The people who are absent are the ideal; those who are present seem to be quite commonplace.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
The absent are like children, helpless to defend themselves.
Greater things are believed of those who are absent.
Be generous with kindly words, especially about those who are absent.
Sometimes, only one person is missing, and the whole world seems depopulated.
Sometimes the crowd is the madness - at others it's the absence of the crowd that is.
People also leave presence in a place even when they are no longer there.
Let no one be willing to speak ill of the absent.
In heaven, all the interesting people are missing.
Out of sight, out of mind. The absent are always in the wrong.
Absence blots people out. We really have no absent friends.