There was one hoary old instructor on my wings course who was similar to the one described by ShyTorque.
I never flew with him, but from the descriptions by the poor unfortunates who did, his standard patter seemed to consist mostly of
Height, height, watch your height.......airspeed, airspeed, watch your airspeed.
In complete contrast mine was one Eric Wardzinski, who was everything an instructor should be. He nursed me through my bad patches, and conveyed his genuine pleasure when his patience paid off.