If he was not exactly a Spartan, he was, you might say, spartanatical. Things happened to you; they were good,or they were bad - and that was the truth about everything.
Holiness was always something richly dim.
Mothers are inscrutable beings to their sons, always. ("The Higgler")
Blood is thicker than water, I know, but it's unnatural stuff to drink so much of. (“The Wife Of Ted Wickham”)