A friend of W. E. Sangster, the great English Methodist preacher, was stopped by a tramp one day. “Excuse me, sir,” said the tramp. “I know I have no business to stop you. If I am caught begging I’ll be the guest of his Majesty for a bit. I guess I’m not much to look at. Poverty doesn’t help a man look handsome and there’s no denying I don’t live straight, sir. I paid the penalty to the full, but by heaven, sir, you don’t know the man I meant to be!”

Peel the pathos of that.

Go to another scene: an old movie. The setting for the particular scene is a tavern where the main character, played by James Cagney, stands at the bar drinking. His wife comes to the door of the barroom and calls to him, “John, come on home.” The man turns slowly and looks at her, and then says deliberately, “I am h…