"Why" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... about it, father. Why should I leave a poor dog to drown when it will only cost a ducking at the worst? You know I can swim like a cork, and I ain't ...
— The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands • R.M. Ballantyne
... cried Mrs. Makely. "I won't let you say such a thing! On Thanksgiving-day, too! Why, there is the Thanksgiving dinner itself! If that isn't purely American, I should like ...
— Through the Eye of the Needle - A Romance • W. D. Howells
... costume for men who have no particular uniform is regulation evening dress, which they are obliged to wear all day. They become so tired of it that this is the reason, they tell me, why so many men, even in smart society, go to the opera or even dinners in frock-coats. One one occasion a most intelligent man said to me, "I am told that in America the ladies always wear decollete costumes at dinners, and the men ...
— As Seen By Me • Lilian Bell
... an unrighteous decree. He may judge partially; I know nothing of the matter. If it was, is not the wound given to his honour sufficiently severe? But even if it was just, should not a discarded officer be immediately paid? Should not congress demand the reason why the prize-money has not been paid to those to whom it has been long due? Complaints of this kind have to my knowledge spread from Philadelphia to Boston. I am concerned for the honour of congress. These complaints ...
— The Original Writings of Samuel Adams, Volume 4 • Samuel Adams
... "Why should he care," said Amabel simply. "One can't help thinking things. If it happened he would be ...
— The Head of the House of Coombe • Frances Hodgson Burnett
... Young, Chronicler, p. 198. Bradford says (op. cit. Mass. ed, pp. 120, 121): "The reason on their parts why she stayed so long was ye necessitie and danger that lay upon them, for it was well toward ye ende of December before she could land anything here, or they able to receive anything ashore. After wards, ye 14 of January the house which they had made for a general randevoze by casulty fell ...
— The Mayflower and Her Log, Complete • Azel Ames
... for England), to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey. The arms for Guernsey now differ only from those of Jersey in being surmounted by a sprig of laurel, or another plant. It is not, however, stated why or when this sprig was conferred. ...
— The Coinages of the Channel Islands • B. Lowsley
... remains which demands a word before tracing briefly the subsequent fate of the Jay treaty, and that is, to know exactly why the President signed it. The answer is fortunately not difficult. There was a choice of evils. When Washington determined to send a special envoy, he said: "My objects are, to prevent a war, if justice can be ...
— George Washington, Vol. II • Henry Cabot Lodge
... with what awe we regard the name of Timothy Pitkin, and know that he lived to read through that vast folio—the first ever printed in America—the "Complete Body of Divinity," a folio of over nine hundred double-columned, compactly printed pages! And yet, why should not Timothy Pitkin live through reading it when Samuel Willard lived through writing it? Entries of dates in old Bibles frequently show that those sainted old Christians had read entirely through that holy book ...
— Customs and Fashions in Old New England • Alice Morse Earle
... There were several reasons why this was desirable. Neither Clemens nor his wife was in good health. Both of them were troubled with rheumatism, and a council of physicians had agreed that Mrs. Clemens had some disturbance of the heart. The death of Charles L. Webster in April—the ...
— Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete - The Personal And Literary Life Of Samuel Langhorne Clemens • Albert Bigelow Paine
... at school," said Mrs. Haddo, "just as there is discipline in life. What miserable people we should be without discipline! Why, we couldn't get on at all. I am not going to lecture you to-day. As a matter of fact, I never lecture; and I never expect any young girl to do in my school what I would not endeavor to do myself. Above all things, I wish to impress one thing upon ...
— Betty Vivian - A Story of Haddo Court School • L. T. Meade
... any orphan children in the place, it would seem to be very proper to devote the moderate sum bequeathed to educating them. The trustees recognized the justice of this suggestion. Why not apply it to the instruction and maintenance of those two pretty and promising children, virtually orphans, whom the charitable Mrs. Hopkins had cared for so long without any recompense, and at a cost ...
— The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (The Physician and Poet not the Jurist)
... dainties, his eyes with the most beautiful sculptures and delicate paintings, and clothes himself in the finest and richest apparel; and tell me if all these do not fall to his lot who had not any the least share in producing all these conveniences, nor the least ability so to do? Why then should the state of a prig[Footnote: A thief.] differ from all others? Or why should you, who are the labourer only, the executor of my scheme, expect a share in the profit? Be advised, therefore; deliver the whole booty to me, and trust to my bounty ...
— The History of the Life of the Late Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great • Henry Fielding
... enemy prevent another from killing us?" Emmett repeated wonderingly. He remembered another question that had nagged at his mind: Why had the Agronians totally destroyed Earth? Why hadn't they eliminated Earthmen and preserved the planet for exploitation—as a colony, a military base, any one of ...
— No Hiding Place • Richard R. Smith
... know what he will do next. You can only judge him by the things he doesn't do. For instance, there's been a rumour floating about lately that he has just gone into a Tibetan monastery. Heaven knows who started it and why. But it is absolutely untrue. It is the sort of thing that couldn't be true of a man of his temperament. Don't you agree with me? Or perhaps you didn't know him very well, and don't ...
— The Way of an Eagle • Ethel M. Dell
... beginning to learn that they are killing the goose which lays the golden eggs. The commercialized short story writer has less enthusiasm in writing for editors nowadays. The "movies" have captured him. Why write stories when scenarios are not only much less exhausting, but actually more remunerative? The literary tradesman is peddling his wares in other and wider markets, and the artistic craftsman ...
— The Best Short Stories of 1915 - And the Yearbook of the American Short Story • Various
... pleased at what had occurred. Why? It was not because such a scene was at all new to him. No; he had often witnessed such, and was no longer curious upon that head. It was something more than mere curiosity that moved Guapo. When the ...
— Popular Adventure Tales • Mayne Reid
... fool after all," spoke up Sir Launcelot. "Truly Dagonet, I often wonder at you. For here is what is in Dagonet's mind. Since the weasel comes after us and leaves his home empty, why not go to the ...
— In the Court of King Arthur • Samuel Lowe
... the Lord Deputy demanded more troops, "until the intended plantation should be settled." He could not see why the people should object to what was so very much for their own good, and never allowed himself to think that the disturbance had anything to do with the land question. The new proprietors were of the same opinion. Those who were or who feared to be dispossessed, ...
— An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800 • Mary Frances Cusack
... said Lorraine, in a low voice; "I know why they come to us here in France—Monsieur Marche, did I not tell you that day ...
— Lorraine - A romance • Robert W. Chambers
... present system, for instance, Pennsylvania and Texas have the same representation in a National Democratic Convention that they have in a National Republican Convention, although one is usually Republican in National elections and the other Democratic. And why should not the representation from those States be the same in both conventions? Why should Texas, because it is believed to be safely Democratic, have more power and influence in a Democratic Convention on that account ...
— The Facts of Reconstruction • John R. Lynch
... existence of any other arrangement. And as the odds are equally great against all—seeing that some arrangement must exist—there can be no logical value in using the argument against one arrangement in particular. The same question, "Why this arrangement and none other?" might arise in ...
— Theism or Atheism - The Great Alternative • Chapman Cohen
... relates an amusing illustration. Happening one morning to rise at an earlier hour than usual, he observed his servant-girl putting an extravagant quantity of paper into the grate, in order to light the fire, and he mildly checked her for her wastefulness: "La! sir," replied Nanny; "why, ...
— Books and Authors - Curious Facts and Characteristic Sketches • Anonymous
... "And why need one always explain? Some feelings are quite untranslatable. No language has yet been found for them. They gleam upon us beautifully through the dim twilight of fancy, and yet, when we bring them close to us, and hold them up to the light of reason, lose ...
— Hyperion • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
... "Why did he act like that?" whispered Miss Barrison. And, after a moment: "How still it is! Where have ...
— In Search of the Unknown • Robert W. Chambers
... '"Now, why has he grown so tender of his men of a sudden?" said Hugh to me; for Fulke had no name for mercy to his men. Plunder he gave ...
— Puck of Pook's Hill • Rudyard Kipling
... why he was there, he would very likely have said, "To see the world." It was a world worth seeing. The prospect might be limited to a dull eye, but not to this lad, who loved to climb this height, ...
— Baddeck and That Sort of Thing • Charles Dudley Warner
... the Barbarian cohorts soon arrived with the insignia of their rank, and in the armour of their nation. Night had fallen, a great tumult was spreading throughout the plain; fires were burning here and there; and the soldiers kept going from one to another asking what the matter was, and why the Suffet did not distribute ...
— Salammbo • Gustave Flaubert
... hear such good words, for that this iron age affords few that esteem of virtue; returned him thankful gratulations and (urged by necessity) uttered his present grief, beseeching his advice how he might be employed. 'Why, easily,' quoth he, 'and greatly to your benefit: for men of my profession get by scholars their whole living.' 'What is your profession?' said Roberto. 'Truly, sir,' said he, 'I am a player.' 'A player!' quoth Roberto. 'I took you rather ...
— A History of English Literature - Elizabethan Literature • George Saintsbury
... not allowed to see you before leaving? Did you fear that the parting would kill me? Be reassured. I do not suffer—I think of you—I think of the time when I was dear to you. Nay, you love me yet, I know it. But why so cruelly drive me away? Say one word, and I return like the lightning. Ah, these babblings are but flung into empty air. I shall live and die far away from you—I have lost you ...
— The World's Greatest Books, Vol VII • Various
... "Why, it's enormous," said Lucille. "I didn't know Mr. Wheeler ever painted pictures that size. When you said it was one of his, I thought it must be the original of a magazine drawing ...
— Indiscretions of Archie • P. G. Wodehouse
... not an obstacle to my projects," continued Mademoiselle Thuillier; "but it serves to explain why I ask for Celeste a little more time; and also why I have wished all along to postpone the marriage to a later date. I wanted to give you time to insinuate yourself into the heart of my dear little girl—but you and Thuillier upset ...
— The Lesser Bourgeoisie • Honore de Balzac
... an evident propriety in calling all who believe in the final holiness and happiness of all mankind, Universalists. There appears no good reason why those who believe in a limited punishment, in the future state, should have a less or a greater claim to be called Universalists, than those who entertain a hope that all sin and misery end when the functions of life cease in the mortal body. As they both ...
— The Book of Religions • John Hayward
... place may be a regular lead hail storm, soon," added Roger. "I can't see why our company was held up! Why couldn't we keep on giving ...
— The Khaki Boys Over the Top - Doing and Daring for Uncle Sam • Gordon Bates
... to ask me to lock up, Miss Rachel!" she quavered. "Why, there's a dozen French windows in the drawing-room and the billiard-room wing, and every one opens on a porch. And Mary Anne said that last night there was a man standing by the stable when she locked ...
— The Circular Staircase • Mary Roberts Rinehart
... on the persuasion of his friends, to take a house of his own, and gave notice of his intention of leaving, the landlord, who had but recently entered into possession, almost stood aghast. "What! leave the house!" said he; "Why, Sir, I have just paid 750L. for you!" On explanation it appeared that this price had actually been paid by him to the outgoing landlord, on the assumption that Mr. Telford was a fixture of the hotel; the previous tenant having paid 450L. ...
— The Life of Thomas Telford by Smiles • Samuel Smiles
... in Africa marvels why men, who, as Dahome shows, can affect a tasteful simplicity, will make themselves such "guys." When looking at these caricatures, he is tempted to read (literally) learned Montesquieu, "It is hardly to be believed that God, who is a wise being, should place a soul, especially a good soul, in such ...
— Two Trips to Gorilla Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Volume 2 • Richard F. Burton
... Golden Birch Villa, Streatham, S.E., was simply chaos—that is the mildest and easiest way of explaining the matter to begin with. One word suffices—Chaos. It will take a great many words to explain why my little suburban retreat, on which I had prided myself for so many years of my bachelor life, was a mass of conglomerated wreckage. I will be as brief as I can. I am not a prolix man; I know the value of time, and of other people's ...
— The Idler Magazine, Volume III, March 1893 - An Illustrated Monthly • Various
... said, "that is why I came to Africa—that is why I want to make money. I do not mind confessing to a low greed of gain, because I think I have the best motive that a man can have ...
— With Edged Tools • Henry Seton Merriman
... ground," said Henry, "it's sheer vanity that makes you say so. You know your faults are just big enough to be beauty-spots, and that's why you'd ...
— Dr. Heidenhoff's Process • Edward Bellamy
... him. Then said Azadbakht to him (and his words were words of anger and the speech of the youth was reverent and well-bred), "I bought thee with my money and looked for fidelity from thee, wherefore I chose thee over all my Grandees and Pages and made thee Keeper of my treasuries. Why, then, hast thou outraged mine honour and entered my house and played traitor with me and tookest thou no thought of all I have done thee of benefits?" Replied the youth, "O king, I did this not of my choice and freewill and I had no business in being there; but, of the lack of my luck, I ...
— Supplemental Nights, Volume 1 • Richard F. Burton
... "Why should I? Perhaps its young ones are in this room, and would starve. Am I to lie here and listen to the screaming of hungry babies? No, thank you! Come in, ...
— In Midsummer Days and Other Tales • August Strindberg
... earth will make them so. The Colony's resources are, consequently, not a quarter developed, and are not likely to be by a strict application of the theory of the "Philippines for the Filipinos." But why worry about their lethargy, if, with it, they are on the way to "perfect contentment"?—that summit of human happiness which no one attains. Ideal government may reach a point where its exactions tend to make life a ...
— The Philippine Islands • John Foreman
... this evening,' she explained, 'and that's why I can come out. He is only gone for a few hours, nor is he likely to go for longer just yet. He keeps himself a good deal in my company, which has made it unsafe for me to venture ...
— Two on a Tower • Thomas Hardy
... greatest liberty and love. This day according to order, Sir Arthur [Haselrigge.] appeared at the House; what was done I know not, but there was all the Rumpers almost come to the House to-day. My Lord did seem to wonder much why Lambert was so willing to be put into the Tower, and thinks he had some design in it; but I think that he is so poor that he cannot use his liberty for debts, if he were at liberty; and so it is as good and better for him to be ...
— The Diary of Samuel Pepys • Samuel Pepys
... is the sinner! What absurdities does he cherish in his heart! For, in short, had the doctrines St. Paul preached to Felix been the productions of his brain:—had the thought of a future judgment been a chimera, whence proceeded the fears of Felix? Why was he so weak as to admit this panic of terror? If, on the contrary, Paul had truth and argument on his side, why did Felix send him away? Such are the contradictions of the sinner. He wishes; he revolts; he denies; ...
— The world's great sermons, Volume 3 - Massillon to Mason • Grenville Kleiser
... The reason why they gave me such a slender chance of learning to steer was this. I was quite young and raw, and steering a ship is a great art, upon which much depends; especially the making a short passage; for if ...
— Redburn. His First Voyage • Herman Melville
... "Why?" interrogate several of his confreres, in tones that express the different degrees of their familiarity with him questioned, ...
— The Death Shot - A Story Retold • Mayne Reid
... celestial Rishis, I do not think that I am without merits. Yet am I afflicted with so much sorrow that there never was a king like me. I think, however, that my enemies are destitute of good qualities and even destitute of morality. Yet why, O Lomasa, do they prosper ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 • Kisari Mohan Ganguli
... would gladden the heart of Slidell in Europe, and of every enemy of the old flag in the world. Every advocate of slavery naturally desires to see blasted and crushed the liberty promised the black man by the new constitution. But why General Canby and General Hurlbut should join on the same side is to ...
— The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Complete - Constitutional Edition • Abraham Lincoln
... see, reconciles everything. If any accident does happen, and we are discovered, why your father can do nothing to stop the match, because the match will have been already made. And, at the same time, I secure a year's delay, for the formation of her constitution, and the finishing of her accomplishments, and so forth. Besides, what an opportunity ...
— Basil • Wilkie Collins
... danger in his life, as she threatened to swing round and to crush into our waist, which would have been certain destruction. The little dandy soldier-officer behaved capitally; he turned his men up in no time, and had them all ready. He said, 'Why, you know, I must see that my fellows go down decently.' S- was as cool as an icicle, offered me my pea-jacket, &c., which I declined, as it would be of no use for me to go off in boats, even supposing there were time, ...
— Letters from the Cape • Lady Duff Gordon
... of taxes, and built it up again in one night apparently as it was before, without making the slightest noise, or leaving the least trace of their work. But they so arranged the inside of the chimney as to send all the smoke into the house. The collector suffered for two months before he found out why his chimney, which had always drawn so well, and of which he had often boasted, played him such tricks; he was then obliged to build a ...
— The Two Brothers • Honore de Balzac
... like her. Effie's very fond of her, and she seems to have a delightful influence on the child. But we know so little, after all—about her antecedents, I mean, and her past history. That's why I want you to try and recall everything you heard about her when you used to ...
— The Reef • Edith Wharton
... Sultan, "I am sure you have a good reason for not doing so, and having heard your cry of distress, I am come to offer you my help. Whose is this palace, and why is it thus empty?" ...
— The Arabian Nights Entertainments • Andrew Lang.
... though when Steuben first came, De Kalb was in Albany, yet in May they must have met more than once. How did they feel towards each other, the soldier of Frederick, and the soldier of Louis? If we had known more about this, we should have known better, perhaps, why Lafayette, a fast friend of De Kalb, speaks of the "methodic mediocrity" of Steuben, and Steuben of the "vanity and presumption" of the ...
— Choice Specimens of American Literature, And Literary Reader - Being Selections from the Chief American Writers • Benj. N. Martin
... you are my son's father; he has no relations, as you well know, on his mother's side. Why did I not consider social prejudices? Why did I yield to love? Why did I marry the natural daughter of a great lord? Charles has no family. Oh, my unhappy son! my son! Listen, Grandet! I implore nothing for myself, —besides, your property may not be large enough to carry a mortgage of ...
— Eugenie Grandet • Honore de Balzac
... suddenly turned upon Lizzie. "Why don't you speak?" she inquired half-tauntingly. ...
— Tillie: A Mennonite Maid - A Story of the Pennsylvania Dutch • Helen Reimensnyder Martin
... people of rugged character, demanding strength in books as in life, capable of appreciating strength, one sees what a stupendous opportunity for community uplift has been wasted, and one stands aghast at the folly, economic and intellectual, of the limitations imposed. Why should children alone be considered? And if they alone are to be considered why should they be fed nothing but "juvenile" literature? It is both over-emphasis and false emphasis of the most ...
— Library Work with Children • Alice I. Hazeltine
... los Monteros, Marquis de Valtierra, Captain-general of Northern Spain at Burgos and San Sebastian, was in conference with the king. King Alfonso asked the Marquis de Valtierra where in his opinion would be the proper place in France for the Spanish Ambassador. "Why," was the quick reply, "Paris, of course." "Well," said the king, "that is not the opinion of the Marquis de Villa Urrutia, but it is also my own opinion, and I have now decided to send you to Paris as my ambassador!" Consequently, ...
— Paris War Days - Diary of an American • Charles Inman Barnard
... Why is it that the moment any body wants to render you a service, or manifest some token of friendship, he commences by striking at the very root of your digestive functions? Is it not exacting a little too much ...
— The Land of Thor • J. Ross Browne
... impatiently, with the sturdy revolt against any new idea which to the English mind is synonymous with nonsense. "Why, what in the world ...
— Masterpieces of Mystery In Four Volumes - Mystic-Humorous Stories • Various
... "Why, it is Brancaccia herself! I did not know you meant that this happened to you. I thought you were telling me about other ...
— Castellinaria - and Other Sicilian Diversions • Henry Festing Jones
... he were speaking sorrowful truth. The old lady opened her bag—"There is sixpence for thee to get some food with," she said kindly, "and try and remember another time, friend, that if thee art poor thyself there is the greater reason why thee should'st feel for others ...
— Little Folks (November 1884) - A Magazine for the Young • Various
... perfectly carried out! Ah, why were you not on my side? Together, you and I, we could ...
— Three Margarets • Laura E. Richards
... be unpopular—is my physical zeal in the cause of poor dumb brutes: nor is my regard for them the less in matters metaphysical. Bishop Butler, we may all of us remember, in 'THE Analogy' argues that the objector against a man's immortality must show good cause why that which exists, should ever cease to exist; and, until that good cause be shown, the weight of probability is in favour of continual being. Now, for my part, I wish to be informed why this probability should not be extended ...
— The Complete Prose Works of Martin Farquhar Tupper • Martin Farquhar Tupper
... which still retain their distinctive existence were not enslaved in this manner, but lived apart in their own villages in the forest tracts and kept possession of the land. This seems to be the reason why they rank somewhat higher than the impure castes, even though they may utterly defile themselves according to Hindu ideas by eating cow's flesh. Some tribes, such as the Gonds, Binjhwars and Kawars, ...
— The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India—Volume I (of IV) • R.V. Russell
... One naturally exclaims, "But how stupid of her, why didn't she go up-stairs? Why didn't her son send for her?" Usually she does, or he does. But often the groom's parents are strangers; and if by temperament they are shy or retiring people they hesitate to go up-stairs in an unknown ...
— Etiquette • Emily Post
... are surely exaggerating. Why, the whole of England is not so large as that, from Land's ...
— In the High Valley - Being the fifth and last volume of the Katy Did series • Susan Coolidge
... near he took the greatest care not to make the teeniest, weeniest bit of noise. Now it just happened that early as he was, some one was before Buster Bear. When he came in sight of the little pool, who should he see but another fisherman there, who had already caught a fine fat trout. Who was it? Why, Little Joe Otter to be sure. He was just climbing up the bank with the fat trout in his mouth. Buster Bear's own mouth watered as he saw it. Little Joe sat down on the bank and prepared to enjoy his breakfast. He hadn't ...
— The Adventures of Buster Bear • Thornton W. Burgess
... learn the lesson of Arnold of Rugby. One day the great instructor spake harshly to a dull boy, who an hour afterward came to him with tearful eyes, and in a half-sobbing voice exclaimed; "But why are you angry, sir? I am doing my best." Then Arnold learned that a lesson easy for one mind may be a torture for another. So he begged the boy's pardon, and recognized the principle of gentleness that afterward made him the ...
— The Investment of Influence - A Study of Social Sympathy and Service • Newell Dwight Hillis
... that the election of Irishmen to serve in the British Parliament is treason to the Irish State. As its name implies, it desires to make use of the revival of the Irish language as a means towards the end for which it is working. It was founded in 1905. Why this Society and the United Irish League, whose objects seem identical, should be ready to fly at one another's throats, is one of the things that those who are outside the Nationalist circle cannot understand. But the Clerical ...
— Is Ulster Right? • Anonymous
... Strong. "If our plan works, we catch Coxine. If it doesn't, at least we know that the Titan pay roll is safe. That's why your job is as ...
— On the Trail of the Space Pirates • Carey Rockwell
... "I don't see why he should object in the least. If you are good enough to assist me to search for my bracelet, he surely ought to be ...
— The Czar's Spy - The Mystery of a Silent Love • William Le Queux
... least odd!" reply I, brusquely. "Why should he? He knew that I was not aware of your existence, and that therefore you would not be a very interesting subject to me; no doubt"—(smiling a little)—"I shall hear all ...
— Nancy - A Novel • Rhoda Broughton
... Buchanan, and Lincoln ran for President one of my old bosses said, 'Hurrah for Buchanan,' and I said, 'Hurrah for Lincoln.' One of my mistresses said, 'Why do you say, 'Hurrah for Lincoln?' And I said, 'Because he's goin' to ...
— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States - Volume II. Arkansas Narratives. Part I • Work Projects Administration
... work, especially of one which seems to admit little personality, for an account of the motives and aims of the workman. In following the lines of Webster's preface we discover the principles which we have already noted stated anew and with increasing confidence. He gives reasons why it had become necessary that an English dictionary should be revised to meet the exigencies of American as distinct from English life, and he says finally: "One consideration, however, which is dictated by my own feelings, but which I trust will meet with approbation in correspondent ...
— Noah Webster - American Men of Letters • Horace E. Scudder
... I made a spill of it to light my pipe. There were six men against me. Had that been found on my dead body, why, there was proof positive of our attempt, and the attempt foiled by sure safeguards. As it is, if we lie still a little while, their fears will cease and the rumour ...
— Clementina • A.E.W. Mason
... storm into one of the mouths of the Nile, called Canopic; and from thence was conducted to Proteus at Memphis, who reproached him in the strongest terms for his base perfidy and guilt, in stealing the wife of his host, and with her all the effects in his house. He added, that the only reason why he did not punish him with death (as his crime deserved) was, because the Egyptians were careful not to imbrue their hands in the blood of strangers: that he would keep Helen, with all the riches that were brought with her, in order to ...
— The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, • Charles Rollin
... officer who could not go to sleep. He was a medical case, suffering from rheumatism. But what kept him awake was the thought that he might lose his ship. There was a sailor who had fallen on his vessel, knocked four of his teeth out, and cut his head. Why he had to go to "Sick Bay" for such a trifle was beyond him. In the dark hours of the early morning one might have seen the faithful surgeon again going through his train, speaking in whispers to those who ...
— Some Naval Yarns • Mordaunt Hall
... continued, "quarrel with the poor, and the poor, by way of answer, with rich and poor alike. And rich or poor, every man reaches for more, like a child at table. That is why, William, there is poverty to-day; poverty of the heart, of the mind, ...
— Autumn • Robert Nathan
... one," remarked Will "Why don't you girls try that? It isn't as far as Triangle, and it's nearly as large. It's ...
— The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake • Laura Lee Hope
... years of age, lithe and active, and honest and pleasant-looking, as Pathans go. He had been my "boy" for some time and was much attached to me, besides having a touching faith in my prowess in shikar: probably, indeed, this was the reason why he stuck so close ...
— The Man-eaters of Tsavo and Other East African Adventures • J. H. Patterson
... in vol. lxxvi. of the 'Philosophical Transactions,' a paper on Ocular Spectra, which Wheatstone told me was a remarkable production for the period; but I believe that he was largely aided in writing it by his father. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1788. I cannot tell why my father's mind did not appear to me fitted for advancing science, for he was fond of theorising, and was incomparably the most acute observer whom I ever knew. But his powers in this direction were exercised almost wholly in the practice of medicine and in the observation ...
— Life of Charles Darwin • G. T. (George Thomas) Bettany
... relative to it ex animo, and literally. Others allow a latitude of construction. These two parties are in the Church, as well as among the Dissenters; yet in the Church we live quietly under the same roof. I do not see why, as long as Providence gives us no further light into this great mystery, we should not leave things as the Divine Wisdom has left them. But suppose all these things to me to be clear, (which Providence, however, seems to have left obscure,) yet, whilst Dissenters claim a toleration in things which, ...
— The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. VII. (of 12) • Edmund Burke
... tea, she was attentive and womanly; when she read aloud to him, she read intelligently; and in the reciting of the few lessons she did with her father, there was always no fault to find. How could the colonel suppose anything was wrong? Life had become a dull, sad story to him; why should it be different to anybody else? Nay, the colonel would not have said that in words; it was rather the supine condition into which he had lapsed, than any conclusion of his intelligence; but the fact was, he had no realization of the fact that a child's life ought ...
— A Red Wallflower • Susan Warner
... the question; and neither party could succeed in tracing any line which would bear examination. Some opponents of the government complained that the Declaration suspended not less than forty statutes. But why not forty as well as one? There was an orator who gave it as his opinion that the King might constitutionally dispense with bad laws, but not with good laws. The absurdity of such a distinction it is needless to expose. The doctrine ...
— The History of England from the Accession of James II. - Volume 1 (of 5) • Thomas Babington Macaulay
... as "a lesser pensioner" at Christ's College, Cambridge, on February 12, 1625; the greatest poetic name in an University roll already including Spenser, and destined to include Dryden, Gray, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, and Tennyson. Why Oxford was not preferred has been much debated. The father may have taken advice from the younger Gill, whose Liberalism had got him into trouble at that University. He may also have been unwilling to place ...
— Life of John Milton • Richard Garnett
... Blassemare, growing very pale. "Why, why, you have not, great God, you have not hurt the wretched woman?" and he grasped him by the collar with a hand that trembled ...
— The International Magazine, Volume 2, No. 3, February, 1851 • Various
... said Russ, reaching the kennel and looking in while Bobo stood by as though he still wondered why Mun Bun and Margy had tried to turn him out of ...
— Six Little Bunkers at Mammy June's • Laura Lee Hope
... voice!" cried the old man, "that voice!—fie, fie on it. Hence! away! away, boy! why tarry you? My son! and have that voice? Pooh, you are not my ...
— The Disowned, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton
... she looked up at the holy building. Sybil listened: she listened to the holy sounds. St John told her that the danger of her father was yet so much advanced. Oh! why are there saints in heaven if they cannot aid the saintly! The oath that Morley would have enforced came whispering in the ear of Sybil—"Swear by the holy Virgin and by all ...
— Sybil - or the Two Nations • Benjamin Disraeli
... "Why do I feel so inclined to tease him?" mused Jane, as she moved, from the window. "Really it is I who have been silly this time; and he, staid and sensible. Myra is quite right. He is taking it very seriously. And ...
— The Rosary • Florence L. Barclay
... this force is odd enough, since without doubt its beneficial effect is far greater." His clear head had already asked the question: if the blue rays of the sun can penetrate deep enough into the skin to cause injury, why should they not be made to do police duty there, and catch and kill offending ...
— Hero Tales of the Far North • Jacob A. Riis
... "when, in 1610, for a cause similar to that which moves the duke, King Henry IV, of glorious memory, was about, at the same time, to invade Flanders and Italy, in order to attack Austria on both sides. Well, did there not happen an event which saved Austria? Why should not the king of France have the same chance as ...
— The Three Musketeers • Alexandre Dumas, Pere
... inimitable performance of the Muette, threw more expression into her sweet face—than did Pietro, into the furrowed lines of his bronzed visage, as he endeavoured to explain to his friend some Italian custom, or the reason why he had selected another dish, or other wine; rather than that, to which they had done ...
— A Love Story • A Bushman
... she would go to her dad in Idaho! She was astonished that the idea had never before crystallized into action. Why should she feed her imagination upon a mimic West, when the great, glorious real West was there? What if her dad had not written a word for more than a year? He must be alive; they would surely have heard of his death, ...
— The Quirt • B.M. Bower
... tormentors. The next moment she could tell by the sound that the horses were slackening speed. They must be close to their destination; but would they stop before they reached it? She looked up with a sudden rush of awakened hope. She perceived why the pace had grown slower. Her captor had fallen back behind the horses; he was now close beside her, and presently she found herself listening to his hurried, laboured breathing, until she could hear nothing else, and all her agonising fear fastened on it. What if this man should ...
— Captain Mansana and Mother's Hands • Bjoernstjerne Bjoernson
... of you will ask: "Why bring up these sad memories of the past? Why distress us with these dead and departed cruelties?" Alas, my friends, these are not dead ...
— Masterpieces of Negro Eloquence - The Best Speeches Delivered by the Negro from the days of - Slavery to the Present Time • Various
... "Why, isn't that what the Bible says when any one does something very kind to you after you have been mean ...
— A Sweet Little Maid • Amy E. Blanchard
... why you've got it in for me," he burst out. "You have, you know. When I speak to you, you never talk back, and yesterday you wouldn't let me stay after I had corralled the bull. It's because I'm working for ...
— The Readjustment • Will Irwin
... By Messrs. Maughn, Pinero, Jones, In quiet, gentlemanly tones. The Nouveaux-Riches flock, day by day, To learn from John how to display (Without unnecessary gloom) The manners of the drawing-room. This possibly may be the cause (Or one of them) why John Drew draws. ...
— Confessions of a Caricaturist • Oliver Herford |
