There is no character, howsoever good and fine, but it can be
destroyed by ridicule, howsoever poor and witless.
-- Mark Twain Pudd'nhead Wilson p. xix. "Pudd'nhead
Wilson's Calendar"
...deceptions intended solely for others gradually grew practically
into self-deceptions as well; the mock reverence became real
reverence, the mock obsequiousness real obsequiousness, the mock
homage real homage....
-- Mark Twain Pudd'nhead Wilson p.41.
As to the Adjective: when in doubt, strike it out.
-- Mark Twain Pudd'nhead Wilson p. 79. "Pudd'nhead
Wilson's Calendar"