Quotes About Melmotte

Melmotte is really little more than rumor and illusion; his sudden rise is due less to any deep scheming or villainy on his part than to society's apparent inability to enforce its own standards.

He was chairman of the British branch of the Company, and had had shares allocated to him, — or, as he said, to the house, — to the extent of two millions of dollars. But still there was a feeling of doubt, and a consciousness that Melmotte, though a tower of strength, was thought by many to have been built upon the sands.

The Mob" thought that a good deal should be overlooked in a Melmotte, and that the philanthropy of his great designs should be allowed to cover a multitude of sins. I do not know that the theory was ever so plainly put forward as it was done by the ingenious and courageous writer in "The Mob"; but in practice it has commanded the assent of many intelligent minds.