The assistant to the stationmaster

The assistant to the stationmaster was a young man who had modeled his particularly unlikable officiousness upon the officiousness of the stationmaster, so that he had a completely inappropriate old-fart, complaining, curmudgeonly aspect to his youthfulness—this in combination with the mean-spiritedness of a dogcatcher who enjoys his work.

John Irving
The Cider House Rules (1985)

Pedagogy

   Another woman, a well-to-do plumber's widow, taught grammar and spelling. Her method was rigorous and messy. She presented great clumps of uncapitalized, misspelled, and unpunctuated words, and demanded that the clumps be put into proper sentences, meticulously punctuated and correctly spelled. She then corrected the corrections; the final document—she employed a system of different-colored inks—resembled a much-revised treaty between two semiliterate countries at war.

John Irving
The Cider House Rules (1985)

The wages of trust

   "You're much too trusting," Janeway said, "and it's going to cause you grief someday." Again the quick smile. "Welcome to someday."

William Goldman
Marathon Man (1974)

Leadership qualities

   "It would be a sorry state if none of us had leadership qualities," he said. "Besides, most people like to be told what to do."
   "That theory is advanced by people who tell people what to do."

Marjorie Kellogg
Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon (1968)