In a bold statement in this Foreword, Fleming turns the traditional seven deadly sins on their heads by proclaiming they are closer to virtues than the sins he observes in our time. He even proceeds to describe the ancient sins as virtues of the specific persons who had written each of the essays. For example, he praised the Pride of Dame Edith Sitwell and the Covetousness of Cyril Connolly. He compared Gluttony with the tremendous zest for life of Patrick Leigh-Fermor. And Lust? Fleming hoped that he and Christopher Sykes would long remain lustful in their lives.
