...He thought of Mrs. Athelny, cheerful mother of many children, with her kindly hospitality and her good humour; of Sally, grave for her years, with funny little maternal ways and an air of authority...and then in a bunch of all of the others, merry, boisterous, healthy, and handsome. His heart went out to them. There was one quality in them which they had that he did not remember to have noticed in people before, and that was goodness. It had not occurred to him till now, but it was evidently the beauty of their goodness which attracted him. In theory he did not believe in it: if morality were no more than a convenience good and evil had no meaning. He did not like to be illogical, but here was simple goodness, natural and without effort, and he found it beautiful.
--Somerset Maugham, "Of Human Bondage"
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