“The only infallible rule we know is, that the man who is always talking about being a gentleman never is one.”

Ask Mamma (1858) ch. 1

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Robert Smith Surtees 16
English writer 1805–1864

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Les passions sont les seuls orateurs qui persuadent toujours. Elles sont comme un art de la nature dont les règles sont infaillibles; et l'homme le plus simple qui a de la passion persuade mieux que le plus éloquent qui n'en a point.
Variant translation: The passions are the only orators who always persuade. They are like a natural art, of which the rules are unfailing; and the simplest man who has passion will be more persuasive than the most eloquent man who has none.
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