[He] smiled at once, his most winning and charming smile, and it worked as it always worked, suggesting as it did a sort of self-effacing humility, a believable protests of innocence, and a promise of friendship - whatever good thing the other person wish to read into it

False modesty is still false, no matter how charming it might seem

[He] always wondered at that smile even as it triumphed over his own anger or envy. Where could such a power over others come from?

I know how it feels to have driven all compassion out of my heart and laugh at the pain of someone else

Charm was a scheme for making strangers like and trust a person immediately, no matter what the charmer had in mind.

The buzzard told the monkey 'You're chokin' me Release your hold and I'll set you free' The monkey looked the buzzard right dead in the eye and said 'Your stor…

La sincerite est une ouverture de coeur. On la trouve en fort peu de gens; et celle que l'on voit d'ordinaire n'est qu'une fine dissimulation pour attirer la c…