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Forbear   Listen
verb
Forbear  v. t.  (past forbore, obs. forbare; past part. forborne; pres. part. forbearing)  
1.
To keep away from; to avoid; to abstain from; to give up; as, to forbear the use of a word of doubtful propriety. "But let me that plunder forbear." "The King In open battle or the tilting field Forbore his own advantage."
2.
To treat with consideration or indulgence. "Forbearing one another in love."
3.
To cease from bearing. (Obs.) "Whenas my womb her burden would forbear."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Forbear" Quotes from Famous Books



... I forbear to dwell longer on the events of the war. The tide had turned, and the end was already foreseen. Notwithstanding that Mr. Lincoln had proved the righteousness of his course, a great many people in the North—and many even in his own party—were opposed to his nomination for a second term. The disaffected ...
— The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 3 • Various

... mock us, ruine us: In truth, I cannot altogether blame it, if People are a little transported, when they conceive all the secular Interests of themselves and their Families at the Stake; and yet at the sight of these Heartburnings, I cannot forbear the Exclamation of the Sweet-spirited Austin, in his Pacificatory Epistle to Jerom, on the Contest with Ruffin, O misera & miseranda Conditio! O Condition, truly miserable! But what shall be done to cure these Distractions? It is wonderfully necessary, that some healing Attempts be ...
— The Wonders of the Invisible World • Cotton Mather

... Sound, Frithiof hastened to Balder's temple, to which Ingeborg had been sent for security, and where, as Hilding had declared, he found her a prey to grief. Now although it was considered a sacrilege for man and woman to exchange a word in the sacred building, Frithiof could not forbear to console her; and, forgetting all else, he spoke to her and comforted her, quieting all her apprehensions of the gods' anger by assuring her that Balder, the good, must view their innocent passion with approving eyes, for love so pure as theirs could defile no sanctuary; and they ...
— Myths of the Norsemen - From the Eddas and Sagas • H. A. Guerber

... reading all these things in his manner, had the delicacy to forbear intruding upon him questions to which she saw that he could give ...
— Timothy Crump's Ward - A Story of American Life • Horatio Alger

... us self-denying, that we may be liberal in relieving others? Does it make us persevere in doing good in spite of ingratitude; and only pity the ignorance, or prejudice, or malice, which misrepresents our conduct, or misconstrues our motives? Does it make us forbear from what we conceive may probably prove the occasion of harm to a fellow-creature; though the harm should not seem naturally or even fairly to flow from our conduct, but to be the result only of his own obstinacy ...
— A Practical View of the Prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians, in the Middle and Higher Classes in this Country, Contrasted with Real Christianity. • William Wilberforce

... Baleka, and the grandson of Unandi. So it happened that very often one or the other of them would come into my hut, making pretence to visit my wives, and take the boy upon her lap and fondle it. In vain did I pray them to forbear. Love pulled at their heart-strings more heavily than my words, and still they came. This was the end of it—that Chaka saw the child sitting on the knee of ...
— Nada the Lily • H. Rider Haggard

... if we met, Knowing not which should forbear? E'en if I plead would she care?— Sweet is the refuge of scorn. Close by my side, O Regret Long we have watched for the light! Watchman, what of the morn? Well do ...
— The Judgment House • Gilbert Parker

... perhaps, unfairly so, as at the present moment the style of supernatural romances in general is rather fallen again Into neglect and disfavour. "If," concludes Walter Scott, in his criticism on this work, (and the sentiments expressed by him are so fair and just, that it is impossible to forbear quoting them,) "Horace Walpole, who led the way in this new species of literary composition, has been surpassed by some of his followers in diffuse brilliancy of composition, and perhaps in the art of detaining the mind of the reader in a state of feverish and anxious suspense ...
— The Letters of Horace Walpole, Volume 1 • Horace Walpole

... it wise to give way before the commanding gaze of the lady, and to accept the proffered place, while the latter laughed outright in sudden good-humor. She was so lovable, so natural, so pleasant, when she laughed like that, Topandy could not forbear from kissing her hands. ...
— Debts of Honor • Maurus Jokai

... my return; or, above all, if by any search for materials necessary to thy toils thou shouldst venture hither, forbear to light the naphtha in those vessels, and to open the vases on yonder shelves. I leave the key of the room in thy keeping, in order to try thy abstinence and self-control. Young man, this very temptation is a part ...
— Zanoni • Edward Bulwer Lytton

... forbear adding another statement of Mr. Calhoun, made to Commodore Stuart, as far back as 1812, in a private conversation at Washington, which was in substance as follows, viz.: That the South, on account of slavery, found it necessary to ally herself with one of the political parties; but ...
— The Continental Monthly, Vol III, Issue VI, June, 1863 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... the afternoon tide, Sime's defiant laugh was unabated; nor did he forbear to make a joke when the shaman tripped on the sand in the landing. Klok-No-Ton looked at him sourly, and without greeting stalked straight through their midst to the ...
— Children of the Frost • Jack London

... wood-work, and listening intently, they heard a slight creaking sound, as of wood against wood, which, to their now alert senses, indicated that the watcher was gently pushing back the slide which concealed the spy-hole. There was then a pause, and the lads looked across at one another and could not forbear a smile, even in their state of misery and suspense, at the idea of the spy's astonishment and disappointment at finding all dark when he expected to be able to see into ...
— Across the Spanish Main - A Tale of the Sea in the Days of Queen Bess • Harry Collingwood

... replied her husband. "I have not rebelled, and I shall not. Monsieur Bayou has taught me to bear and forbear—yes, my boy, as this book says, and as the book of God says: We will ...
— The Hour and the Man - An Historical Romance • Harriet Martineau

... Jesus' sake forbear, To dig the dust enclosed here, Blest be the man who spares these stones, And cursed be he ...
— Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Vol. 1 of 14 - Little Journeys to the Homes of Good Men and Great • Elbert Hubbard

... he heard any ministers complain that such and such in their flocks were too difficult for them, the strain of his answer still was, "Brother, compass them!" and "Brother, learn the meaning of those three little words, bear, forbear, forgive." Yea, his inclinations for peace, indeed, sometimes almost made him to sacrifice right itself. When there was laid before an assembly of ministers a bundle of papers which contained certain matters of difference and contention between some people which our Eliot thought ...
— The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. IX (of X) - America - I • Various

... one whose tongue is now still in death whose name I cannot forbear to mention; one who, though gone from our midst, is with us in memory: for who can forget John A. Rawlins? Faithful in every duty, true in every trust, though dead he is not forgotten; though gone forever, yet he will ever live in affectionate remembrance in the ...
— The Battle of Atlanta - and Other Campaigns, Addresses, Etc. • Grenville M. Dodge

... among us the ordained hereditary witnesses of the truth, conveying it to us through an unbroken series from our Lord Jesus Christ and His Apostles. This is to us the ordinary voice of authority; of authority equally reasonable and equally true, whether we will hear, or whether we will forbear." ...
— Critical and Historical Essays Volume 2 • Thomas Babington Macaulay

... plebeian witnesses, who ranged along their course and invited themselves and one another to a study of the looks and dresses of the titles, and to open comment on both. The study and the comment must have had their limits; the observed knew how much to bear if the observers did not know how little to forbear; and it is not probable that the London spectators went the lengths which our outsiders go in trying to verify an English duke who is about to marry an American heiress. The London vulgar, if not better bred than our ...
— London Films • W.D. Howells

... block as the house just described, and having its entrance in the same street, stands the house of Cornelius Rufus. It is a handsome dwelling, but as its plan and decorations have nothing to distinguish them from other Pompeian houses, we forbear to describe them. The only remarkable feature in this excavation was the discovery of a Hermes at the bottom of the atrium on the left, on which was a marble bust of the owner, as large as life and well executed, ...
— Museum of Antiquity - A Description of Ancient Life • L. W. Yaggy

... not lift up their eyes to heaven. Thus they went out at the gate of Mansoul, till they came into the midst of the Prince's army, the sight and glory of which did greatly heighten their affliction. Nor could they now longer forbear, but cry out aloud, 'O unhappy men! O wretched men of Mansoul!' Their chains, still mixing their dolorous notes with the cries of the prisoners, ...
— The Holy War • John Bunyan

... and refinement, she had her own match at Springhaven. Quite a hardworking youth, of no social position and no needless education, had such a fine countenance and such bright eyes that she neither could bear to look at him nor forbear to think of him. And she knew that if the fleet came home she would see him on board of ...
— Springhaven - A Tale of the Great War • R. D. Blackmore

... this second chapter on Lynton, I cannot forbear to speak yet further of the beautiful scenery in which it lies. There is Summerhouse Hill, or Lyn Cleave, as it is more charmingly and appropriately called, the great rocky height, a thousand feet above Lynmouth, which looks ...
— Lynton and Lynmouth - A Pageant of Cliff & Moorland • John Presland

... Dinny looked from one to the other with such a look of hopeless dread in his countenance, that even Mr Rogers could not forbear ...
— Off to the Wilds - Being the Adventures of Two Brothers • George Manville Fenn

... his cheek blanched to a pale hue. He had been thinking of his father and mother. With almost the vividness of reality had he seen them before him, and heard their earnest; tearful pleadings with him to forbear for their sakes, if not for his own. But he took the deadly weapon in his hand mechanically, and moved to the position that had been assigned him. The arrangement was, that the seconds should give the words—one—two—three—in slow ...
— The Lights and Shadows of Real Life • T.S. Arthur

... another passage from the author just quoted which is so much to the point that we can not forbear to ...
— How To Behave: A Pocket Manual Of Republican Etiquette, And Guide To Correct Personal Habits • Samuel R Wells

... his companion down, for he perfectly understood the character of the allusion; but he had sufficient self-command to forbear saying anything that might betray ...
— The Sea Lions - The Lost Sealers • James Fenimore Cooper

... came across a pretty conceit of John B. Tabb, which more aptly sets off the mountain blue than it does his eastern relative, and which I cannot forbear quoting: ...
— Birds of the Rockies • Leander Sylvester Keyser

... death of that old gentleman, when Blassemare, happening to meet Madame Le Prun as she walked upon one of the terraces, dressed in so exquisite a suit of mourning, and looking altogether so irresistibly handsome, that, for the life of him, he could not forbear saluting, approaching, and addressing her. He was affably received, and the conversation, at first slight and indifferent, turned gradually, without premeditation on his part, but, as it were, by a sort of irresistible fatality, into ...
— The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 3, February, 1851 • Various

... heroics it was a terrible come-down for poor Ulyth now the actual had taken the place of the sentimental. Her class-mates could not forbear teasing her a little. It was too bad of them; but then they had resented her entire pre-appropriation of the new-comer, and, moreover, had one or two old scores from last term to pay off. Ulyth began to detest the very name of ...
— For the Sake of the School • Angela Brazil

... "you are somewhat over-officious here, and less courtly than I deemed you. If you love sack, forbear; for this course will never bring you a drop. As to your Roman law, and your law of nature, what right have they to say any thing which the law of Holy Writ ...
— Maid Marian • Thomas Love Peacock

... the reader on the Black Sea, I cannot forbear a single remark on the distinguished individual who has so long and so worthily represented Great ...
— Servia, Youngest Member of the European Family • Andrew Archibald Paton

... it is impossible for me, if it were in the presence of all the queens and kings in Christendom, to forbear to use any means to hinder the dishonour of my ...
— A Journal of the Swedish Embassy in the Years 1653 and 1654, Vol II. • Bulstrode Whitelocke

... any reasonable man will believe you respect the person of his Majesty, when 'tis apparent that your seditious pamphlets are stuffed with particular reflections on him? If you have the confidence to deny this, 'tis easy to be evinced from a thousand passages, which I only forbear to quote because I desire they should die and be forgotten. I have perused many of your papers; and to show you that I have, the third part of your No-Protestant Plot is much of it stolen from ...
— English Satires • Various

... declaration of love to her, reminded her of his services on that occasion—"I think you must have seen that I was struck with those charms on the day when I waited at the whytorseller. I think you must have remarked that I could not forbear a tribute to those charms when I put up the steps ...
— The Inns and Taverns of "Pickwick" - With Some Observations on their Other Associations • B.W. Matz

... 5. I can not forbear adducing another instance of the power he had acquired over himself. He was naturally possessed of strong passions; but over these he at length obtained an extraordinary control. He became habitually calm, sedate, and self-possessed. Mr. Sherman was one of those men who are not ashamed ...
— McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader • William Holmes McGuffey

... our time persist in regarding this, above all others, as the best period in the history of our race; and, doubtless, it is true in many important respects. But I cannot forbear the suggestion at this moment that there was a time in the history of the world when the science of medicine was unknown, when people lived to the incredible age of many centuries; and, even after the span of life had been reduced to threescore and ten, sickness was comparatively ...
— Scientific American, Volume XXIV., No. 12, March 18, 1871 • Various

... laughed, then added seriously, "I am too fond of the girl to forbear to give my advice. Let her choose her own husband. If you dare to cut out her future, as if it were one of her new frocks, you have more courage than I. She has more in her than twenty women. Let her alone for the next five years, then she will have no one to answer to but herself. Otherwise, my ...
— The Conqueror • Gertrude Franklin Atherton

... the greatest earthly blessing. A wife never makes a greater mistake than when she endeavors to coerce her husband with other weapons than those of love and affection. Those weapons are a sure "pull," if he has anything human left in him. Forbear mutual upbraidings. In writing letters during temporary separation let nothing contrary to love and sincere affection be expressed; such letters from a wife have a most powerful emotional effect, sometimes little understood by those who write them. It is the ...
— Sparkling Gems of Race Knowledge Worth Reading • Various

... the name and official description prefixed to this Proem will secure it, from the sedate and reflecting part of mankind, to whom only I would be understood to address myself, such attention as is due to the sedulous instructor of youth, and the careful performer of my Sabbath duties, I will forbear to hold up a candle to the daylight, or to point out to the judicious those recommendations of my labours which they must necessarily anticipate from the perusal of the title-page. Nevertheless, I am not unaware, that, as Envy ...
— Old Mortality, Complete, Illustrated • Sir Walter Scott

... shake their heads at such loose marriage, and tell me to take warning and not fall into like folly and sin through overmuch love of my own way. But I heard them talking together of thee when they forgot that I was by; and then there was something different in their words, and I could scarce forbear to smile." ...
— The Lost Treasure of Trevlyn - A Story of the Days of the Gunpowder Plot • Evelyn Everett-Green

... be affected by anything that such a person as Peter Cook could say. I permitted our dear young friend Wilton to tell you what the man had mentioned, more as a mark of our full confidence than anything else. But I doubt not that he will forbear to repeat the calumny in court; and if he does, it will receive no attention. Go out of town, then, whenever you think fit, and to whatsoever place you please, feeling quite sure that in Wilton you have a strenuous advocate, and a sincere friend in "Your grace's most humble and ...
— The King's Highway • G. P. R. James

... was in no very smiling humour, could not forbear to smile. 'Yet I was told last night,' he laughed, 'that with a man like me to impersonate, and a man like you to touch the springs, a very possible government ...
— Prince Otto • Robert Louis Stevenson

... not forbear calling out to the woman, and begging her to forbear: and little Polly Suckling cried as much as the girl, and desired she might not be beat any more. The woman, in respect to them, let the child go; but said, 'Indeed, young ladies, you don't ...
— The Governess - The Little Female Academy • Sarah Fielding

... left at the door," replied Epimetheus, "just before you came, by a person who looked very smiling and intelligent, and who could hardly forbear laughing as he put it down. He was dressed in an odd kind of a cloak, and had on a cap that seemed to be made partly of feathers, so that it looked almost as ...
— Myths That Every Child Should Know - A Selection Of The Classic Myths Of All Times For Young People • Various

... Brid-the-Bent, advancing also with uplifted hands between Bucklaw, the Colonel, and the object of their resentment—"in the name of Him who brought peace on earth and good-will to mankind, I implore—I beseech—I command you to forbear violence toward each other! God hateth the bloodthirsty man; he who striketh with the sword ...
— The Best of the World's Classics, Vol. V (of X) - Great Britain and Ireland III • Various

... of evil to slave children, which I cannot forbear to mention here, as one which early embittered my life,—I mean the tyranny of the master's children. My master had two sons, about the ages and sizes of my older brother and myself. We were not only required to recognise these young ...
— The Fugitive Blacksmith - or, Events in the History of James W. C. Pennington • James W. C. Pennington

... de Clarenham," he added, as his fallen foe moved, and began to raise himself, "you have received a lesson, by which I hope you will profit. Leave the house, whose mourning you have insulted, and thank your relationship that I forbear to bring this outrage to the notice ...
— The Lances of Lynwood • Charlotte M. Yonge

... not forbear a smile at the opinionated old man, who thought no one's opinion upon any subject at all equal to his own; but he made no remark, and only waited, as did Henry, with evident anxiety for the ...
— Varney the Vampire - Or the Feast of Blood • Thomas Preskett Prest

... him, proceedeth from a heart that is double and cloven, and not entire and ingenuous; which as in friendship it is want of integrity, so towards princes or superiors is want of duty. For the custom of the Levant, which is that subjects do forbear to gaze or fix their eyes upon princes, is in the outward ceremony barbarous, but the moral is good; for men ought not, by cunning and bent observations, to pierce and penetrate into the hearts of kings, which the Scripture ...
— The Advancement of Learning • Francis Bacon

... the Mexican capital. He has been instructed to bring the negotiation with which he is charged to a conclusion at the earliest practicable period, which it is expected will be in time to enable me to communicate the result to Congress during the present session. Until that result is known I forbear to recommend to Congress such ulterior measures of redress for the wrongs and injuries we have so long borne as it would have been proper to make had no ...
— State of the Union Addresses of James Polk • James Polk

... conclusive as to clear up a present proceeding to war before the world, and to bear up their hearts with that fullness of persuasion which was mete, in commending the case to God in prayer, and to the people in exhortations; and that it would be safest for the colonies to forbear the use of the sword; but advised to be in a posture of defence until the mind of God should be more fully known either for a settled peace, or more manifest grounds of war."[82] With this opinion of the elders, the vote ...
— The Life of George Washington, Vol. 1 (of 5) • John Marshall

... an appealing glance at Mascarin, but the face of the agent seemed carved in marble. As to Paul, he was quite prepared to accept this young gentleman as a perfect type of the glass of fashion and the mould of form, and could not forbear pitying him in his heart. He went ...
— Caught In The Net • Emile Gaboriau

... his time, Who often soared to heights sublime, When backed by some poetic chap For the Parnassus Handicap. Alas for fame! The other day I saw an ancient "one-hoss shay" Stop at the Mont de Piete, And, lo! alighting from the same, A bard, whom I forbear to name. Noting the poor beast's rusty hide (The horse, I mean), methought I spied What once were wings. Incredulous, I cried, ...
— The Mythological Zoo • Oliver Herford

... crack beside the window blind, she saw him, a poor, pale shadow, descending wearily and painfully from the buggy, the great mother heart in the girl welled with pity. She could hardly forbear rushing out to carry him bodily in her strong arms to the spare room and lay him where she had once helped to lay him the night of the tragedy some eight weeks before. But in this matter she had learned her lesson. She remembered the little nurse and her indignant scorn of ...
— Corporal Cameron • Ralph Connor

... present, no answer to those questions was to be hoped for from anybody in the house. Mr. Franklin appeared to think it a point of honour to forbear repeating to a servant—even to so old a servant as I was—what Miss Rachel had said to him on the terrace. Mr. Godfrey, who, as a gentleman and a relative, had been probably admitted into Mr. Franklin's confidence, ...
— The Moonstone • Wilkie Collins

... Indeed we might well have conjectured beforehand that the knowledge of what every man is bound to do, and therefore also to know, would be within the reach of every man, even the commonest. Here we cannot forbear admiration when we see how great an advantage the practical judgement has over the theoretical in the common understanding of men. In the latter, if common reason ventures to depart from the laws of experience and from the ...
— Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals • Immanuel Kant

... Finally, we cannot forbear adding one more quotation, from the most delightful of attacks upon the attackers of fairy tales, by Miss Repplier: "That which is vital in literature or tradition, which has survived the obscurity and ...
— Children's Literature - A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes • Charles Madison Curry

... Katherine could not forbear a grimace as she spoke, for peltry can be a very odorous currency, and she had to examine every skin closely before deciding what it was worth in flour, bacon, or tobacco, because the red man is a past master in the art of outwitting ...
— A Countess from Canada - A Story of Life in the Backwoods • Bessie Marchant

... round in quest of some military comrades who might support him in the voye du fait, to which, at this point, his passion prompted him. But, seeing none, he exclaimed, "Citizens, press not this matter too far—and you, young man, especially, forbear,—you tread upon the ...
— Memorials and Other Papers • Thomas de Quincey

... of the earth, for traffic or for pleasure; but, above the crowd swaying forever to and fro in the restlessness of avarice or thirst of delight, was seen perpetually the glory of the temple, attesting to them, whether they would hear or whether they would forbear, that there was one treasure which the merchantman might buy without a price, and one delight better than all others, in the word and the ...
— The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. VI (of X)—Great Britain and Ireland IV • Various

... Bernt, at any rate, would be saved, if he only held out like a man. Then he told him all about the Draug, whom he had struck below the neck with the Kvejtepig, and how it had now revenged itself upon him, and certainly would not forbear till ...
— Weird Tales from Northern Seas • Jonas Lie

... Socrates, forbear! I only hope that no friend or kinsman or acquaintance of mine, whether citizen or stranger, will ever be so mad as to allow himself to be corrupted by them; for they are a manifest pest and corrupting influence to those who have to ...
— Meno • Plato

... and the French Queen on behalf of Charles, at which terms of peace were to be adjusted. The Queen brought with her the princess Catharine, her daughter, whose hand Henry himself had formerly demanded as one of the conditions on which he would have consented to forbear from invading France. It was now hoped that if he would take her in marriage he would moderate his other demands. But Henry, for his part, was altogether unyielding. He insisted on the terms of the treaty of Bretigni, and on keeping his own conquests besides, ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07 • Various

... Kings had in old time made a constitution for themselves, that the kingdom and empire of Spain never should be divided, but remain one dominion under one Lord. But the King replied that he would not for this forbear to do as he had resolved, for he had won the kingdom; then the Infante made answer, Do as you will, being my father and Lord; but I do not consent unto it. So the King made this division against the right of the Infante Don Sancho, ...
— Chronicle Of The Cid • Various

... I forbear to consider further at this time the interesting questions which will arise in the revision and amendment of the constitution. Convinced of the soundness of the maxim that "that government is best which governs least," I would resist the tendency common to all systems to enlarge the functions ...
— The Life, Public Services and Select Speeches of Rutherford B. Hayes • James Quay Howard

... good dispositions, but wanting in resolution and civil courage: capable of resisting the allurements of pleasure for a certain time, but soon weary of painful endurance in any cause; with a taste for virtue, but destitute of that power to bear and forbear, without which there is no virtue: a hero, when supported by a stronger mind, such as that of his friend, Count Albert; but relaxing and sinking at once, when exposed to the influence of a flatterer such as M. de Tourville: subject to exquisite shame and ...
— Tales And Novels, Vol. 8 • Maria Edgeworth

... bell-mouthed glass had wrought, Or mastered by the sense of sport, began To troll a careless, careless tavern-catch Of Moll and Meg, and strange experiences Unmeet for ladies. Florian nodded at him, I frowning; Psyche flushed and wanned and shook; The lilylike Melissa drooped her brows; 'Forbear,' the Princess cried; 'Forbear, Sir' I; And heated through and through with wrath and love, I smote him on the breast; he started up; There rose a shriek as of a city sacked; Melissa clamoured 'Flee the death;' ...
— The Princess • Alfred Lord Tennyson

... uncertain aggregate of persons. Still, they have the closest alliance with Laws proper, seeing that being armed with a sanction, they impose a duty. The persons obnoxious to the sanction generally do or forbear the acts enjoined or forbidden; which is all that can happen under the ...
— Moral Science; A Compendium of Ethics • Alexander Bain

... to infer from their continual prating about "sustained effort"? If, by "sustained effort," any little gentleman has accomplished an epic, let us frankly commend him for the effort—if this indeed be a thing commendable—but let us forbear praising the epic on the effort's account. It is to be hoped thai common sense, in the time to come, will prefer deciding upon a work of Art rather by the impression it makes—by the effect it produces—than by the time it ...
— Edgar Allan Poe's Complete Poetical Works • Edgar Allan Poe

... They attacked him with such violence that his life was in danger, and it was with the utmost difficulty that he made his escape, wounded from head to tail. In this desperate condition, lamenting his misfortunes, and licking his sores, he could not forbear reflecting how much more advisable it had been to have patiently borne one injury, than by an unprofitable resentment ...
— Favourite Fables in Prose and Verse • Various

... recollection the many receptions of this kind to which I have now so often been exposed, and I could not forbear uttering aloud my indignation at the inhospitality of the English. This harsh sentiment I soon corrected, however, as I walked on, by recollecting, and placing in the opposite scale, the unbounded and unequalled generosity ...
— Travels in England in 1782 • Charles P. Moritz

... graves of another daughter and a son, who have a better right in the family-row than Thomas Nash, his grandson-in-law? Might not one or both of them have been laid under the nameless stone? But it is dangerous trifling with Shakspeare's dust; so I forbear to meddle further with the grave, (though the prohibition makes it tempting,) and shall let whatever bones be in it rest in peace. Yet I must needs add that the inscription on the bust seems to imply that Shakspeare's ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 11, No. 63, January, 1863 - A Magazine Of Literature, Art, And Politics • Various

... his name invariably mentioned in connection with this single novel. "Those who call me the father of Eugenie Grandet seek to belittle me," he cried. "I grant it is a masterpiece, but a small one. They forbear to cite ...
— Balzac • Frederick Lawton

... possess the power of making the exclusion of slavery a part or condition of the act admitting a new State into the Union, they may, in special cases, and for sufficient reasons, forbear to exercise this power. Thus Kentucky and Vermont were admitted as new States into the Union, without making the abolition of slavery the condition of their admission. In Vermont, slavery never existed; her laws excluding the same. Kentucky was formed out ...
— American Eloquence, Volume II. (of 4) - Studies In American Political History (1896) • Various

... style of argument struck them dumb. After recovering their senses they became restless to leave me, and began to beg a few things. I gave them some sugar and cake, and we parted apparent friends. On going out, they could not forbear asking Said if he was a Mussulman. Like many other Moslemites of Sahara, they said, "The Turks are not good Mussulmans." I replied, "Mustapha, the Bey of Ghadames, is a better Mussulman than any of ...
— Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846 • James Richardson

... Campbell, author of "The Pleasures of Hope," was a college contemporary; and their mutual love of poetry drew them closely to each other; they competed for academical rewards offered for the best compositions in verse, till frequent adjudication as to the equality of their merits, induced them to forbear contesting on the same subjects. At least on one occasion the verses of Paul were preferred to those of the Bard of Hope. The following lines, exhibiting a specimen of his poetical powers at this period, are from a translation ...
— The Modern Scottish Minstrel, Volumes I-VI. - The Songs of Scotland of the Past Half Century • Various

... all the tribes," says Volney, in his "Tableau des Etats Unis," p. 423, "there still exists a generation of old warriors, who cannot forbear, when they see their countrymen using the hoe, from exclaiming against the degradation of ancient manners, and asserting that the savages owe their decline to these innovations: adding, that they have only to return to their primitive ...
— American Institutions and Their Influence • Alexis de Tocqueville et al

... home that night plunged in deep meditation. He vowed to himself that he would never more try to catch the Nixy's strain. But the next day, when he seized the violin, there it was again, and, strive as he might, he could not forbear ...
— Boyhood in Norway • Hjalmar Hjorth Boyesen

... to lighten the oppressive cares of some unfortunate creature, a sort of peace has for a time descended upon me, which has been infinitely soothing. It soon departs, and my usual bitterness again sways me. I sought for friendship, and for awhile I was relieved, but I cannot forbear glancing down into the motives of my fellow men, and that involuntarily-searching spirit has proved unfortunate to me. I met with selfishness in the form of attachment, and then I turned to look upon the hollow heart of ...
— Words of Cheer for the Tempted, the Toiling, and the Sorrowing • T. S. Arthur

... at times when suffering under anxiety of mind and anguish of body sufficient to exasperate the most patient, yet he restrained his valiant and indignant spirit, by the strong powers of his mind, and brought himself to forbear, and reason, and even to supplicate: nor should we fail to notice how free he was from all feeling of revenge, how ready to forgive and forget, on the least signs of repentance and atonement. He has been extolled for his skill ...
— The Life and Voyages of Christopher Columbus (Vol. II) • Washington Irving

... him once, but now forbear; Yield him to those who hope and dare, And have not yet to forms consigned A ...
— Ionica • William Cory (AKA William Johnson)

... Does she agree to the terms?" Mackenzie could not forbear the question, even though his throat was dry, his lips cold, his voice husky at ...
— The Flockmaster of Poison Creek • George W. Ogden

... can soft affections raise, And charm envenom'd satire into praise. Nor human rage alone his pow'r perceives, But the mad winds and the tumultuous waves, Ev'n storms (Death's fiercest ministers!) forbear, And in their own wild empire learn to spare. Thus, Nature's self, supporting Man's decree, Styles Britain's sovereign, sovereign ...
— The Essays of "George Eliot" - Complete • George Eliot

... frightened him, and he was evidently going through his remnant of life on tiptoe, for fear of waking up the hostile fates. If this strange gentleman was saying anything improper to his daughter, M. Nioche would entreat him huskily, as a particular favor, to forbear; but he would admit at the same time that he was very presumptuous ...
— The American • Henry James

... however, the evidence is as full, positive, and satisfactory as any evidence not appealing to the senses or mathematical demonstration for its truth, can possibly be; and any one in active life who was to forbear from acting upon it, would deserve to be treated as a lunatic. Let us, however, consider the admissions of M. Neufchateau. He admits, 1st, That Le Sage was never in Spain. 2dly, Le Sage, in 1735, acknowledged the chronological ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 55, No. 344, June, 1844 • Various

... folly and an injury, rather than good. Arguing thus, that if the exportations exceed importations, then the balance must be brought home in money, which, when our merchants know cannot be carried out again, they will forbear to bring home in money, but let it lie abroad for trade, or keepe in foreign banks: or if our importations exceed our exportations, then, to keepe credit, the merchants will and must find ways of carrying out money by stealth, which is a most easy thing to do, and is ...
— Diary of Samuel Pepys, Complete • Samuel Pepys

... stepped leisurely into the hack; and he could not forbear kissing the little face which sparkled with ...
— Dotty Dimple Out West • Sophie May

... we have seen that men are social, reasonable, and moral beings. They have power to discern their own wants and the wants of their fellow men; to perceive what is right and what is wrong; and to know that they ought to do what is right and to forbear to do what is wrong. Their reason enables them to understand the meaning of laws, and to discover what laws are necessary to regulate the social actions of men. Hence we conclude that they are fitted and designed for society, ...
— The Government Class Book • Andrew W. Young

... provoked by an extraordinary cause. But for that your grieved and wounded mind hath more need of comfort than reproof, who, we are persuaded, though the act of contempt can no ways be excused, had no other meaning and intent than to advance our service, we think meet to forbear to dwell upon a matter wherein we ourselves do find so little comfort, assuring you that whosoever professeth to love you best taketh not more comfort of your well doing, or discomfort of your ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley

... Messer Guido intervened, eagerly, passionately. "For God's sake, forbear," he entreated Dante, and thrusting himself against the other. "Messer Simone," he said, "you cannot deny me if I ...
— The God of Love • Justin Huntly McCarthy

... and gallant, than on that austere and stubborn partizan; and its force must be allowed, since it was extolled even when Mary was dethroned and exiled. Granville, Lord Lansdowne, has praised her in "The Progress of Beauty;" and I cannot forbear transcribing some of the verses, on account of the gallant spirit of the author, who scorned to change with fortune, and continued to admire and celebrate, in adversity, the charms which he had worshipped in the meridian ...
— The Works of John Dryden, Volume 5 (of 18) - Amboyna; The state of Innocence; Aureng-Zebe; All for Love • John Dryden

... as doth a lion, which spectacle we all beheld so far as we were able to discern the same, as men prone to wonder at every strange thing. What opinion others had thereof, and chiefly the General himself, I forbear to deliver. But he took it for Bonum Omen, rejoicing that he was to war against such an enemy, if it were ...
— Short Studies on Great Subjects • James Anthony Froude

... sacred person and a king) 70 His very Minister who spy'd them first, (Some say his Queen) was forc'd to speak, or burst. And is not mine, my friend, a sorer case, When ev'ry coxcomb perks them in my face? A. Good friend, forbear! you deal in dang'rous things. 75 I'd never name Queens, Ministers, or Kings; Keep close to Ears, and those let asses prick; 'Tis nothing—P. Nothing? if they bite and kick? Out with it, DUNCIAD! let the secret ...
— The Rape of the Lock and Other Poems • Alexander Pope

... that he did not write "The Getae": this composition was by his maternal grandfather, Dio of Prusa, and was the fruit of exile. "Journey-signs" or "Itineraries" is an enigmatic title, and the more cautious scholars forbear to venture an opinion upon its significance. Bernhardy, editor of Suidas, says "Intelligo Librum de Signis" and translates the title "De Ominibus inter congrediendum." Leonhard Schmitz (in the rather antiquated ...
— Dio's Rome, Volume 1 (of 6) • Cassius Dio

... friend Fillgrave—Lady Scatcherd. He cannot bear anything of that sort. Now I think he's wrong; and so I tell him." Mr Rerechild was in error here; for he had never yet ventured to tell Dr Fillgrave that he was wrong in anything. "We must bear and forbear, you know. Dr Thorne is an excellent man—in his way ...
— Doctor Thorne • Anthony Trollope

... Surely it is not. But I forbear to say more on a subject which is forbidden. God bless you, my friends; we ...
— Gascoyne, the Sandal-Wood Trader • R.M. Ballantyne

... "Forbear!—forbear!" cried Philip, with a voice so shrill in its agony, that it smote the hearts of those in the adjoining chamber like the shriek of some despairing soul. They looked at each other, but not one had the courage to ...
— Night and Morning, Volume 5 • Edward Bulwer Lytton

... early in the voyage, too." She looked at me, and when I could not forbear a smile of appreciation ...
— The Mutiny of the Elsinore • Jack London

... reading modern speculations into the religion of the savage leads to some curious results, one of which we cannot forbear mentioning. In his little work on "Animism" Mr. Edward Clodd, after tracing the fundamental ideas of religion to primitive ...
— Theism or Atheism - The Great Alternative • Chapman Cohen

... gestures, insults and abuse, dragging out all the evil that was stored in the recesses of their minds. Since all four talked at once and said so many things that might hurt the prestige of certain classes by the truths that were brought to light, we forbear from recording what they said. The curious spectators, while they may not have understood all that was said, got not a little entertainment out of the scene and hoped that the affair would come to blows. Unfortunately for them, the curate came ...
— The Social Cancer - A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere • Jose Rizal

... pass over all the intermediate pounding, and grinding, and chopping, which for the next week foretold approaching festivity in the kitchen of the deacon. Let us forbear to provoke the appetite of a hungry reader by setting in order before him the minced pies, the cranberry tarts, the pumpkin pies, the doughnuts, the cookies, and other sweet cakes of every description, that sprang into being at the magic touch of Black Dinah, the village priestess ...
— The May Flower, and Miscellaneous Writings • Harriet Beecher Stowe

... As surely as it was Black Maggie, Maggie knew her; and displeased though Eleanor was with the master, she could not forbear a little caress of recognition to the beautiful creature he had once given her. Maggie was faultless; she and Eleanor were accustomed to each other; it was an undeniable pleasure to be so mounted again, as Eleanor could not but acknowledge to herself ...
— The Old Helmet, Volume II • Susan Warner

... door, and began to scrape away right merrily, while Jack commenced one of the wildest hornpipes I ever saw danced. How he cut and shuffled,—how he crossed his feet and sprang up in the air, and kicked and capered,—it is almost impossible to describe. I could scarcely forbear laughing myself, especially when I saw a number of grave long-bearded Moors assembled round him, with looks of mute astonishment ...
— Salt Water - The Sea Life and Adventures of Neil D'Arcy the Midshipman • W. H. G. Kingston

... commentary on the Galatians?' 'No, Sir,' said Dr. Johnson. By this lucky thought my father kept him at bay, and for some time enjoyed his triumph[1041]; but his antagonist soon made a retort, which I forbear to mention. ...
— Life Of Johnson, Volume 5 • Boswell

... Dick Dewlap. I very often had the weakness to repine at the prosperity of his conceits, which made him pass for a wit with the widow at the coffee-house and the ordinary mechanics that frequent it; nor could I myself forbear laughing at them most heartily, tho upon examination I thought most of them very flat and insipid. I found, after some time, that the merit of his wit was founded upon the shaking of a fat paunch, and the tossing up of a pair of rosy jowls. Poor Dick had a fit of sickness, which robbed him of his ...
— The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to Prose, Vol. IV (of X)—Great Britain and Ireland II • Various

... planks upon the landing place, through which, at the commencement of his mysterious vision, it seemed to him that he had sunk. I perceived at once that he was strengthening the floor with a view to securing himself against such a catastrophe, and could scarcely forbear a smile as I bid "God ...
— J. S. Le Fanu's Ghostly Tales, Volume 4 • Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

... to-day forbear from jesting on so important a matter. For some time past the efforts of those who most truly love you, my dear child, have been concentrated on the endeavor to settle you suitably; and you would be guilty of ingratitude in meeting with levity those proofs of ...
— The Ball at Sceaux • Honore de Balzac

... answered, "who has come to see fair play, and who has—as you may see—for the moment some little influence with this rabble. I will continue to exert it while I can, if you on your part will forbear to provoke; for the tongue, madam, has its missiles as well as ...
— Sir John Constantine • Prosper Paleologus Constantine

... said my worthy forbear, 'you are a great criminal lawyer, but you are not well read in Kirk law, for no offender can be ...
— Kate Carnegie and Those Ministers • Ian Maclaren

... readily put up with your obtaining any other request of me than that I should forbear sending to perdition this fellow ...
— The Captiva and The Mostellaria • Plautus

... the freedom of the will. Yet, in former times, this very doctrine was regarded as the most formidable instrument with which to overthrow and demolish that very freedom. Thus Luther calls the foreknowledge of God a thunderbolt to dash the doctrine of free-will into atoms. And who can forbear to agree with Luther so far as to say, that if the foreknowledge of God proves anything in opposition to the freedom of the will, it proves that it is under the most absolute and uncontrollable necessity? It clearly seems, that if ...
— A Theodicy, or, Vindication of the Divine Glory • Albert Taylor Bledsoe

... lifted lance, Forbear her tears, forbear her blood: Roll back, roll back, thy whelming ...
— Poems • Christina G. Rossetti



Words linked to "Forbear" :   forebear, great grandparent, refrain, leave, abstain, forbearance, act, help oneself, sit out, help, let it go, ascendent, stand by, leave behind, grandparent, leave alone, ancestor, spare



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