draws together.