She is an astute, merciless anatomist of the petty moral failings that determine our intimate and casual relationships, but her films (the first one, "The Taste of Others," was shown at the New York festival in 2000) show no trace of misanthropy.
In the second game in Mirpur, England's leaders were drawn into a pointless ruckus; as much as Buttler and Stokes looked petty in failing to rise above provocation, the direction of the sanctions dished out by the match referee was instructive, as was Tamim Iqbal seeking out Jason Roy at the end of the series to apologise for what he had said.
Critics accused the governing African National Congress (ANC) of looking petty by apparently failing to invite Tutu, one of the most vocal campaigners for Mandela's release from jail during white minority rule.
The epic was his eulogy of the "dangerous life" (vida perigosa) and was a stern warning to the Christian monarchs, who, idling their time away in petty struggles, were failing to unite against the encroaching conquests of Islām in southeastern Europe.
Further, Loeffler dissects the attitude that Perl holds dear: "Even when we do confront the moral failings and petty biases of great composers, our instinct is to quarantine the music itself.
At home, a committed organiser might face anything from the petty indignity of a failing relationship to outright abuse.
Theirs was a fatal attraction, with the abusive no-good carnival barker stabbing himself after failing at petty crime, then being denied admission to the pearly gates.
As a teacher, I am tired of hearing about failing schools and the petty disagreements about whether we are or are not closing the achievement gap.
In a report published last week, Britain's aid watchdog, the Independent Commission for Aid Impact (Icai), accused the Department for International Development (DfID) of failing to address the petty but widespread corruption that blights the daily lives of the world's poorest people.
He had been forced to resign from the C.I.A. in 1983 after failing a polygraph test about petty theft and drug use.
