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Observe   Listen
verb
Observe  v. t.  (past & past part. observed; pres. part. observing)  
1.
To take notice of by appropriate conduct; to conform one's action or practice to; to keep; to heed; to obey; to comply with; as, to observe rules or commands; to observe civility. "Ye shall observe the feast of unleavened bread." "He wolde no such cursedness observe." "Must I budge? Must I observe you?" "With solemn purpose to observe Immutably his sovereign will."
2.
To be on the watch respecting; to pay attention to; to notice with care; to see; to perceive; to notice; to discover; as, to observe an eclipse; to observe the color or fashion of a dress; to observe the movements of an army; to observe an accident.
3.
To express as what has been noticed; to utter as a remark; to say in a casual or incidental way; to remark.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Observe" Quotes from Famous Books



... 4-5: la mano: observe the usual idiomatic mode of expressing possession of parts of the body, wearing apparel, etc., by the use of the definite article instead of the possessive adjective his, her, etc., the dative pronoun also being often added to indicate the possessor, as: Yo me corte el ...
— Novelas Cortas • Pedro Antonio de Alarcon

... the woods in summer I have sometimes amused myself with imitating the violent chirping or clucking of young birds, in order to observe what different species were round me; for such sounds at such a season in the woods are no less alarming to the feathered tenants of the bushes than the cry of fire or murder in the street is to the inhabitants of a large city. On such occasion of alarm ...
— Birds Illustrated by Color Photography [May, 1897] - A Monthly Serial designed to Promote Knowledge of Bird-Life • Various

... Highest and mightiest, water shall not touch This head of mine, till on the fun'ral pyre I see the body of Patroclus laid, And build his tomb, and cut my votive hair; For while I live and move 'mid mortal men, No second grief like this can pierce my soul. Observe we now the mournful fun'ral feast; But thou, great Agamemnon, King of men, Send forth at early dawn, and to the camp Bring store of fuel, and all else prepare, That with provision meet the dead may pass Down to the realms of night; so shall the fire From out our sight ...
— The Iliad • Homer

... We observe three kinds of oaks which here both flourish and abound. The Farnia, the Querci, and the Leccio—the last evidently a corruption of Ilex. The first kind grows with amazing rapidity; in twenty years it is a head and shoulders ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 62, Number 361, November, 1845. • Various

... newspapers for the correspondence between some of the Bishops of our Church and the Premier. As the question is, Whether Dr. Hampden be a Heretic or a Christian? I may here observe that the term "Christian" is used in the following pages for "European." To the epithet "Christian," in the strict sense of the term, I have no other pretensions than that of being a conscientious reader ...
— Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846 • James Richardson

... without discomposure. Had he regarded his inner self spectacularly, as lovers are now daily more wont to do, he might have felt pride in the discernment of a somewhat rare power in him—that of keeping not only judgment but emotion suspended in difficult cases. But he noted it not. Neither did he observe what was also the fact, that though he cherished a true and warm feeling towards Grace Melbury, he was not altogether her fool just now. It must be remembered that he had not ...
— The Woodlanders • Thomas Hardy

... the elder had disclosed his projects to his heir, and he had naturally declined all effort for their realization. But he began at length to observe that Annie had grown very pretty; and then he thought it would be a nice thing to fall in love with her, since, from his parents' wishes to that end, she must have some money. Annie, however, did not suspect anything, till, one day, she overheard the ...
— Alec Forbes of Howglen • George MacDonald

... by a miracle Jesus set him free also, and when he stood up the bonds were snapped that held him, and he had his old stature back again. His speech, however, was not entirely recovered. It is the custom in the mission for one to observe his anniversary each year and to give a testimony. Whenever the anniversary of this man occurred he always had another read his lesson, then he would stand before the people bowed down as he had been in sin and ...
— And Judas Iscariot - Together with other evangelistic addresses • J. Wilbur Chapman

... but I believe it's the only one, and we'll see what can be done. By the way, I observe that you've taken left ...
— Behind the Line • Ralph Henry Barbour

... several eminent persons to be Enemies to the King and Kingdom, are not so strange, he says, but very justifiable. I hope he does not mean, that illegal Votes are now not strange in the House of Commons: But observe the reason which he gives: for the House of Commons had before address'd for their removal from about the King. It was his business to have prov'd, that an Address of the House of Commons, without Process, order of Law, hearing any Defence, or offering any proof against them is sufficient ground ...
— His Majesties Declaration Defended • John Dryden

... young people observe and examine the things, that the half hour allotted for that purpose slipped away ...
— Two Little Women on a Holiday • Carolyn Wells

... special way the bishop had been aware of Lady Sunderbund's presence since first he had met her, but it was only now that he could observe her with any particularity. She was tall like his own Lady Ella but not calm and quiet; she was electric, her eyes, her smiles, her complexion had as it were an established brightness that exceeded the common lustre of ...
— Soul of a Bishop • H. G. Wells

... is dark to me the astute Sheldon may see daylight, so I'll observe the letter of my bond, and check off the residuum of ...
— Birds of Prey • M. E. Braddon

... so;" said Hardy, "and it does not appear to me so extraordinary that you should observe it, as the contrast between what exists with you and in ...
— A Danish Parsonage • John Fulford Vicary

... back, and observe the small beginnings of maritime navigation. As regards this country, though its institutions are old, modern England is still young. As respects its mechanical and scientific achievements, it is the youngest of all countries. Watt's steam engine was the beginning of our ...
— Men of Invention and Industry • Samuel Smiles

... 1685. Carts come to Town and shops open as is usual. Some somehow observe the day; but are vexed I believe that the body of the people profane it, and blessed be God no authority yet to Compell ...
— Woman's Life in Colonial Days • Carl Holliday

... noticed that Louis, the valet, was again darting those uncontrollable glances toward her. And as the agitated Frenchman endeavored to control his own countenance, I chanced to observe that the pretty-faced maid I had noticed before, was staring fixedly at Louis. Surely there were wheels within wheels, and the complications of this matter were not to be solved by the simple questions of the coroner. But of course this preliminary ...
— The Gold Bag • Carolyn Wells

... curious to observe how many methods people put in practice here to pick up a halfpenny. Yesterday I saw a man standing bareheaded and barelegged in the mud and misty weather, playing on a fife, in hopes to get a circle of auditors. Nobody, however, seemed to take any notice. Very often a ...
— Passages From the English Notebooks, Complete • Nathaniel Hawthorne

... looked about the room with great curiosity, but found little there to interest him. There was nothing to be seen but an old bed without spring or mattress, and a rickety chair with but three legs, which stood in one corner. The walls, he was surprised to observe, were handsomely decorated with tapestries, and Archie at once made up his mind that this had at one time been a private dwelling-house, and had probably been owned by some rich Spaniard who kept a store on the ground floor, and lived in these rooms. The insurgents ...
— The Adventures of a Boy Reporter • Harry Steele Morrison

... less true than old, that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. It is curious to observe the universal pretext by which the tyrants of all times take away the national liberties. It is stated in the statutes of Edward II., that the justices and the sheriff should no longer be elected by ...
— Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry • Albert Pike

... government of a fool; and made her despicable in the eyes of men of sense; I mean a low cunning, which gave her an inclination to cheat all the people she conversed with, and often cheated herself in the first place, by showing her the wrong side of her interest, not having understanding enough to observe that falsehood in conversation, like red on the face, should be used very seldom, and very sparingly, or they destroy that interest and beauty which ...
— Lady Mary Wortley Montague - Her Life and Letters (1689-1762) • Lewis Melville

... very dear son, your lord, that he let not nor hinder you in obeying this our mandate. The matter presseth, and will brook no delay: and we affy ourself in you, Lady, as a woman obedient to the Church, that you will observe our bidding. And for so doing this shall be your warrant. Given at Hazelwood Manor, in the county of Derby, this ...
— The White Lady of Hazelwood - A Tale of the Fourteenth Century • Emily Sarah Holt

... the King of Prussia, and he may say 'ilicet'; I am sure he may personally say 'plaudite'. Warm work is expected this session of parliament, about continent and no continent; some think Mr. Pitt too continent, others too little so; but a little time, as the newspapers most prudently and truly observe, will clear up ...
— The PG Edition of Chesterfield's Letters to His Son • The Earl of Chesterfield

... rule, very careful not to offend the natives in these matters, and are most particular to observe all the customs in regard to caste. But at the time of the plague it was not ...
— The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 38, July 29, 1897 - A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls • Various

... are so anxious to be taught by me. I do confess to you, I have made it long my study to discover who among our fellow-citizens in this city are the greatest adepts in the various branches of knowledge. [14] I had been struck with amazement, I remember, to observe on some occasion that where a set of people are engaged in identical operations, half of them are in absolute indigence and the other half roll in wealth. I bethought me, the history of the matter was worth investigation. Accordingly I set to work investigating, and I found that it all happened ...
— The Economist • Xenophon

... confinement with uncongenial companions, the three Christians, Paul, Aristarchus, and Luke, found brethren. We can understand the joy of such a meeting, and can almost hear the narrative of perils which would be poured into sympathetic ears. Observe that, according to what seems the true reading, verse 14 says, 'We were consoled among them, remaining seven days.' The centurion could scarcely delay his march to please the Christians at Puteoli; and the thought that the Apostle, whose spirit had never flagged ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture: The Acts • Alexander Maclaren

... became more modest and more pious. "Those of Montreal," pursues the worthy nun, "even outdid those of Quebec; for they bound themselves by oath to wear neither ribbons nor lace, to keep their throats covered, and to observe various holy practices for the space of a year." The recluse of Montreal, Mademoiselle Le Ber, who, by reason of her morbid seclusion and ascetic life, was accounted almost a saint, made a flag embroidered with a prayer to the Virgin, to be borne against the heretical ...
— A Half Century of Conflict - Volume I - France and England in North America • Francis Parkman

... heat, or in pursuit of amusement. So great was the diligence of the commissaries and of the captain, that before the enemy's arrival, the men were mounted and prepared to resist their attack; and as Micheletto was the first to observe their approach, he was also first armed and ready to meet them, and with his troops hastened to the bridge which crosses the river at a short distance from Anghiari. Pietro Giampagolo having previous to the surprise, filled up the ditches on either side of the road, and leveled ...
— History Of Florence And Of The Affairs Of Italy - From The Earliest Times To The Death Of Lorenzo The Magnificent • Niccolo Machiavelli

... observe that the fief, unlike the beneficium, was not granted for a certain number of years, or for the life of the grantee, to revert at his death to the owner. On the contrary, it became hereditary in the family of the vassal and passed down to the eldest son from one generation ...
— An Introduction to the History of Western Europe • James Harvey Robinson

... had sent on to the Senate. The letter is sufficiently bold and abusive—throwing it in their teeth that they would rather punish the murderer of Trebonius than those of Caesar. Cicero does this with some wit, but we feel compelled to observe that as much is to be said on the one side as on the other. Brutus, Cassius, with Trebonius and others, had killed Caesar. Dolabella, perhaps with circumstances of great cruelty, had killed Trebonius. Cicero had again and again expressed ...
— The Life of Cicero - Volume II. • Anthony Trollope

... cannot fail to observe how the primitive inventions have been used, again and again, by successive generations of fabulists. The Siren of Ulysses is the prototype of the Siren of Orlando, and the character of Circe reappears in Alcina. The fountains of Love and Hatred may be traced ...
— Bulfinch's Mythology • Thomas Bulfinch

... it is nearly certain to amuse. If we were charged so much a head for sunsets, or if God sent round a drum before the hawthorns came in flower, what a work should we not make about their beauty! But these things, like good companions, stupid people early cease to observe; and the Abstract Bagman tittups past in his spring gig, and is positively not aware of the flowers along the lane, or the scenery of the ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition - Vol. 1 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson

... the ass's ears should prove the diminution of the baboon's—nay, seek not to prevaricate, for, by the beard of Aesculapius! there is not one hair in this periwig that will not stand up in judgment to convict thee of personal abuse. Do but observe, captain, how this pitiful little fellow has copied the very curls—the colour, indeed, is different, but then the form and foretop are quite similar." While he thus remonstrated in a strain of vociferation, a venerable senator ...
— The Adventures of Roderick Random • Tobias Smollett

... tent is pitched, our friends are employed in unpacking the guns, and, after some hours have elapsed, the trackers return: they have found the herd, and the watchers are left to observe them. ...
— The Rifle and The Hound in Ceylon • Samuel White Baker

... Travellers from Point de Galle to Colombo, in driving through the long succession of gardens and plantations of coco-nuts which the road traverses throughout its entire extent, will not fail to observe fruit-trees of different kinds, round the stem of which a band of leaves has been fastened by the owner. This is to denote that the tree has been devoted to a demon; and sometimes to Vishnu or the Kattregam dewol. ...
— Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and • James Emerson Tennent

... Brahmin saw that I had overcome my first surprise, and had acquired somewhat of his own composure, he manifested a disposition to beguile the time with conversation. "Look through the telescope," said he, "a little from the sun, and observe the continent of Africa, which is presenting itself to our view." I took a hasty glance over it, and perceived that its northern edge was fringed with green; then a dull white belt marked the great Sahara, or Desert, and then it exhibited a deep ...
— A Voyage to the Moon • George Tucker

... this story and "The Birth Mark" becomes apparent when we observe that the termination of one is simply a variation upon the last scene of the other. In one instance a beautiful daughter is sacrificed by her father, and in the other a lovely wife is victimized by her husband. There have been thousands, if ...
— The Life and Genius of Nathaniel Hawthorne • Frank Preston Stearns

... from which to observe them is on Fern Ledge. For some time after moonrise, at time of high water, the arc has a span of about five hundred feet, and is set upright; one end planted in the boiling spray at the bottom, the other in the edge ...
— The Yosemite • John Muir

... trade, the purchase and bringing the poor negroes from their native land, and subjecting them to a state of perpetual bondage, the most cruel and oppressive, in which the English nation is so deeply engaged, and which with additional sorrow we observe to be greatly increasing in their northern colonies, and likely still more to increase by the acquisition the English have lately made of the factories on the river Senegal. I herewith send thee some small treatises lately ...
— The Journal of Negro History, Volume 2, 1917 • Various

... blood. Thus Homer, when he calls Meriones a dancer, is not disparaging him, but paying him a compliment: his dancing fame, it seems, had spread not only throughout the Greek world, but even into the camp of his enemies, the Trojans, who would observe, no doubt, on the field of battle that agility and grace of movement which he had acquired as a dancer. ...
— Works, V2 • Lucian of Samosata

... fun of me, Walt," said his chum, seriously. "What I have done is nothing. It's just noting little things and putting two and two together. You can easily do the same if you will train yourself to observe things closely." ...
— The Boy Chums in the Forest - or Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades • Wilmer M. Ely

... eye had caught sight of something else. "A good deal dinner in dis tree," said he, and he made the white men observe some slight scratches on the bark. "Possum claws go up tree." Then he showed them that there were no marks with the claw reversed, a clear proof the animal had not come down. ...
— It Is Never Too Late to Mend • Charles Reade

... near Longtown, to a friend, Mr. William Kier, of Milholm, that the river "Enzaddi" was frequented by Portuguese, who found the stream still as large as near the mouth, after ascending 600 miles. It is useful to observe how these distances are obtained. The slave-touters for the Liverpool and other dealers used, we are told, to march one month up country, and take two to return. Thirty days multiplied by twenty miles per diem give 600 miles. I ...
— Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2 • Richard F. Burton

... of the woods has guided my footsteps to this blessed spot," declared Don. "The last inn which I passed—observe my selection of the word, passed—known, I believe, as the 'Pig and Something-or-other,' is fully three sunny miles behind me. From the arid and dusty path below I observed the siphon on ...
— The Orchard of Tears • Sax Rohmer

... engaged in making horse-shoes on cold anvils in preparation for the launch of "The Adriatica." On extreme R. enter Antonio, who expresses commercial embarrassment by going through a sort of dumb-bell exercise on a bridge. On extreme L. enter Bassanio, Lorenzo, and Antonio, who observe, with mild surprise, that there are several other persons present, and proceed to point out objects of local interest to one another with the officious amiability of persons in the foreground of hotel advertisements. (Here a Small Boy in a box, who has an impression he is going ...
— Punch Volume 102, May 28, 1892 - or the London Charivari • Various

... pretty woman." "I am mistaken," replied she, "if she be not a very good creature. I don't know I ever took such a liking to any one on so short an acquaintance. I fancy she hath been a very spritely woman; for, if you observe, she discovers by starts a great vivacity in her countenance." "I made the same observation," cries Booth: "sure some strange misfortune hath befallen her." "A misfortune, indeed!" answered Amelia; "sure, child, you forget what Mrs. Ellison told us, that she had lost a beloved ...
— Amelia (Complete) • Henry Fielding

... to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you; and lo! I am with you alway, even unto the end ...
— Scenes in Switzerland • American Tract Society

... are pretty well known. I shall only observe now that lenient measures have had no other effect than to produce insult after insult; that the more we conceded, the higher America rose in her demands, and the more insolent she has grown. It is for this reason that I am now for the most effective and decisive measures; and am of opinion ...
— The Writings Of Thomas Paine, Complete - With Index to Volumes I - IV • Thomas Paine

... and where we would have an even chance with the infantry. I expected to see the general follow us; but he turned his horse towards the stone steps that led down the rocks from the meeting-house. As we fell back I had time to observe him. When he reached the head of the steps, the horse stopped as if afraid of the attempt. But Old Putnam knew there was no time to lose, as the dragoons were nearly upon him. So he struck his spurs into the horse's sides, and they plunged ...
— The Yankee Tea-party - Or, Boston in 1773 • Henry C. Watson

... having been battered by the ships of the Parliament under Deane, during the long civil war, this part of the castle was much more ruinous than the rest, and exhibited a great chasm, through which Mannering could observe the sea, and the little vessel (an armed lugger), which retained her station in the centre of the bay. [Footnote: The outline of the above description, as far as the supposed ruins are concerned, will be found somewhat to resemble the noble remains of Carlaverock Castle, six ...
— Guy Mannering, or The Astrologer, Complete, Illustrated • Sir Walter Scott

... for some special occasion; and no one is to have it but you, and you are to take a glass daily at eleven o'clock. Mr. Sheldon is most particular about the hour. The regularity of the thing is half the battle in these cases, he says; and I am sure if you do not observe his wishes and mine, Charlotte, it will ...
— Charlotte's Inheritance • M. E. Braddon

... and arrogant [are smitten with arrogance and blindness], and [insolently] conceive the opinion that they observe and can observe the Law by their own powers, as has been said above concerning the scholastic theologians; thence come the hypocrites ...
— The Smalcald Articles • Martin Luther

... displeased with the two of my kin whom I came to observe, and I will not dwell upon that, but, instead, will take this time to say that Dorothy Dainty and Nancy Ferris, are the two dearest children that it has been my ...
— Dorothy Dainty at the Mountains • Amy Brooks

... speech is intended to throw on the nature and growth of language, if we measure the importance of its enormous literature by the materials which it supplies to the student of ancient religions, and likewise to the historian who wishes to observe the earliest rise of the principal sciences and arts in countries beyond the influence of Aryan and Semitic civilization,—if, lastly, we take into account the important evidence which the Chinese language, reflecting, like ...
— Chips from a German Workshop - Volume IV - Essays chiefly on the Science of Language • Max Muller

... to my opponent, "you observe the actual Supreme Court of America!" He bowed to me, with a questioning raising of his eyebrows, as though he did not like to ...
— The Way of a Man • Emerson Hough

... of the stage door of the Regal Theatre, whose gilded front entrance is on the Avenue, emerged from the little glass case in which the management kept him, and came out to observe life and its phenomena with an indulgent eye. Mac was feeling happy this morning. His job was a permanent one, not influenced by the success or failure of the productions which followed one another at the theatre throughout the year; but he felt, nevertheless, a sort of proprietary interest in ...
— A Damsel in Distress • Pelham Grenville Wodehouse

... bustle and animation prevailed, and there were people and things to see and observe in endless variety. The fish market was full of finny monsters of the deep, all new and strange to us, whose odd Brazilian names would convey to a stranger but little idea of the fish themselves. There was an enormous rock fish, weighing about ...
— Celebrated Women Travellers of the Nineteenth Century • W. H. Davenport Adams

... responded the Vizier, as he bowed. "But if I dared venture it, I might assert that your Highness looks almost as handsome when a stork, as when a Caliph. But suppose, if it be pleasing to you, that we observe and listen to our comrades, to see, if ...
— The Oriental Story Book - A Collection of Tales • Wilhelm Hauff

... such speculations, he arrived at his father's house. Here he was surprised, bewildered, almost shocked, to observe a new and handsome farm-house in place of the old one. On looking farther on, however, he did detect the ancient habitation of his family, in its original site; but it seemed, from the distance where he stood, to be falling into ruins. His whole race must either ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction, Vol. 12, - Issue 331, September 13, 1828 • Various

... authority of his father submitted peaceably to the new Protector. Their motives were explained by Baxter, the most eminent among the Presbyterian ministers, in an address to Richard which announced his adhesion. "I observe," he says, "that the nation generally rejoice in your peaceable entrance upon the government. Many are persuaded that you have been strangely kept from participating in any of our late bloody contentions, that God might make you the healer of our breaches, and employ you ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 11 • Various

... the folks in Taunton were to be added to London,' said Sir Gervas, 'no one there would observe that there ...
— Micah Clarke - His Statement as made to his three Grandchildren Joseph, - Gervas and Reuben During the Hard Winter of 1734 • Arthur Conan Doyle

... beauty, observe that the love of colour is a leading element, his healthy mind being incapable of losing, under any modern false teaching, its joy in brilliancy of hue. ... In general, if he does not mean to say much about things, the one character which he ...
— The Lady of the Lake • Sir Walter Scott

... weaken, Should he prove of little service To deliver from misfortune, To deliver from these evils, Then may Ukko be our healer, Be our strength and wise Physician. "Omnipresent God of mercy, Thou who livest in the heavens, Hasten hither, thou art needed, Hasten to thine ailing children, To observe their cruel tortures, To dispel these fell diseases, Drive destruction from our borders. Bring with thee thy mighty fire-sword, Bring to me thy blade of lightning, That I may subdue these evils, That these monsters I may banish, Send ...
— The Kalevala (complete) • John Martin Crawford, trans.

... Craig gasped to observe the list of world-famous men marked for destruction in London, Paris, Berlin, Rome, Vienna, St. Petersburg, and even in ...
— The War Terror • Arthur B. Reeve

... murmurings they proceeded to loud and angry complaints. Perdiccas was not their king, they said, to lord it over them in that imperious manner. He was nothing but the tutor of their kings, and they would not submit to any insolence from him. Perdiccas was soon quite alarmed to observe the degree of dissatisfaction which he had awakened, and the violence of the form which it seemed to be assuming. He changed his tone, and attempted to soothe and conciliate the minds of his men. He at length succeeded so far as to restore some degree of order and discipline ...
— Pyrrhus - Makers of History • Jacob Abbott

... she fed on the leaves of a mulberry-tree which grew in her yard. As during her youth she had been taught to spin, she unwound her cocoons, and made beautiful silk thread, with which she knitted elegant silk stockings as gifts to her friends. If you are successful in procuring worms, observe their habits carefully, and write about them to the Post-office Box ...
— Harper's Young People, August 31, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various

... down beside Rose to turn and talk over the pictures for a long and pleasant hour. But when they went away to lunch, if there had been anyone to observe so small but significant a trifle, good St. Francis lay face downward behind the sofa, while gallant St. Martin ...
— Rose in Bloom - A Sequel to "Eight Cousins" • Louisa May Alcott

... conform to rule; accommodate oneself to, adapt oneself to; rub off corners. be regular &c. adj.; move in a groove; follow observe the rules, go by the rules, bend to the rules ,obey the rules, obey the precedents; comply with, tally with, chime in with, fall in with; be guided by, be regulated by; fall into a custom,fall into a usage; ...
— Roget's Thesaurus

... the message which President Monroe sent to Congress on December 2, 1823, can fail to observe that the paragraphs which have an enduring significance as declarations of policy are anticipated in the masterly state papers of the Secretary of State. Alluding to the differences with Russia in the Pacific Northwest, ...
— Jefferson and his Colleagues - A Chronicle of the Virginia Dynasty, Volume 15 In The - Chronicles Of America Series • Allen Johnson

... me, in revising my volumes, to observe how much paper is wasted in confutation. Whoever considers the revolutions of learning, and the various questions of greater or less importance, upon which wit and reason have exercised their powers, must lament the unsuccessfulness of enquiry, ...
— Eighteenth Century Essays on Shakespeare • D. Nichol Smith

... lady- love, who was older than he and who might be married, to whom he swore ever to be devoted, even though he married some one else. He also learned to rhyme, [18] to make songs, sing, dance, play the harp, and observe the ceremonials of the Church. Girls were given this instruction along with the boys, but naturally their training placed its emphasis upon household duties, service, good manners, conversational ...
— THE HISTORY OF EDUCATION • ELLWOOD P. CUBBERLEY

... is very great, William, as I will explain to you; but I must first observe, that it has been the custom to say that man is governed by reason, and animals by instinct, alone. This is an error. Man has instinct as well as reason; and animals, although chiefly governed by instinct, have ...
— Masterman Ready - The Wreck of the "Pacific" • Captain Frederick Marryat

... nothing, as I assert nothing, but I accept present-day facts, and desire to make such compromise with them as shall clear the way for whatever forms of home and industrial life shall evolve from them most naturally and simply. We may observe with satisfaction and hopefulness that the primitive collection of unrelated industries which have so long lingered in the home to the detriment of both and which have confused our thoughts as to which were the essential and permanent, and which the merely accidental and temporary ...
— The Trade Union Woman • Alice Henry

... Mrs. Irwin were also in the city, where they were lodged in the Charing Cross Hotel. Although the city was packed to a most alarming degree and the military situation was decidedly critical, Heideck did not anywhere observe ...
— The Coming Conquest of England • August Niemann

... aloud: 'A prime fire in the smoking-room, I see; I shall treat myself to a whiff there presently.' This said, the shining face vanished, in order, I doubted not, that its owner might confer with the young girl who had been inquiring for him. This Lee, I must observe, had no legal right to the prefix of doctor tacked to his name. He was merely a peripatetic quack-salver and vender of infallible medicines, who, having wielded the pestle in an apothecary's shop for some years during his youth, had acquired a little skill in the use of drugs, and could open ...
— Chambers's Edinburgh Journal, No. 431 - Volume 17, New Series, April 3, 1852 • Various

... themselves with that political party to which the local nabobs belong. "What will people say?" is to them the all- important problem. They have followed some old bell weather or lead-gander into the wire-grass pasture of Respectabilia. They observe all the proprieties—at least in outward appearance. These are the animals whose vis inertia perpetuates all the abuses of wealth and power— whatsoever has the approval of two or more generations of infamous rascals is so ...
— Volume 12 of Brann The Iconoclast • William Cowper Brann

... interruption and proceeding in the same earnest, deliberate tone. "He has worked hard and faithfully, and needs a good rest. The trip, however, is not to be an entirely profitless one, for while in England I shall take him to visit some of the finest tanneries, that he may observe other methods for doing the same things that we are ...
— The Story of Leather • Sara Ware Bassett

... order to meet deficiencies arising from the act that older and inferior risks pay less than cost, they will either not enter, or, if members, will speedily desert and join an institution which is on a sounder and more equitable basis. No institution can be permanently successful which does not observe equity. I have no hesitation in saying that every assessment or corporation company which violates this fundamental law of nature by not making its rates of assessment increase with the age of the individuals insured, is doomed, and that disaster and wreck is only a question ...
— The Bay State Monthly, Volume 3, No. 6 • Various

... them thither and carry thence at their pleasure. The people of the aforesaid Commonwealth shall enjoy the same liberty in the kingdoms, dominions, and territories of the Queen and kingdom of Sweden, but upon condition that they shall observe the respective laws, ordinances, and particular rights of both nations, and of those ...
— A Journal of the Swedish Embassy in the Years 1653 and 1654, Vol II. • Bulstrode Whitelocke

... Napoleon's reclamations against the decision of the English government, it may probably suffice now to observe—1st, that that government had never, at any period, acknowledged him as Emperor of France, and that it refused to be a party to the treaty under which he retired to Elba, simply because it was resolved not to acknowledge him as Emperor of Elba. These things Napoleon well knew; and as ...
— The History of Napoleon Buonaparte • John Gibson Lockhart

... eyes as much as possible. But that the millionaire's daughter had made a hit on the occasion of her first call was plain. Not only had Mother been favorably impressed, but even the practical and unromantic Dorinda's shell was dented. She deigned to observe that the young lady seemed to have "consider'ble common-sense, considerin' her bringin' up." This, from Dorinda, was high praise, and I wondered what the caller had said or done to win such a triumph. ...
— The Rise of Roscoe Paine • Joseph C. Lincoln

... point other than the torch, and only to the torch after it has a welding or cutting nozzle attached. Never use a lighted match, lamp, candle, lantern, cigar or any open flame near a generator. Failure to observe these precautions is liable to endanger life ...
— Oxy-Acetylene Welding and Cutting • Harold P. Manly

... literature, we see the finger of the Revolution, and of that egoism which makes the passions of the individual his own law. Let us condemn and pass on, homily undelivered. If Byron injured the domestic idea on this side, let us not fail to observe how vastly he elevated it on others, and how, above all, he pointed to the idea above and beyond it, in whose light only can that be worthy, the idea of a country and a public cause. A man may be sure that the comfort of the hearth has usurped too high a place, when he can read without response ...
— Critical Miscellanies, Vol. I - Essay 3: Byron • John Morley

... forms. It may be a weakness on my part; at least I will hope it is a reverent one: but till we can find something corresponding to what we conceive of the Divine Mind in any class of phenomena, it is perhaps better not to talk about them at all, but observe a stoic "epoche," waiting for more light, and yet confessing that our own laughter is uncontrollable, and therefore we hope not unworthy of us, at many a strange creature and strange doing which we meet, from the highest ...
— Glaucus; or The Wonders of the Shore • Charles Kingsley

... down when Cousin Dempster said this, and not having anything to observe, I said nothing, but got right up, ...
— Phemie Frost's Experiences • Ann S. Stephens

... we swear faithfully to observe our agreements, and not to rest till the sacred places be secure from enemies, may they be destroyed by hunger, ...
— The Pharaoh and the Priest - An Historical Novel of Ancient Egypt • Boleslaw Prus

... and Knorr, Baron von Rosenroth, author of the Kabbala Denudata, in the course of the seventeenth century "endeavoured to spread the Cabala among the Christians by translating Cabalistic works which they regarded as most ancient wisdom." "Most of them," the Jewish Encyclopaedia goes on to observe derisively, "held the absurd idea that the Cabala contained proofs of the truth of Christianity.... Much that appears Christian [in the Cabala] is, in fact, nothing but the logical development of certain ...
— Secret Societies And Subversive Movements • Nesta H. Webster

... line of Black marching thus against White strikes White first upon some one corner of his square. Suppose that corner to be corner A. Then the position when contact is established and the first serious fighting begins is what you will observe in the above diagram. A is the corner (now spread out for fighting) ...
— A General Sketch of the European War - The First Phase • Hilaire Belloc

... James's court[45]: it was a dusky night: I could not prevent his being assailed by the evening effluvia of Edinburgh. I heard a late baronet, of some distinction in the political world in the beginning of the present reign, observe, that 'walking the streets of Edinburgh at night was pretty perilous, and a good deal odoriferous.' The peril is much abated, by the care which the magistrates have taken to enforce the city laws against throwing foul water from the windows[46]; but from the ...
— Life Of Johnson, Volume 5 • Boswell

... the invitation, and at six o'clock landed in his boat and met Raymond and his partners, who had just finished the day's work and were on their way to the house. On the verandah they were received by the ladies, and Mrs. Marston was glad to observe that the Italian took her outstretched hand without any trace of embarrassment, asked if her baby was thriving, and then greeted Mrs. Raymond, who said she was glad to see him looking so well, and wished ...
— John Frewen, South Sea Whaler - 1904 • Louis Becke

... men. There is the same stress upon individualistic portraiture in Irving's Astoria; in the humorous journals of early travellers in the Southern States. It is the secret of the curiosity with which we observe the gamblers and miners and stage-drivers described by Bret Harte. In the rural communities of to-day, in the older portions of the country, and in the remoter settlements of the West and Southwest, the individual man has a sort of picturesque, ...
— The American Mind - The E. T. Earl Lectures • Bliss Perry

... in with me, and found the people praying and rejoicing; but, as I expected, far too much absorbed to observe ...
— From Death into Life - or, twenty years of my ministry • William Haslam

... the Eastern States, who long ago have abolished slavery, did not approve of the expression slaves; they therefore used another that answered the same purpose. The committee will observe the distinction between the two words migration and importation. The first part of the clause will extend to persons who come into the country as free people, or are brought as slaves, but the last part extends to slaves only. The word migration refers to free persons; ...
— The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus • American Anti-Slavery Society

... It's certain to tell on his singing— You can't do the proper chromatics With proper emphatics When anguish your bosom is wringing! When distracted with worries in plenty, And his pulse is a hundred and twenty, And his fluttering bosom the slave of mistrust is, A tenor can't do himself justice, Now observe—(sings a high note), You see, I can't do myself justice! I could sing if my fervour were mock, It's easy enough if you're acting— But when one's emotion Is born of devotion You mustn't be over-exacting. One ought to be firm as a rock To venture a shake in vibrato, When fervour's expected ...
— The Complete Plays of Gilbert and Sullivan - The 14 Gilbert And Sullivan Plays • William Schwenk Gilbert and Arthur Sullivan

... inaccessible ravines. But wary though it be, one characteristic lures it to destruction—curiosity. A European hunter in his unfamiliar dress is an irresistible attraction; nearer and nearer it comes, hopping from branch to branch, pausing at every step to observe and study the intruder, with neck stretched and wings flapping, every moment uttering a peculiar cry, no doubt equivalent to "Come and look!" for it brings others upon the scene, till the pretty sight is rudely ended by a shot and a death-wound. The cry ...
— In Nesting Time • Olive Thorne Miller

... being chaste, and tolerably harmonious, and the story told with perspicuity and conciseness. It seems to have cost great labour, both to Mr. Pope and Parnell himself, to bring it to this perfection.* It may not be amiss to observe that the fable is taken from one of Dr. ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of Oliver Goldsmith • Oliver Goldsmith

... observe, does not attach so much importance to the prediction of future events; for instance, the prophecies of Lichtenberger, Joachim and others in these latter times. Such predictions, though they may gratify the curiosity ...
— Epistle Sermons, Vol. II - Epiphany, Easter and Pentecost • Martin Luther

... of light is eighty thousand leagues a second; one ray of the Milky Way takes six centuries to reach us; so that a star at the moment we observe it may have disappeared. Several are intermittent; others never come back; and they change positions. Every one of them is in motion; every one of them ...
— Bouvard and Pecuchet - A Tragi-comic Novel of Bourgeois Life • Gustave Flaubert

... Truffles are not only used "like mushrooms," but for stuffing game and poultry, especially in France: who does not remember the perdrixaux truffes, of the Parisian carte. The chapter on coffee, cacao, tea, and sugar, is brief but entertaining. We may observe, by the way, that one of the obstacles to the profitable cultivation of tea in this country is our ignorance of the modes of drying, &c. as ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Vol. 19, Issue 546, May 12, 1832 • Various

... need not depend upon non-mammalian evidence for either the secretory explanation or the dual basis. An ideal case would be to observe the effects of circulating the blood of one sex in a developing embryo of the other. This blood-transfusion occurs in nature in the ...
— Taboo and Genetics • Melvin Moses Knight, Iva Lowther Peters, and Phyllis Mary Blanchard

... Protectors, which are, intrusively, printed among Milton's works, are but one hundred and thirty-seven in all. This number is spread over ten years, being at the rate of about fourteen per year; most of them are very short. For the purposes of a biography of Milton, it is sufficient to observe, that the dignified attitude which the Commonwealth took up towards foreign powers lost none of its elevation in being conveyed in Miltonic Latin. Whether satisfaction for the murder of an envoy is to be extorted from the arrogant court of Madrid, or an apology is to be offered ...
— Milton • Mark Pattison

... luminous; and it is painful to observe that the man who was abject, and the man who was lucky, were the two selected for mercy. What proportion had previously been dismissed, is not said. The affair occasioned much discussion, as we ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Vol. 56, No. 346, August, 1844 • Various

... time by opening negotiations for a peaceful settlement (27th Oct.). Two messengers were dispatched to submit their grievances to the king, and it was agreed that until an answer should be received both parties should observe the truce. The king met the demands for the maintenance of the old faith, the restoration of the liberties of the Church, and the dismissal of ministers like Cromwell by a long explanation and defence of his political and religious policy, and the messengers returned to announce that the Duke ...
— History of the Catholic Church from the Renaissance • Rev. James MacCaffrey

... would have his work to be permanently useful; if he would aim at any particular employment of his hymns, he must observe the conditions which such an aim implies. A translator who aims at the use of his work in public worship, must aim at pellucid simplicity both of phraseology and of structure; and if they are to be widely, permanently, or deservedly popular, they must be gifted with becoming grace. This cannot ...
— Hymns from the East - Being Centos and Suggestions from the Office Books of the - Holy Eastern Church • John Brownlie

... depression and sadness, groaning under the wrath of Jehovah, who had rejected His people and cancelled His covenant. They were lying under a sort of vast interdict; they could not celebrate any sacrifice or keep any feast; they could only observe days of fasting and humiliation, and such rites as had no inseparable connection with the holy land. The observance of the Sabbath, and the practice of the rite of circumcision, acquired much greater importance than they formerly possessed as signs of a common religion. The ...
— Prolegomena to the History of Israel • Julius Wellhausen

... the Koltchak Government could be seen in the orderly management of affairs connected with the railway and supplies generally. Not till we reached Kameragh could we observe any sign that there still remained unextinguished embers of the social inferno through which the country had passed. At this point the line was guarded by a strong detachment of troops quartered in trucks on the siding. The ...
— With the "Die-Hards" in Siberia • John Ward

... Faust, reclining in an invalid's chair, is wheeled into the room by the butler. He is clad in a long dressing-gown; he is very pale. The butler, after placing the chair before the fireplace, goes out. Brander remains doubtfully in the background; Faust does not observe ...
— Mr. Faust • Arthur Davison Ficke

... is, as sure's a gun, Poor, silly body, see him; Nae wonder he's as black's the grun— Observe wha's ...
— The Humourous Poetry of the English Language • James Parton

... view, there surely can be nothing more justly reprehensible or disgusting than the extravagant finery of many country people's daughters. It hath not been at all uncommon to observe as much gauze, lace and other trappings, on one of those country maidens as hath employed two or three of her father's slaves, for twelve months afterwards, to raise tobacco to pay for. Tis an ungrateful reflexion that all this frippery and effected ...
— The Journal of Negro History, Vol. I. Jan. 1916 • Various

... with the fleet under his command at Misenum.[141] On the 24th of August, about one in the afternoon, my mother desired him to observe a cloud which appeared of a very unusual size and shape. He had just taken a turn in the sun, and, after bathing himself in cold water, and making a light luncheon, gone back to his books: he immediately ...
— The Best of the World's Classics, Restricted to prose. Volume II (of X) - Rome • Various

... I ventured to observe to the doctor with whom I was conversing that it would be better for them if they died under the anaesthetic. The surgeon reproved me, and inquired whether I was one of those people who thought that all born cripples ought to be put out of their ...
— The Dangerous Age • Karin Michaelis



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