"He was deceitful, obdurate, imperious, barbaric, selfish, sexist, as extravagant in his pleasures as he was miserly when it came to doing any good, a liar, a glutton, a rapist, a narcissist, a murderer given to beastiality, pederasty, hedonism and blasphemy – not a single virtue compensated for all his vices. And yet, in spite of it all, we wanted him."