So few are truly noble

I stood a moment just feeling defeated. What had happened couldn't be helped. It was a tragedy. But I couldn't smother my own disappointment under lofty thinking. I suppose I am really not a fine character. I practically always have to stop and think first to be noble and unselfish. I mean I can't swing it spontaneously the way a really noble being would.

(From The Yellow Violet, by Frances Crane)