He did not see them as paragons of virtue.
Only two years ago, the East Asian tigers were being paraded as paragons of economic virtue.
He can paint individuals he likes as paragons, and those he disdains as scoundrels.
There is no shortage of English Henrys to choose from, though few are remembered as paragons of good government.
The jaded older bachelor Don Alfonso (the baritone William Shimell) scoffs at the myth of women as paragons of faithfulness.
The dabbawalas, who all receive the same pay, are also seen as paragons of "bottom up" social entrepreneurship.
During their heyday as paragons of subversive 1970s pop, they often sounded wary about the very act of reminiscence.
"I wasn't putting myself or Goldman Sachs up as paragons of virtue," Mr. Paulson said on Friday.
Surprisingly, messiness can strike later in life, even in people who have lived as paragons of order.
And this is why they seem to regard themselves as paragons of rationality, while others often regard them as slightly nuts.
There was a mystifying debate-by-leak among Bush Cabinet members, mocking their self-conception as paragons of discretion and self-discipline.
