"Firm" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... home to breakfast with our friends, and looked at the title-deeds of their house in crabbed Spanish of the sixteenth century, and the great Chinese treasure-chest, still used as the strong-box of the firm, with an immense lock, and a key like the key of Dover castle. Fine old Chinese jars, and other curiosities, are often to be found in Mexico; and they date from the time when the great galleon from Manila, which was called "el nao"—the ...
— Anahuac • Edward Burnett Tylor
... been a fool; and yet, while he realized this truth, he sincerely respected—I might almost say he admired—his own folly. He had been sick of dependence, and he had gone down at once to the bottom of everything, taken his stand on firm ground and conquered independence for himself. He had gained the precious knowledge that he could earn his own living by the labor of his hands. He might have been a fool to reject the help that would have opened some higher and less distasteful career to him, yet if he had accepted ...
— Lippincott's Magazine, December 1878 • Various
... a mere agent of the imperial[890] city, subordinating his wishes to her ends, seeing the security of his own possessions in the extension of her influence alone, clinging to her friendship with a trust as firm as that inspired by ties of blood, it was the duty of the mistress to protect such a servant, and to avenge an outrage which reflected alike on her gratitude and her authority. It had been a maxim of Micipsa's that the clients of Rome supported a heavy burden, ...
— A History of Rome, Vol 1 - During the late Republic and early Principate • A H.J. Greenidge
... the leathern brogue or buskin from his right foot, planted himself in a firm posture, unsheathed his sword, and first looking around to collect his resolution, he bowed three times deliberately towards the holly-tree, and as often to the little fountain, repeating at the same time, with a ...
— The Monastery • Sir Walter Scott
... British Factory at Lisbon, and had a well-grounded faith in Southey's genius and character. He secured for his nephew some years of education at Westminster School, and when Southey was expelled by an unwise headmaster for a boyish jest, his uncle's faith in him held firm, and he was sent on to Balliol College, Oxford. Those were days of wild hope among the young. They felt all that was generous in the aspiration of idealists who saw the golden cities of the future in storm-clouds of revolution. ...
— Chronicle Of The Cid • Various
... was then handed to Susan, who had not yet spoken, but now that she was called upon she did not shrink from telling the truth. In a gentle but firm tone she said, "I think the shilling is ...
— Young Folks Treasury, Volume 3 (of 12) - Classic Tales And Old-Fashioned Stories • Various
... met Mel when I went to work for Royal McBee Computer Corp., a now-defunct subsidiary of the typewriter company. The firm manufactured the LGP-30, a small, cheap (by the standards of the day) drum-memory computer, and had just started to manufacture the RPC-4000, a much-improved, bigger, better, faster — drum-memory computer. Cores cost too much, and weren't ...
— The Jargon File, Version 4.0.0
... watch to be kept, lest the Moors should set the ships on fire. They entered therefore again into the harbour on Thursday; and when night came, they went in their boats in search of water, which the Moorish pilot assured them was to be found on the firm land, and offered to guide them to the place. Leaving Paulo de la Gama in charge of the ships, and taking Nicholas Coello and the pilot along with him in the boats, the general went on shore about midnight to the place where the pilot said that water was to be had. But it could not be found; ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. II • Robert Kerr
... during the process of manufacture. However this may be, it is a curious historical fact that the most successful makers of these great disks of glass have either been of the family of Guinand, or successors, in the management of the family firm. It was Feil, a son-in-law or near relative, who made the glass from which Clark fabricated the lenses of the great telescope of the Lick Observatory. His successor, Mantois, of Paris, carried the art to a point of perfection never before approached. The transparency and uniformity of his disks ...
— Side-lights on Astronomy and Kindred Fields of Popular Science • Simon Newcomb
... those boots and told me to black them. Is this a part of my duty here?" said Dennis, in a firm, quiet tone. ...
— Barriers Burned Away • E. P. Roe
... completed his twenty-seventh year, that the course of his life was finally determined. Both the great chiefs of the Ministry were kindly disposed towards him. In political opinions he already was what he continued to be through life, a firm, though a moderate Whig. He had addressed the most polished and vigorous of his early English lines to Somers, and had dedicated to Montague a Latin poem, truly Virgilian, both in style and rhythm, on the peace of Ryswick. The wish of the young poet's great friends was, it should ...
— Critical and Historical Essays Volume 2 • Thomas Babington Macaulay
... true, Whole years of weary days, besieged him close, Even to the gates and inlets of his life! But it is true, no less, that strenuous, firm, And with a natural gladness, he maintained The citadel unconquered, and in joy Was strong to follow the delightful Muse. For not a hidden path, that to the shades Of the beloved Parnassian forest leads, Lurked undiscovered by him; not a rill There issues from the ...
— Appreciations, with an Essay on Style • Walter Horatio Pater
... but his icy self-control held firm. He did not break into vituperation this night; he smiled, though his voice was ...
— Then I'll Come Back to You • Larry Evans
... whom I mentioned before has just died. Surrounded as she was by Romanists, she stood firm in the belief in which she had been instructed by her father in her youth. Some time since I took her little girl to Sabbath-school, and a short time ago her teacher found her earnestly seeking Christ. She has since given good evidence of being a Christian, and has united ...
— Gathering Jewels - The Secret of a Beautiful Life: In Memoriam of Mr. & Mrs. James Knowles. Selected from Their Diaries. • James Knowles and Matilda Darroch Knowles
... severe struggle as to values. Mrs. Burrell had certainly hoped to satisfy Denasia with a thousand pounds, but the official adjustment was sixteen hundred pounds, and for this sum Roland's widow, who was irritated by her sister-in-law's evident scorn and dislike, stubbornly stood firm. ...
— A Singer from the Sea • Amelia Edith Huddleston Barr
... looks, and their velvety rumps were very conspicuous as they scattered away from the trail on our approach. Several times we dashed right in among them, and I had to shout in order to clear the road. They did not like to leave the firm footing on the trail, where they fed by pawing away the snow on both sides and baring the weeds. Sometimes a whole bunch of them would thunder along in a stampede ahead of us till they came to a cross-trail or to a farmyard; there we left them behind. Sometimes ...
— Over Prairie Trails • Frederick Philip Grove
... monseigneur," replied he, in a voice which he vainly endeavored to render firm, "that you did not give ear to such ...
— The Conspirators - The Chevalier d'Harmental • Alexandre Dumas (Pere)
... firm announces that it supplies "distinctive clothing for men." And a very necessary thing, too, in these days ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 158, June 9, 1920 • Various
... said he, 'I am not a gentleman. I am just a man. Nothing else. I will appeal to you as another man. I need hardly say that I have no connection with the opposition firm; I was entirely ignorant of the presence of Hawke's mission here when I broke into the flat. I had no notion that Ravengar was pursuing investigations similar to mine. Mr. Polycarp, Ravengar is, or was, a ...
— Hugo - A Fantasia on Modern Themes • Arnold Bennett
... matter, and it is more than doubtful whether, even if he had tried, he could have correctly made out the inventory of an estate for filing in the Surrogate's Court. For be it known that, while the senior member of the firm was long on the philosophy of the law and the subtleties of "restraints on alienation," "powers," "perpetuities" and the mysteries of "the next eventual estate," he was frankly short on the patience to add and subtract. So while Mr. Tutt ...
— By Advice of Counsel • Arthur Train
... on, till it reaches the surface. It cannot build out of the water; but sea-weed first grows on it, and anything floating is caught by this, and stops; and then birds rest on it, and drop seeds, which take root. Then the sea washes bits of coral up from the outer edge, and thus a firm mass is formed, which rises higher and higher, as more trees grow and decay, and more coral is washed up. A sandy beach is formed of broken coral, and tall cocoa-nut trees grow up and bear fruit, and other fruit-trees and vegetables and ...
— Taking Tales - Instructive and Entertaining Reading • W.H.G. Kingston
... you'll begin to think about getting up," she said; and again something in Aunt Hepsy's face set Lucy wondering what was different about her. There was a short silence, then Aunt Hepsy laid down her knitting, and took both Lucy's thin hands in her firm clasp. "Lucy, do you think ye can ever forgive yer old aunt?" she said suddenly and quickly. "I've been a cross, hardhearted old fool, an' the Lord's been better to me than I dared to hope for. He's heard my prayers, Lucy, an' he knows ...
— Thankful Rest • Annie S. Swan
... examples of modern local caricature, descriptions of mediaeval monuments; a kind of anthology, in short, of provincial lore. The typography, paper and illustrations of this remarkable volume are beyond all praise; they would do honour to the best firm in London or Paris. What is this book? It is no commercial speculation at all; it is a wedding present to a newly married couple—a bouquet of flowers, of intellectual blossoms, culled from their native Apulian meadows. One notes with pleasure that the happy pair are neither ...
— Old Calabria • Norman Douglas
... power, jurisdiction, and right which is not by this Confederation expressly delegated to the United States in Congress assembled." By the third article it was further declared, that "the said States hereby severally enter into a firm league of friendship with each other, for their common defence, the security of their liberties, and their mutual and general welfare." By another article, a "committee of the States, or any nine of them," was authorized in the recess ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 12, No. 72, October, 1863 • Various
... thinking, and then, feeling his way about the place, he satisfied himself where the openings out of the little vault lay, his doubt as to which led to the lake being solved by the steps down to where it was formerly water, but which on testing he now found to be firm floor, and by the little heap of rusty arms over which he nearly fell ...
— Crown and Sceptre - A West Country Story • George Manville Fenn
... of freedom, so firm and impliant, Is borne on the breeze, whose invisible waves Descend from the mountain peaks, stern and defiant— Created for ...
— Mountain idylls, and Other Poems • Alfred Castner King
... presented itself before Kathleen's young eyes. Her father, Squire O'Hara, was, as landlords in Ireland go, very well off. His tenantry adored him. He got in his rents with tolerable regularity. He was a good landlord, firm but also kind and indulgent. A real case of distress was never turned away from his doors, but where rent could be paid he insisted on the cottars giving him his due. He kept a rather wild establishment, however. His wife was an Irishwoman from a neighboring county, ...
— The Rebel of the School • Mrs. L. T. Meade
... of a man who feeds well—not to say too well—and does not think hard; every pore being in visible working order. His tout ensemble was that of a highly improved class of farmer, dressed up in the wrong clothes; that of a firm-standing perpendicular man, whose fall would have been backwards in direction if he had ever lost ...
— A Pair of Blue Eyes • Thomas Hardy
... there. There was a grand kitchen garden,—or rather a kitchen garden which had been intended to be grand;—but since Lizzie's reign had been commenced, the grandeur had been neglected. Grand kitchen gardens are expensive, and Lizzie had at once been firm in reducing the under-gardeners from five men to one and a boy. The head-gardener had of course left her at once; but that had not broken her heart, and she had hired a modest man at a guinea a week instead of a scientific artist, who was ...
— The Eustace Diamonds • Anthony Trollope
... mastered the second part; only I wished to stand firm and unshaken—as firm when asleep as when awake, as firm when elated with wine as in despondency ...
— The Golden Sayings of Epictetus • Epictetus
... that this view of my orthodox friend strikes me as just. It seems to me that one of the first needs of large branches of the Christian Church is to weed out a great mass of sickly, sentimental worship of no one knows what, and to replace it with psalms and hymns which show a firm reliance upon the Lord ...
— Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White Volume II • Andrew Dickson White
... Powers). Now, with the clash of diplomacy, it was sternly necessary to curtail that ambition considerably, and to decide to seek a friend among the different rivals. Bulgarian diplomats could not be made to see that. They were firm with Turkey: wisely enough, for Turkey had no power left to wound or to help. But at the same time they refused to make any concessions either to Servia, to Greece, or to Roumania, all of whom were determined to have a share of the plunder which Bulgaria ...
— Bulgaria • Frank Fox
... manhood's fire, Firm hand and eagle eye, Must he acquire who would aspire To see ...
— Indian Tales • Rudyard Kipling
... to no idle words," said Zoe sternly. "A lady claimed you before my face; why did you not stand firm like a man, and say, 'You have no claim on me now; I have a right to love another, and I do?' Why did you fly?—because you ...
— The Woman-Hater • Charles Reade
... of this And for the support of this declaration, we mutually declaration, with a firm pledge to each other our lives, reliance on the protection of our fortunes, and our sacred divine providence, we mutually honour. pledge to each other our lives, our ...
— The Life of George Washington, Vol. 2 (of 5) • John Marshall
... drink—without hit pleasures me ter drink," said the girl with an inflexible coldness and levelness of voice, yet one no more unfalteringly firm than the hand which held the gun. "Hit won't never pleasure me ter drink with a man I wouldn't wipe my feet on. Ye hain't a ...
— A Pagan of the Hills • Charles Neville Buck
... anxiously, and Leslie, very much upset, sprang forward to rescue the stranger's dinner. But Rags saw a chance for a lark; and as times had been rather slow and uninteresting for him of late, he determined to make the most of it. Seizing the fish in a firm grip, he galloped madly up the beach, the two ...
— The Dragon's Secret • Augusta Huiell Seaman
... so terribly awful appalled the firm soul of every listening hero. A solemn silence followed the declaration; they cast their wondering eyes one upon the other, and valor, for a moment, hung suspended between love of family, and love of country. Love of country at length rose superior to every other consideration, ...
— American Prisoners of the Revolution • Danske Dandridge
... with one accord, but Mrs. Easton was firm. "I dreamed," said she, "that we were all found out—and that's a warning. Mr. Walter, you know that you'll be missed at Clifford Hall, and didn't ought to leave your father another day. And you, Miss Mary, do but think what a weight ...
— A Perilous Secret • Charles Reade
... conservative Northern friends cast over a quarter of a million more votes against the Black Republicans than we of the entire South. I cannot declare myself ready to desert them as well as our Southern brethren of the border (and such, I believe, will be the sentiment of Texas) until at least one firm attempt has been made to preserve our constitutional ...
— The Day of the Confederacy - A Chronicle of the Embattled South, Volume 30 In The - Chronicles Of America Series • Nathaniel W. Stephenson
... and Newson, who astonished me quite as much by assuring me that the payment of the money was a fact. There was no mystery about it. The intelligence and transfer papers, they said, had not been communicated to them by the firm they were opposed to, but by a solicitor largely connected with the aristocracy; and his letter had briefly declared the unknown donator's request that legal proceedings should forthwith be stopped. They offered no opinion of their own. Suggestions of any kind, they seemed to think, had ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... (nazubei) are of wool of various patterns. The shoes (opanci) have a sole of ox-leather and uppers of strips of dried sheeps' skin (opute); a longer oputa passes several times round the ankle and holds the shoe firm; it turns up at the toe and looks quite Oriental. Instead of the krozet, or over it, some wear the jacerma, a sleeveless red cloth jacket, covered in front with little discs of tin (siliki), or large balls ...
— The Shores of the Adriatic - The Austrian Side, The Kuestenlande, Istria, and Dalmatia • F. Hamilton Jackson
... the Mrs. Thrale of Boswell's "Life of Johnson." Mr. Thrale was a brewer, the founder of the great firm now known as Barclay and Perkins. She was many years younger than he; and, after his death, she married Signor Piozzi, a professional musician of eminence. Johnson, who had been an habitual guest of her husband and her at their villa at Streatham, set the fashion ...
— Letters of Horace Walpole - Volume II • Horace Walpole
... days after this conversation with Mr. Buckthorne, he called upon me, and took me with him to a regular literary dinner. It was given by a great bookseller, or rather a company of booksellers, whose firm surpassed in length even that of Shadrach, ...
— Tales of a Traveller • Washington Irving
... Sir, contemplate such a brilliant, such a soul-stirring prospect unmoved? That you cannot, and will at once hand over your useful millions for the purpose of carrying into effect the above modest but magnificent scheme, is the firm belief of yours suggestively, ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 98 February 15, 1890 • Various
... Love, how seldom art thou found Without annoyance in this earthly state! For, haply, thou dost feed some rankling wound, Or on thy youth pale poverty doth wait, Till years, on heavy wing, have rolled away; Or where thou most didst hope firm faith to see, Thou meetest fickleness estranged and cold; Or if some true and tender heart there be, On which, through every change, thy soul might trust, Death comes with his fell dart, and ...
— The Poetical Works of William Lisle Bowles, Vol. 1 • William Lisle Bowles
... at last, in answer to my looks rather than to my words, "I AM nervous, Dr. Hamilton. I have always been a timid man, and my timidity depends upon my frail physical health. But my soul is firm, and I can bring myself up to face a danger which a less-nervous man might shrink from. What I am doing now is done from no compulsion, but entirely from a sense of duty, and yet it is, beyond doubt, a desperate risk. If things should go wrong, I will ...
— Tales of Terror and Mystery • Arthur Conan Doyle
... of oziers, he succeeded in reaching firm soil, and then, with more circumspection, he sought a way by which he might come ...
— The Broom-Squire • S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould
... good conduct. Major McCulloch, quarter-master in the volunteer service, rendered important services before the engagement, in the command of a spy company, and during the affair was associated with the regular cavalry. To Major Warren, 1st Illinois Volunteers, I feel much indebted for his firm and judicious course, while ...
— The Medallic History of the United States of America 1776-1876 • J. F. Loubat
... behind him, at the skirts of the wood, stood the two women, with each of them a spear. The man could not help discovering great signs of fear when we approached the rock with our boat. He however stood firm; nor did he move to take up some things we threw him ashore. At length I landed, went up and embraced him; and presented him with such articles as I had about me, which at once dissipated his fears. Presently ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 14 • Robert Kerr
... of the seventeenth century alchemy took such firm root in the religious field that it became the basis of the sect known as the Rosicrucians. The name was derived from the teaching of a German philosopher, Rosenkreutz, who, having been healed of ...
— A History of Science, Volume 2(of 5) • Henry Smith Williams
... with her pleasant black eyes, which had a firm look in them, "you will recite to Miss Rubie ...
— Aunt Madge's Story • Sophie May
... will of the people behind it; because he held that when the people felt the law to be of their own making, and not imposed from without, their sentiment would be enlisted on its side, and the necessity for a firm Government recognized. This plan, has, however, been rejected, so the choice was left of a fresh Coercion Act, or of some scheme, necessarily a costly scheme, for getting rid of the source of trouble by transferring the ...
— Handbook of Home Rule (1887) • W. E. Gladstone et al.
... the crowd of evil spirits who strive to approach us; unloose the too firm hold of earthly things; untie with Thy gentle and wounded hands the fibres of our hearts that cling so fast round human affections; let our weary head rest on Thy bosom till the struggle is over, and our cold form ...
— Helbeck of Bannisdale, Vol. II • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... firm. "I'm sorry, but I can't, dear. This is important. I may take a job. I'll tell you all about it this evening." And she left the room, with a smile that kept getting ...
— The Beauty and the Bolshevist • Alice Duer Miller
... again told to tell what the sign or secret was which she had revealed to the King on first seeing him at Chinon; but about this she was firm as adamant, and refused to give any information. To reveal that sign or secret would, she felt, be not only a breach of confidence and disloyalty between her and her King, but a crime to divulge a sacred secret, which Charles kept sealed in his breast, ...
— Joan of Arc • Ronald Sutherland Gower
... on her chair, and sounded her hands together. It amazed her that this soft little creature could be thus firm. ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... sorely tempted. But he looked on his ring, and remembered Rimenhild. "Sir king," he answered, "you do me great honour, and I give you thanks. But I am under a vow, and cannot wed the lady Reynild." He would say no more, but was firm in his purpose; and King Thurston had to be content with his loyal service only. For seven years Horn abode at Thurston's court, serving in arms under him and winning great fame by his knightly deeds. No word did he send to Rimenhild, ...
— The Junior Classics, V4 • Willam Patten (Editor)
... whimpered, and the other two promised that they would be answerable for his good conduct, and at last the Badger was pacified, and the procession moved on; only this time the Rat brought up the rear, with a firm grip on the ...
— The Wind in the Willows • Kenneth Grahame
... 1810, saved the fortunes of J. Q. Adams. and opened to him the brilliant diplomatic career that ended in the White House. Even in his own effaced existence he had reasons, not altogether trivial, for gratitude to the Czar Alexander II, whose firm neutrality had saved him some terribly anxious days and nights in 1862; while he had seen enough of Russia to sympathize warmly with Prince Khilkoff's railways and de Witte's industries. The last and highest triumph ...
— The Education of Henry Adams • Henry Adams
... what is called Idealism, that, like other spiritual principles, it attracts those who mistake the longings of unintelligent discontent for aspiration, or the changing outlines of vapory fancies for the firm and consistent form and shape of real conceptions deeply realised in the imagination. Idealism has suffered much at the hands of feeble practitioners who have substituted irrational dreams for those far-reaching visions and those penetrating insights which are characteristic of its true use ...
— Books and Culture • Hamilton Wright Mabie
... to do. But Thomas, the future "Rock of Chickamauga," was already showing himself a tower of strength. He reassured his nervous troops, he borrowed Dick and Warner and sent them along the line with messages from himself that they had nothing to do but stand firm and the victory ...
— The Guns of Shiloh • Joseph A. Altsheler
... cites a poem of the eleventh century in which a wedding is described. After the betrothal is agreed upon by the relatives, and property agreements have been made, the groom gives to the bride a ring on a sword hilt, saying, "As the ring firmly incloses thy finger, so do I promise thee firm and constant fidelity. Thou shalt maintain the same to me, or thy life shall be the penalty." She takes the ring, they kiss, and the bystanders sing a wedding song. In a Suabian document of the twelfth century, the bridegroom is the chief actor.[1363] He lays down successively ...
— Folkways - A Study of the Sociological Importance of Usages, Manners, Customs, Mores, and Morals • William Graham Sumner
... low upon the neck, showing in its full beauty the rare modelling of her head. The eyes were a rich, warm, luminous brown, fringed with long lashes, and in them lurked all manner of fathomless mysteries. The mouth was soft, yet full and firm—a real mouth, such as Nature bestows upon her real women. It was a face of freshness and youth and humour, and now was tremulous ...
— Counsel for the Defense • Leroy Scott
... of genius in the young child. Genius is not an acquired gift. It is born in the individual. Apart from the marvellous achievements of the man, a mere glance at the magnificent head, with its high intellectual forehead, the firm lips, the intelligent inquiring eyes, and the bright face, as seen in existing pictures, assures us that they portray an unusual individuality, incompatible with even a suspicion of belonging to an ...
— Beacon Lights of History, Volume XIV • John Lord
... is a plot against me," said Andy, pale but firm. "It will come out some time. When do you wish me ...
— Andy Grant's Pluck • Horatio Alger
... celebration arrived, and he entered the church with a proud firm step, and with a countenance which depictured his inward triumph; he was proceeding to the high altar, when he was told that Julia was no where to be found. Astonishment for awhile suspended other emotions—he yet believed it impossible ...
— A Sicilian Romance • Ann Radcliffe
... Factors. The prosecution of the war is directly influenced by such internal conditions as the strength of the national government and its capacity for unified effort, the moulding and maintaining of a firm public opinion in support of war aims, the neutralization of subversive propaganda, and the degree to which the government can make available necessary ...
— Sound Military Decision • U.s. Naval War College
... to hide the tears gathering in her black eyes, while Alban's only answer to her was a firm pressure upon the little white hand he held in his own and a quicker step upon the crowded pavement. Perhaps he understood that the child spoke the truth, but of this he could not be a wise judge. His father had been a poor East End parson, his mother was the daughter of an obstinate ...
— Aladdin of London - or Lodestar • Sir Max Pemberton
... This is a sign rather of honour than death; this postpones, it does not hasten death. Wonderful result! They offer peace who had prepared slaughter. He cannot refuse it who had sought it at the risk of life. Therefore peace was made—a peace so firm that from that day the priest found his foe not merely appeased, but obedient, devoted.[459] When they heard this, all the faithful rejoiced, not only because the innocent blood was saved in that day,[460] but because by the merits of Malachy the souls of ...
— St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh • H. J. Lawlor
... she was looking straight at him, with not more than five feet of space between them. His gaze was on her with frank curiosity, his lean, strong face glowing with the bloom of health; his mouth was firm, his eyes serene, virility and confidence in every movement of his body. And then he was speaking to her, his voice low, gentle, respectful, even deferential. He seemed not to have taken offense at Willard, seemed to ...
— The Range Boss • Charles Alden Seltzer
... The coward, does he mean to miss me? His right hand shakes like a leaf; Shall I live for my friends to hiss me, Of fools and of knaves the chief? Shall I live for my foes to twit me? He has master'd his nerve again— He is firm, he will surely hit me— Will he reach the heart or the brain? One long look eastward and northward— One prayer—"Our Father which art"— And the cough chimes in with the fourth word, And I ...
— Poems • Adam Lindsay Gordon
... Catholic World and of The Young Catholic from their beginning until the Paulists became their own publishers, shortly before Mr. Kehoe's death. He was placed in charge of the Publication Society as manager when it was started, and so continued until the formation of the present firm, remaining then the active partner in its management. No more ardent advocate of a good cause could be desired than Lawrence Kehoe. Father Hecker cherished him as a friend, and he was his zealous and efficient agent in his ...
— Life of Father Hecker • Walter Elliott
... the head, and bite to seize the cheek of the opponent. In biting, mouth meets mouth, in defense as well as attack. When a biting bear makes a successful pass and finally succeeds in getting a firm toothhold on the cheek of his opponent, the party of the second part promptly throws himself prone upon the ground, and with four free feet concentrated upon the head of the other bear forces him to let go. This movement, and the four big, flat foot soles coming ...
— The Minds and Manners of Wild Animals • William T. Hornaday
... first that you should not have liked to take him as your Premier; many circumstances united against him. But I must say for you and your family, as well as for England, it was a great blessing that so firm and honourable a man as Peel should have become the head of your Administration. The State machine breaks often down in consequence of mistakes made forty and fifty years ago; so it was in France where even Louis XIV. had already laid the first foundation for ...
— The Letters of Queen Victoria, Volume 1 (of 3), 1837-1843) • Queen Victoria
... their honour, stood firm; and while king and nobles had quailed before the violence of the crowd, they declared in full council before the king that they would in nowise intermeddle or advise in the business; and that so far from having advised ...
— At Agincourt • G. A. Henty
... fully taken possession of Jones, they occasioned a perturbation in his mind, which, in a constitution less pure and firm than his, might have been, at such a season, attended with very dangerous consequences. He was truly sensible of the great worth of Sophia. He extremely liked her person, no less admired her accomplishments, and tenderly loved ...
— The History of Tom Jones, a foundling • Henry Fielding
... what courage!" one of them exclaimed. "His hand is as steady, and his voice as firm as if ...
— In the Reign of Terror - The Adventures of a Westminster Boy • G. A. Henty
... chaplain, as the adjutant paused an instant at the threshold to say he would return the moment he had received the reports. "Perhaps not, nor would I say one word to underrate the heroism of Ray's exploit; but when we do hear of another I look to hear of it in some fellow as firm in his faith as he is in his sense of honor and duty, and some ...
— Under Fire • Charles King
... those religionists. Hear the dying testimony of John Christian Koenig, in 1664: "My dear Confessor, since I observe that the good Lord is about to take me out of this world, I want it understood that I remain unchanged and firm to the Augsburg Confession; I will live by it and die true to it. It is well known that I have directed my teaching according to its truths. I die the avowed enemy of all innovation and ...
— History of Rationalism Embracing a Survey of the Present State of Protestant Theology • John F. Hurst
... mortifications there sprung his firm resolve to quit France. He had been born there; he left all his family there except his mother; he declared himself its undying enemy, and said publicly in Germany that Louis XIV. would shed tears of blood for the injury and the affront ...
— The Memoirs of Madame de Montespan, Complete • Madame La Marquise De Montespan
... goblet, my lord and my ruler, O giver of treasure, O gold-friend of heroes, And speak to the Geats fair speeches of kindness, Be mirthful and joyous, for so should a man be! To the Geats be gracious, mindful of presents Now that from far and near thou hast firm peace! Tidings have come to me that thou for son wilt take This mighty warrior who has cleansed Heorot, Brightest of banquet-halls! Enjoy while thou mayest These manifold pleasures, and leave to thy kinsmen Thy lands and thy lordships when thou must journey forth ...
— Hero-Myths & Legends of the British Race • Maud Isabel Ebbutt
... a tale of dole, showing the evil at work at the court, and the wrecking effect of another woman's perfidy. 'The Last Tournament' has for its hero the court fool, who, amid the treason of Arthur's knights, is firm in his loyal allegiance to the King. In contrast to him is Sir Tristram, who, despite his prowess, in jousts on the tilting-field, is "one to whom faith is foolishness, and the higher life an idle delusion." The climax is reached ...
— Beacon Lights of History, Volume XIII • John Lord
... can. I don't offer you brandy or smelling salts, or anything of the sort, because I know you to be a woman with a firm mind. Exert your will, and compel your nerves to be calm. ...
— Red Money • Fergus Hume
... he had shown. He had slain Tybalt, but would he also slay himself, slay his dear lady, who lived but in his life? The noble form of man, he said, was but a shape of wax, when it wanted the courage which should keep it firm. The law had been lenient to him, that instead of death, which he had incurred, had pronounced by the prince's mouth only banishment. He had slain Tybalt, but Tybalt would have slain him: there was a sort of happiness in that. Juliet ...
— Tales from Shakespeare • Charles and Mary Lamb
... that glance steadfastly and clearly under the finely pencilled arches of the eyebrows, which add a new grace to their lustrous fire; the long, straight nose with sharply curved nostrils, imperial with the pride of sensibility and spiritual power; the firm, handsome mouth, and the powerful chin, with its strong outlines melted into the utter grace of oval curves. In its calmness and repose, in its subdued strength and pervading serenity, it is the picture of the man's ...
— Famous Violinists of To-day and Yesterday • Henry C. Lahee
... in a firm voice, "you would be strengthened and refreshed by the soft, sweet air outside. Come, Mrs. Carnegie, I am your doctor and nurse, as well as your friend, and I prescribe a drive in the open air for you this morning. After ...
— Frances Kane's Fortune • L. T. Meade
... Harris and his wife Rhoby Dexter, with their children, Elkanah, born in 1755, Abigail, born in 1757, William, Jr., born in 1759, and Ruth, born in 1761. Harris was a substantial merchant and seaman in the West India trade, connected with the firm of Obadiah Brown and his nephews. After Brown's death in 1761, the new firm of Nicholas Brown & Company made him master of the brig Prudence, Providence-built, of 120 tons, thus enabling him to erect the new homestead he had ...
— The Shunned House • Howard Phillips Lovecraft
... shortly after the successful performance of The Pirates of Penzance, and after the evacuation of Kandahar, that Baden-Powell very nearly succeeded in putting an end to himself. He was toying with a pistol, in the firm conviction that it was unloaded, when, to his intense indignation, the thing went off and planted a bullet in the calf of his leg. It might have been a more romantically dangerous wound, but it was quite sufficiently uncomfortable. Even now, on any serious change ...
— The Story of Baden-Powell - 'The Wolf That Never Sleeps' • Harold Begbie
... resolution with a firm settling of the lines around her mouth that spoke strongly of its probable fulfilment, the arrival of the decision was the signal for the assault of a thousand tender memories and dear recollections, all pleading trumpet-tongued ...
— The Red Acorn • John McElroy
... broad heel, which supported 180 pounds, firmly upon the Insect's toes. He gave a yelp of pain and promptly released the lady, and a moment later he found himself flat upon the floor with a dozen of the dancers piled upon him—all of whom were pummeling each other with much pleasure and a firm conviction that the diversion had been planned for ...
— The Woggle-Bug Book • L. Frank Baum
... wrong and right have been struggling; always struggling. And sometimes the wrong seems to cover the whole earth, like a flood, and there is nothing but confusion and horror; and then sometimes the floods part and one sees a little bit of firm ground, where grass and flowers might grow, if they had a chance. And in those spots there is generally some great, grand man, who has fought back the flood of ...
— Nobody • Susan Warner
... daresay you remember the time when Victoria was a girl. You recollect her folly? But you and I were firm—you behaved very well then, Augustin—and the result is that she is most suitably and ...
— The King's Mirror • Anthony Hope
... from Manchester to London and took the House To Let. He had been, what is called in Lancashire, a Salesman for a large manufacturing firm, who were extending their business, and opening a warehouse in London; where Mr. Openshaw was now to superintend the business. He rather enjoyed the change of residence; having a kind of curiosity about London, which he had never yet been able ...
— A House to Let • Charles Dickens
... sits a woman of some threescore years, tall, stately, and squarely formed, with ample breadth of back and size of chest, like the robust dames of Sorrento. Her strong Roman nose, the firm, determined outline of her mouth, and a certain energy in every motion, speak the woman of will and purpose. There is a degree of vigor in the decision with which she lays down her spindle and bows her head, as a good Christian of those days would, at the swinging ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 7, No. 43, May, 1861 • Various
... a step, passed the key into her left hand and, slipping her right beneath her scapulary, took firm grip of the dagger ...
— The White Ladies of Worcester - A Romance of the Twelfth Century • Florence L. Barclay
... but painful suggestion of a Roman Catholic priest who habitually goes deep into private secrets and is never really satisfied until he has extracted the fullest possible confessions. He was the One that Dale had never so much cared about—the difficult member of the firm, the sleeping partner who never really slept, who professed to keep himself in the background, but who quietly asserted himself in important moments and proved infinitely the hardest of ...
— The Devil's Garden • W. B. Maxwell
... A newspaper A business firm The city The farmers The producers in some business or industry The consumers The retail merchants of your city Some group of reformers Some social group Those interested in a social activity, as ...
— The Century Vocabulary Builder • Creever & Bachelor
... stopping for a lunch, the man again sallied forth upon his search, wading through drifts blown almost firm enough to bear the pony's weight and alternate spots wind-swept bare as a floor; while all about, gorgeous as multiple rainbows, flashed mocking bright the shifting sparkle from innumerable ...
— A Breath of Prairie and other stories • Will Lillibridge
... for she had as yet numbered only seventeen summers. She walked on with a firm step, not a tear appearing in her eyes. In her hand she held a book, from which she read, praying as she walked. Thus she came to the scaffold. There she knelt down and again lifted up her heart in prayer to God. She was the Lady Jane Grey, thus about cruelly to be put ...
— The Golden Grasshopper - A story of the days of Sir Thomas Gresham • W.H.G. Kingston
... was easier than the execution of the order. The piled up snow upon the meadow was not yet frozen firm, and the horses sank knee-deep in the drifts; they were therefore obliged to move slowly. Suddenly they heard the barking of a dog; directly in front of them there was the deformed thick stump of a willow-tree upon which glistened in the light of ...
— The Knights of the Cross • Henryk Sienkiewicz
... turning about I saw that a metal box had slid forth upon a side board from an opening in the wall. In this box I found my dinner which I proceeded to enjoy in solitude. The food was more varied than in the hospital. Some was liquid and some gelatinous, and some firm like bread or biscuit. But of natural food products there was nothing save a dish of mushrooms and a single sprig of green no longer than my finger, and which, like a feather in a boy's cap, was inserted conspicuously ...
— City of Endless Night • Milo Hastings
... in London on the present occasion lest he should not be able to maintain the firm stand he had taken on the Greek question. This anxiety grew keener when it was found that the other Powers were opposed to him. His party and his friends did their best to persuade him to remain firm, and for a time it seemed as though nothing could shake his ...
— The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 44, September 9, 1897 - A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls • Various
... nasty "metallic" flavor. The idea was abandoned. Probably any article of food containing enough tin to disagree with the system would be too nasty to eat. Purchasers of food may rest assured that the action taken by this firm would be that usually followed. It is not to the interest of manufacturers or other venders to offend the senses of purchasers, still less to do them actual harm, even if no higher ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 446, July 19, 1884 • Various
... Delaware chief, headed the line. His step was firm, his head erect, his face calm in its noble austerity. His followers likewise expressed in their countenances the steadfastness of their belief. The maidens' heads were bowed, but with shyness, not fear. The children were happy, ...
— The Spirit of the Border - A Romance of the Early Settlers in the Ohio Valley • Zane Grey
... Purse A Bachelor's Establishment The Government Clerks Modeste Mignon Scenes from a Courtesan's Life The Firm of Nucingen The Muse of the Department Cousin Betty Beatrix A Man of Business Gaudissart II. The Unconscious ...
— The Deputy of Arcis • Honore de Balzac
... twenty-one years, and looks too delicate to govern such a school. But she does it; and though as fond of fun as any of us at the right time, yet in school she insists on attention to business, and will not tolerate idleness or disobedience. She is very kind and gentle, but firm and decided, and we all know that she means what she says, and must be obeyed implicitly. She says she wants us to love and trust her as a friend, and we do. Out of school she seems as young as we do, for she is full of fun and likes us to have a good time. She tries to make school pleasant ...
— St. Nicholas, Vol. 5, No. 2, December, 1877 • Various
... feet we find few other than red firs and mountain pines. Here is a wonderful nursery of them that have secured a firm hold upon life. Throughout the whole region the year 1913 seems to have been a most kindly one for the untended, uncared for baby-trees. There has been comparatively little snowfall for three successive years, and this has given the young trees a chance. As soon as their heads appear above ...
— The Lake of the Sky • George Wharton James
... was it fastened down? How strongly? His fingers felt for the lower edge of it. Working them down and under, he secured a hold. Then, with all his superb strength, he heaved away. Something snapped, but still the thing held firm. He heaved again. The touch of steam on his back lent him new power. Crack! Crack! Then the uprooted cabinet swayed a second and then crashed into three of ...
— Panther Eye • Roy J. Snell
... "Not at all," she replied in a firm voice. "After once living in America I could never long to go back to the old life. Since I have become a Camp Fire Girl I have learned that the true nobility is not of birth but of worth, and there should be no other in any country. I promised, you know, when I became ...
— The Camp Fire Girls Do Their Bit - Or, Over the Top with the Winnebagos • Hildegard G. Frey
... agitation, her clear assertion that she had most positively seen, being at the time as completely awake as ever she was, precisely what she had described to us. And in this conviction she continued perfectly firm. ...
— J. S. Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales, Volume 2 • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu
... juvenile delinquent is being recognized, as several States already have institutions for his care. So far little has been done for the young negro offender, whose home training is likely to be most deficient and who needs firm but kindly discipline; but the consciousness of responsibility for him also is developing. Increasing prosperity alone cannot account for the multiplication of these agencies for social betterment. A new social ...
— The New South - A Chronicle Of Social And Industrial Evolution • Holland Thompson
... now, all in my own countree, I stood on the firm land! The Hermit stepped forth from the boat, And ...
— Poems of Coleridge • Coleridge, ed Arthur Symons
... Standing Army or in a Settled Militia, have their arms in their own hands. Safest therefore to me it seems, and of least hazard or interruption to affairs, that none of the Grand Council be moved, unless by death or just conviction of some crime; for what can be expected firm or stedfast from a floating foundation? However, I forejudge not any probable expedient, any temperament that can be found in things of this nature, so disputable on ...
— The Life of John Milton, Volume 5 (of 7), 1654-1660 • David Masson
... And then he went on more slowly that Hester was under a foolish hallucination, as groundless, no doubt, as that she had caused Regie's death, that her book was destroyed. He said, 'It is this idea which has got firm hold of her, but which has momentarily passed off her mind in her anxiety about Regie, which has caused her illness.' And then he looked at me. He seemed really quite shaky. He held on to a chair. I think ...
— Red Pottage • Mary Cholmondeley
... experiences yourself. Will you tell me now all about it?" He asked the question wistfully still holding her hands in a firm close grasp, and she let them lie nestling there feeling safe ...
— Marcia Schuyler • Grace Livingston Hill Lutz
... strike his beak in once too far?" he pondered, with a sudden darker, graver touch of musing; and involuntarily he stretched his arm out, and looked at the wrist, supple as Damascus steel, and at the muscles that were traced beneath the skin, as he thrust the sleeve up, clear, firm, and sinewy as any athlete's. He doubted his countenance then, fast rein as he held all rebellion in, close shield as he bound to him against his own passions in the breastplate ...
— Under Two Flags • Ouida [Louise de la Ramee]
... has had a good deal to do with the contrabands and came to give us some advice about them. He thinks that rebel spies may come among us, but don't apprehend any trouble, says we can govern the negroes easily enough by firm and judicious treatment, and says the officers in charge are very glad to have ...
— Letters from Port Royal - Written at the Time of the Civil War (1862-1868) • Various
... is ambitious, but short-sighted. He is abashed by no inconsistency, disturbed by no contradiction, and can defend, with a firm countenance, without the least misgiving, what everybody but himself sees to be a political fallacy or logical absurdity.... He is no more disturbed by being convinced of moral insensibility, than intellectual absurdity.... A man of rare abilities, but apparently void of both ...
— Americanism Contrasted with Foreignism, Romanism, and Bogus Democracy in the Light of Reason, History, and Scripture; • William Gannaway Brownlow
... xxii). When speaking for himself alone in the Preface to the Plautus, Echard's claims were less grandiose. Here the translation seems much more specifically aimed at schoolboys, and Echard made firm claims for his literalness (sig. b1-2v). On the other hand, he went out of his way to praise Dryden's Amphitryon (1690) for the freedom it had taken with the original, which, said Echard, "may serve for one Instance of what Improvements ...
— Prefaces to Terence's Comedies and Plautus's Comedies (1694) • Lawrence Echard
... not even heard. Those whose hands were empty clasped one another close; breasts cracked against cuirasses, and corpses hung with head thrown back between a pair of contracted arms. There was a company of sixty Umbrians who, firm on their hams, their pikes before their eyes, immovable and grinding their teeth, forced two syntagmata to recoil simultaneously. Some Epirote shepherds ran upon the left squadron of the Clinabarians, and whirling their staves, seized the horses by the man; the animals threw their riders ...
— Salammbo • Gustave Flaubert
... a thickset man with a firm, clean-shaven jaw and a face furrowed by deep lines, but with eyes that oddly enough looked comparatively youthful and capable not only of appreciating humor, but even of manufacturing it. He appeared to be a man who, by the exercise of his pronounced talent for commercial strategy, could drive, ...
— White Ashes • Sidney R. Kennedy and Alden C. Noble
... crackle, just as we were beginning to doubt the efficacy of our ruse, for the enemy were watching us keenly; and, though some of them moved uneasily and threatened to run for shelter, the greater part stood firm. ...
— Blue Jackets - The Log of the Teaser • George Manville Fenn
... I had in view at first was the resuscitation of the dead-and-alive newspaper of which I had ventured to take charge. One of the firm of publishers thought much less favorably of my story than his partner did. I was called into the private office and informed with some severity that my characters were too rough to be presentable in a paper so refined as ours. I confess they did seem somewhat too robust for ...
— The Hoosier Schoolmaster - A Story of Backwoods Life in Indiana • Edward Eggleston
... doses of arsenic employed were altogether insufficient. But some intelligent men, especially M. Ricchi, physician in chief to the southern railroads, were able speedily to triumph over these obstacles, and to place the experiment on a firm basis. The general testimony of all the facts which they have collected tends really to prove that when the administration of arsenic is begun some weeks before the presumed season for the appearance of the fever, and when it is continued regularly throughout the whole ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 458, October 11, 1884 • Various
... By poison offer'd secretly, Sent on, before his time, to be Protector to such arts and trades As flourish in the world of shades. On this advice, the Turk—no gander— Behaved himself like Alexander.[28] Straight to the merchant's, firm and stable, He went, and took a seat at table. Such calm assurance there was seen, Both in his words and in his mien, That e'en that weasel-sighted Grecian Could not suspect him of suspicion. 'My friend,' said he, 'I know you've quit me, And some think caution would befit me, Lest ...
— The Fables of La Fontaine - A New Edition, With Notes • Jean de La Fontaine
... who made the coffin was severely beaten by his own father for attending a prayer meeting. As the blows fell thick and fast, he cried, "Must this come from my own father?" But he remained firm, and next day went to the chapel pale and weak, but filled with ...
— Woman And Her Saviour In Persia • A Returned Missionary
... movement has not found a firm foothold because there has been no dominant, enslaving tradition to protest against. Not a few of the ideas, not a little of the spirit of the movement may be recognized in the work of individual architects and decorative artists in the United States, executed ...
— A Text-Book of the History of Architecture - Seventh Edition, revised • Alfred D. F. Hamlin
... break in that firm negative. Where could they be more comfortable? Besides, weren't they going to marry as soon ...
— The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse • Vicente Blasco Ibanez
... all surprised, my dear Madam, at the intrepidity of Mrs. Damer;(366) she always was the heroic daughter of a hero. Her sense and coolness never forsake her. I, who am not so firm, shuddered at your ladyship's account. Now that she has stood fire for four hours, I hope she will give as clear proofs of her understanding, of which I have as high opinion as of her courage, and not return in ...
— Letters of Horace Walpole, V4 • Horace Walpole |
