Like most people of weak moral fibre he was thoroughly engaging

Most of all I enjoyed Steve's company. Like most people of weak moral fibre he was thoroughly engaging. It is a sad reflection that everyone admires people of strong moral fibre but nobody shows any inclination to stay with them for more than five minutes.

W. Cooper, Scenes from Provincial life (1950), 43

But my dear, nothing beats Vatican gossip

... Steven Runciman, whom Paddy had met in Sofia in 1934 and who was now the British Council's Representative. Tall , fastidious and a brilliant linguist, Runciman was then working on the History of the Crusades that made his name; but his chief recreation was collecting scandals and stories. 'Royal gossip is very good,' he once said, 'and political gossip is even better; but my dear, nothing beats Vatican gossip.'

A. Cooper, Patrick Leigh Fermor: an adventure (2013), 206