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Draw the line   /drɔ ðə laɪn/   Listen
Draw the line

verb
1.
Reasonably object (to) or set a limit (on).  Synonym: draw a line.






WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University








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"Draw the line" Quotes from Famous Books



... never denied Francesca anything in her life; why should he draw the line at a Scotsman? I am much more concerned ...
— Penelope's Progress - Being Such Extracts from the Commonplace Book of Penelope Hamilton As Relate to Her Experiences in Scotland • Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin

... selections, religious, sporting, political, fashions, and obituary. He said twelve dollars was too much, but if I would jerk the press occasionally and take care of his children he would try to stand it. You can't mix politics and measles. I saw that I would have to draw the line at measles. So one day I drew my princely salary and quit, having acquired a style of fearless and independent journalism which I still retain. I can write up things that never occurred with a masterly and graphic hand. Then, if they occur, ...
— Nye and Riley's Wit and Humor (Poems and Yarns) • Bill Nye

... but a stage and resting-place in the progress of their victorious industry. Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to them than the accumulated winter of both the poles. We know that whilst some of them draw the line and strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa, others run the longitude and pursue their gigantic game along the coast of Brazil. No sea but what is vexed by their fisheries; no climate that is not witness to their toils. Neither the perseverance of Holland, nor the activity of France, ...
— English: Composition and Literature • W. F. (William Franklin) Webster

... him off the chain," but the mater, who was very particular, would never stand a dog muddying the verandahs and digging holes for his bones in the flower-beds. He, Mr Peter, was an only son, and she would do most things for him, but he was afraid she would draw the line at that. ...
— Sisters • Ada Cambridge

... difficult to draw the line in some cases between genius and insanity.[1] There have been time and again in society Cassandras who have spoken true prophecies and have been thought mad. There have been, on the other hand, those who, having some of the external ...
— Human Traits and their Social Significance • Irwin Edman

... us home in his car; we were walking and couldn't very well refuse his courtesy, and then he asked to call and Ruth at once gave him permission, and that's the way it came about. But I thought it wise to draw the line at going off miles and miles with him to see ruins. Of course, Ruth hasn't any uncle to consider, but uncle or no uncle I should have drawn ...
— The Iron Furrow • George C. Shedd

... whisper about grub. I guess we'll manage to make out. But I tell you one thing, Smoke, straight an' flat. I'll eat any dog in the team exceptin' Bright. I got to draw the line on Bright. I just ...
— Smoke Bellew • Jack London

... "Well, draw the line somewhere," she returned. "If we're going to play duets after tea and you continue to absorb sandwiches at your present rate of consumption, you'll soon be incapable of detecting the inherent difference between ...
— The Moon out of Reach • Margaret Pedler

... "I draw the line at half," laughed the Princess. "Now I must go; I have been so long my people will ...
— Laddie • Gene Stratton Porter

... being picked on by my parents or teachers, knowing it is for my own good. But I draw the line at Leila. So ...
— Bab: A Sub-Deb • Mary Roberts Rinehart

... early teachings which impressed me," said Paul Van Vreck. "Christ made a remark about forgiving till seventy times seven. Did you forgive Donaldson four hundred and eighty-nine times, and draw the line at the ...
— The Second Latchkey • Charles Norris Williamson and Alice Muriel Williamson

... she was now on firm ground, and made the most of it in voice and manner. She must draw the line somewhere, and she would draw it between passion ...
— Susy, A Story of the Plains • Bret Harte

... French delicacy after all. There are so many sights along the boulevards that bring the carmine blush to the face of the tourist (from the twisting of his neck in trying to avoid seeing them), that it is well to know that the French draw the line somewhere. The sight of the bare wheels of an engine ...
— Behind the Beyond - and Other Contributions to Human Knowledge • Stephen Leacock

... a question, when on the Green River, where to draw the line when counting a rapid; this was less difficult when on the Colorado. While the descent was about the same as in some of the rapids above, the increased volume of water made them look and act decidedly different. We ...
— Through the Grand Canyon from Wyoming to Mexico • E. L. Kolb

... his face still showing traces of the tomato, led the school with a vigour that could not be resisted. He very seldom lost his temper, but he did draw the line ...
— Mike • P. G. Wodehouse

... a considerable amount of truth in this opinion; still, it cannot be regarded as altogether correct. First, as regards faults, it is no easy matter to draw the line between the trifling and the serious; maybe it is not because a fault is trifling that it makes us laugh, but rather because it makes us laugh that we regard it as trifling, for there is nothing disarms us like laughter. But we may go even farther, and maintain that there ...
— Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic • Henri Bergson

... the others I insert a needle at A and arrange the instrument as seen at S. I draw A B and A B', and from there carry it to S' in such a way that the ruler being on [gamma] [delta], one of the resting rulers passes through A. I draw the line C B which meets A B at the point B, the position sought for the second needle. In order to draw the straight lines which are under [alpha] [beta], it is only necessary to hold the needle A in place and to fix ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 363, December 16, 1882 • Various

... Also free. The garden was too far advanced for her to damage it. The door of the neat wire inclosure was left open for her to go and come at will. There was danger of foxes at night, but we did not shut it. The foxes, however, did not come. Even foxes have to draw the line somewhere. That venerable old lady wandered about the place, pecking and contentedly singing, and in that part we really became fond of her. I think she died ...
— Dwellers in Arcady - The Story of an Abandoned Farm • Albert Bigelow Paine

... practical spirit characteristic of Rome. Greek democracy, tending to the decomposition of things, led to the Sophists and Sceptics. Roman imperialism, ever constructive, sought to bring unity out of discords, and draw the line between orthodoxy and heresy by the authority of councils like that of Nicea. Following the ideas of St. Augustine in his work, "The City of God," I adopt, as the most convenient termination of this age, the sack of Rome ...
— History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2) - Revised Edition • John William Draper

... 'testament', 'apostel', which last Campe would have replaced by 'lehrbote', with other words like these, consecrated by longest use, and to find native substitutes in their room; or they understood so little what words deserved to be called foreign, or how to draw the line between them and native, that they would fain have gotten rid of 'vater', 'mutter', 'wein', 'fenster', 'meister', 'kelch'{127}; the first three of which belong to the German language by just as good a right as they do to the Latin and ...
— English Past and Present • Richard Chenevix Trench

... a large, soft, yellowish man. Ransome said, "I don't mind a man being large and yellowish, or even soft in reason; but when he shines, too, I draw the line." Henkel had thick hands with bent fingers, and large, brown eyes. He was a Hollander, and in that place he stood apart. For he didn't drink, or gamble, or fight, or even buy rubber. He was just a large, peaceful person who ...
— Master Tales of Mystery, Volume 3 • Collected and Arranged by Francis J. Reynolds

... The monarchs, however rich they may have been, affected something of primitive rudeness and simplicity in their habits and style of life, their dwellings and temples, their palaces and tombs. It is difficult indeed to draw the line in every case between pure Parthian work and Sassanian; but on the whole there is, no doubt, reason to believe that the architectural remains in Mesopotamia and Persia which belong to the period between Alexander and the Arab conquest, are mainly the work of the Sassanian or New ...
— The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 6. (of 7): Parthia • George Rawlinson

... paid by the State or national government to the end that he may benefit the agricultural community can be true to his trust only by largely overcoming the pleasure of entomological work having no practical bearing. I would, therefore, draw the line at descriptive work except where it is incidental to the economic work and for the purpose of giving accuracy to the popular and economic statements. This would make our work essentially biological, ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 787, January 31, 1891 • Various

... opinion. Reade, who was deep in a book—though not so deep as he would have liked the casual observer to fancy him to be—would have given much to stop Barrett's musical experiments. To ask him to stop in so many words was, of course, impossible. Offended dignity must draw the line somewhere. That is one of the curious results of a polite education. When two gentlemen of Hoxton or the Borough have a misunderstanding, they address one another with even more freedom than is their usual custom. When one member of ...
— The Pothunters • P. G. Wodehouse

... training. You and I have to practise rigid abstinence as part of the race, as a continuous necessity. They did not abstain only from bad things, they did not only avoid criminal acts of sensuous indulgence; but they abstained from many perfectly legitimate things. So for us it is not enough to say, 'I draw the line there, at this or that vice, and I will have nothing to do with these.' You will never make a growing Christian if abstinence from palpable sins only is your standard. You must 'lay aside' every sin, of course, but also 'every weight' ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture: Romans Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V) • Alexander Maclaren

... more than a few people their lives," Frank declared vehemently. "Cowmen draw the line at it. You noticed how angry old Hank became when he heard about that same thing. But your horse seems to be getting on all ...
— The Saddle Boys of the Rockies - Lost on Thunder Mountain • James Carson

... doctor Were that man, who could draw the line that parts Pride and her daughter, Cruelty, from Madness, That should be scourged, not pitied. Restless Minds, Such Minds as find amid their fellow-men No heart that loves them, none that they can love, Will turn perforce and seek ...
— The Poetical Works of William Wordsworth - Volume 1 of 8 • Edited by William Knight

... where it may be scarcely possible to draw the line of demarcation between the Newer Pliocene and Pleistocene, or between the latter and the recent deposits; and we must expect these difficulties to increase rather than diminish with every advance in our knowledge, and in proportion as gaps are filled ...
— The Antiquity of Man • Charles Lyell

... stage and resting-place in the progress of their victorious industry. Nor is the equinoctial heat more discouraging to them, than the accumulated winter of both the poles. We know that whilst some of them draw the line and strike the harpoon on the coast of Africa, others run the longitude, and pursue their gigantic game along the coast of Brazil. No sea but what is vexed by their fisheries. No climate that is not witness to their toils. Neither the perseverance of Holland, ...
— Selections from the Speeches and Writings of Edmund Burke. • Edmund Burke

... attention of the now roused landlady? But let us concede him that miracle, too. How is he to go away and yet leave the doors and windows locked and bolted from within? This is a degree of miracle at which my credulity must draw the line. No, the room had been closed all night—there is scarce a trace of fog in it. No one could get in or out. Finally, murders do not take place without motive. Robbery and revenge are the only conceivable motives. The deceased ...
— The Grey Wig: Stories and Novelettes • Israel Zangwill

... that we are not well advised to enter into combat with such Achillean strength as they have on their side, yet must our opposites know, that we have more daring minds than to be dashed with the vain flourish of their great words. Wherefore, in all these four ways wherein I am to draw the line of my dispute, I will not shun to encounter and handle strokes with the most valiant champions of that faction, knowing that—Trophoeum ferre me a forti viro, pulchrum est: sin autem et vincar, vinci a tali nullum est probrum—But what? Shall I speak doubtfully of the victory, ...
— The Works of Mr. George Gillespie (Vol. 1 of 2) • George Gillespie

... attempt on the part of "females of the lower order" to adorn their persons, she looks with a tolerant eye, among "ladies of position and fortune," upon the nude? We are curious to know at what point in the social scale she would draw the line above which an unblushing exhibition of the female torso is decent, and below which earrings ...
— Modern Women and What is Said of Them - A Reprint of A Series of Articles in the Saturday Review (1868) • Anonymous

... laugh. It had a frosty sound; his lips were blue. "Excuse me," he responded. "Anywhere else I wouldn't hesitate, but here, I draw the line." ...
— The Rim of the Desert • Ada Woodruff Anderson

... which is regulated according to the breadth of the bottom of the Column, of which one half is marked B 18; for the bottom of the Column being divided into 18, 19 are allowed to the Abacus: A C is the Retreat which must be made of the Corner A, of the Abacus inwardly, to draw the Line C D, which must regulate the Eye of the Volute over which it must cross as it passes. To make this Retreat we must take one part and a half of twelve, into which is divided the height or thickness, ...
— An Abridgment of the Architecture of Vitruvius - Containing a System of the Whole Works of that Author • Vitruvius

... province—to give shade; but that file of trees, scarcely taller than a hedge, had for years and years made the division between one land and another, so they stood for that at least. As Nat had explained to Tavia "they knew where to draw the line." ...
— Dorothy Dale • Margaret Penrose

... on, so we dared not refuse a course, lest it should be considered rude in Holland. We did our best, straight through to a wonderful iced pudding, and managed a crumb of spiced cheese; but when raw currants appeared, we had to draw the line. The others called them "bessen," pulling the red beads off their stems with a fork, and sprinkling them with sugar, but my blood curdled at the sight of this dreadful fruit, and ...
— The Chauffeur and the Chaperon • C. N. Williamson

... won at Waterloo, It had been firmness; now 't is pertinacity: Must the event decide between the two? I leave it to your people of sagacity To draw the line between the false and true, If such can e'er be drawn by Man's capacity: My business is with Lady Adeline, Who in her ...
— The Works of Lord Byron, Volume 6 • Lord Byron

... the obscurity of unlettered antiquity. The flesh and blood heroes of the more modern times regularly and slowly pass from view, and in their places the unsubstantial worthies of dreamy tradition start up. The transition is so gradual, however, that it is at times impossible to draw the line between history and legend. Fortunately for the purposes of this volume it is not always necessary to make the effort. The early traditions of the Eternal City have so long been recounted as truth that the world is slow to give up even the least ...
— The Story of Rome From the Earliest Times to the End of the Republic • Arthur Gilman

... to his feet. "No, madam!" said he. "I am willing, to a certain extent, to make this house a source of hymeneal felicity, but I draw the line at the bishop. I do not intend that my home shall become a ...
— The Associate Hermits • Frank R. Stockton

... draw the line somewhere. I am forced to agree with Gunderson on that. If we must honor the command of the Junior E, then why not the Associate E? Why not the student E? Why not the apprentice student E? Why not any kid in the universe who thinks ...
— Eight Keys to Eden • Mark Irvin Clifton

... difficulties could no longer be dissembled: 1. How are we to draw the line of separation? For instance, would the doctrines of Reprobation and of lasting Fiery Torture with no benefit to the sufferers, belong to the moral part, which we freely criticize; or to the extra-moral ...
— Phases of Faith - Passages from the History of My Creed • Francis William Newman

... great distress to the new student, for it blocks up his way; he cannot crawl under it, or climb over it, or tunnel through it. So he resorts to the dictionary for help, but there is no help there. The dictionary must draw the line somewhere—so it leaves this sort of words out. And it is right, because these long things are hardly legitimate words, but are rather combinations of words, and the inventor of them ought to have been ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... bounds upon which Charles and his mother had calculated. They were willing enough that the Huguenots should be murdered; but the murderers might not always be able to draw the line between orthodoxy and heresy. Things were fast getting beyond all control; the thirst for plunder was even keener than the thirst for blood. And it is certain that among the many ignoble motives by which Charles was induced ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Vol. 1-20 • Various

... to do much to serve you. I would gladly help you, see you through any difficulty by the way, but I'm afraid I must draw the line at active partnership," I answered a little lamely under her mocking eyes. Once more, as suddenly ...
— The Passenger from Calais • Arthur Griffiths

... nicety, refinement; taste &c. 850; critique, judgment; tact; discernment &c. (intelligence) 498; acuteness, penetration; nuances. dope*, past performances. V. discriminate, distinguish, severalize[obs3]; recognize, match, identify; separate; draw the line, sift; separate the chaff from the wheat, winnow the chaff from the wheat; separate the men from the boys; split hairs, draw a fine line, nitpick, quibble. estimate &c. (measure) 466; know which is which, know ...
— Roget's Thesaurus

... draw a line even in thought between good and bad people," he said, "and, thank God, it is not for us to do so. 'To my Maker alone I stand or I fall.' There is evil in the best; there is, I would fain hope," but here his face grew grave and sad, "good in the worst. But even allowing that we could draw the line, is it likely that the bad, even those who have all but lost the last spark, who don't want to be good, is it likely that they, if, as we must believe, under Divine control, would be allowed to leave their new life of punishment—punishment in ...
— Four Ghost Stories • Mrs. Molesworth

... each other. I am weary of wandering over the face of the earth. One must draw the line. My heels ...
— Letters of Anton Chekhov • Anton Chekhov

... quarrel with my bread and butter," was her reply, half mournful, half whimsical. "Not one man in ten thinks of taking off his hat or dropping his cigar when he enters our 'shop.' No, Mr. Forrest, we are wage-workers who can't afford to draw the line at ...
— A Tame Surrender, A Story of The Chicago Strike • Charles King

... except at a sacrifice of almost everything that distinguishes the civilized human from the animal, or beastly, and savage state. As a secondary, yet inevitably resulting consequence, there come domestic and social hindrances which still more completely draw the line between the male and female duties.... Every attempt to break through them, therefore, must be pronounced as unnatural as it is irreligious and profane.... The most serious importance of this modern 'woman's rights' doctrine ...
— A Short History of Women's Rights • Eugene A. Hecker

... contrasting the phase of nutrition with that of feeling, or sensibility. We have seen the various forms of feeling in sense-perception, and the various forms of representation as the second phase of intellectual activity—the forms of recollection, fancy, imagination, attention, and memory. We draw the line between the animals capable of education and those not capable of it, at the point of memory defined—not as recollection, but as the faculty of general ideas or conceptions, to which the significant words ...
— Pedagogics as a System • Karl Rosenkranz

... attention. In conduct too, aesthetic ideas are often more dominant than we suppose. The objection of the cultured to the ways of the boorish rests on aesthetic grounds. This is true in every land. In the matter of conduct it is sometimes hard to draw the line between aesthetics and ethics, for they shade imperceptibly into one another; so much so that they are seen to be complementary rather than contradictory. Though it is doubtless true that conduct aesthetically defective ...
— Evolution Of The Japanese, Social And Psychic • Sidney L. Gulick

... or anything white, you're way off your ca-base! Algy! for a Chinaman! Not but what he's a good enough cook, and I like him as a friend of yours—and him almost makin' me cry with his tryin' to nurse you four old helpless galoots, but I draw the line at fancy names, and don't you ...
— The Furnace of Gold • Philip Verrill Mighels

... people in it nowadays, and Royalties are of course strictly tabooed. I was dining with Lady Murray last week and mentioned the Prince by mistake. She got quite red all down her neck and snorted—you know how she snorts, as if she had been born a Baroness!—'One must draw the line somewhere.' The old aristocracy draws it at Princes now, and who can blame them? Vulgarity has become so common that it has lost its charm, and I shall really not be surprised if good manners and chivalry come into vogue again. How strange it will feel being polite once more, like wearing a long ...
— The Green Carnation • Robert Smythe Hichens

... he says merely for the sake of making a disturbance," continued the senior churchwarden. "It's the things he does I draw the line at." ...
— The Cost of Kindness - From a volume entitled "Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow" • Jerome K. Jerome

... about their degree; but even sophists cannot debate about their direction. Nobody in his five wits will deny that Jeffersonian democracy wished to give the law a general control in more public things, but the citizens a more general liberty in private things. Wherever we draw the line, liberty can only be personal liberty; and the most personal liberties must at least be the last liberties we lose. But to-day they are the first liberties we lose. It is not a question of drawing the line in the right place, but of beginning at the ...
— What I Saw in America • G. K. Chesterton

... for dramatics, Captain Kidd." I raised my voice so that all might hear plainly. "You threaten to torture me. You forget that this is the year 1913. The inquisition is a memory. You are not in Russia now. American sailors—even mutineers—will draw the line ...
— The Pirate of Panama - A Tale of the Fight for Buried Treasure • William MacLeod Raine

... to do with the people of that town," declared Phil, resolutely. "So far as I saw of their actions, they are a lot of cowards, who could chase after a half-grown boy, but draw the line at coming down here ...
— Chums in Dixie - or The Strange Cruise of a Motorboat • St. George Rathborne

... greatest offenders in this respect, and yet, when they are refused orders, they at once book seats for the play. Of course there are certain people who are thoroughly entitled to orders, and I am only too glad to give them in such cases, but I draw the line at giving them to any one who chooses to ask me. I can't go into a restaurant and get a dinner for nothing—I wish I could; a tailor won't make me a coat for nothing—why should I play to people for nothing? They cannot have any idea how much it costs ...
— The Idler Magazine, Volume III, April 1893 - An Illustrated Monthly • Various

... between infancy and childhood, both by ancient and modern writers, has always been arbitrary. I would draw the line between the two, at a period of time which appears to me to be the most natural, the most simple, and least likely to lead the reader into the danger of misapplying any part of the practical directions of this, or any future chapter of the ...
— The Maternal Management of Children, in Health and Disease. • Thomas Bull, M.D.

... to draw a line at thirty-six degrees thirty minutes north, so Congress had equal power to draw the line on the thirtieth degree—that is, due west from the city of New Orleans—and to declare that north of that line slavery should never exist. Suppose this had been done before 1812, when Louisiana came into the Union, and the question ...
— Report of the Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, and the Opinions of the Judges Thereof, in the Case of Dred Scott versus John F.A. Sandford • Benjamin C. Howard

... the heart and mind of Thackeray, expressed through a medium so simple and direct that even a child could be made to feel it, or a chimney-sweep! For where need we draw the line? We ...
— Social Pictorial Satire • George du Maurier

... to him; that she knew what I did not know, the mystery of his absence. Of course I could have found out if she were receiving letters from him, for Somerled's handwriting is unmistakable; but villain or no villain, I had to draw the line somewhere, and I drew it ...
— The Heather-Moon • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... so improper," returned Diana severely. "There must be match-light at least. I draw the line at that. Produce ...
— Cleo The Magnificent - The Muse of the Real • Louis Zangwill

... indeed, in Frank Richardson's Bayswater. "Wells?" exclaimed a smart, positive little woman—one of those creatures that have settled every question once and for all beyond reopening, "Wells? No! I draw the line at Wells. He stirs up the dregs. I don't mind the froth, but dregs I—will—not have!" And silence reigned as we stared at the reputation of Wells lying dead on the carpet. When, with the thrill ...
— Books and Persons - Being Comments on a Past Epoch 1908-1911 • Arnold Bennett

... stream of opera comique has divided into two channels. The first, as we have seen, under the guidance of such men as Bizet, Delibes, and Massenet, has approached so near to the confines of grand opera, that it is often difficult to draw the line between the two genres The second, under the influence of Offenbach, Herve, and Lecocq, has shrunk into opera bouffe, a peculiarly Parisian product, which, though now for some reason under a cloud, has added sensibly to ...
— The Opera - A Sketch of the Development of Opera. With full Descriptions - of all Works in the Modern Repertory • R.A. Streatfeild

... to go near such places, my lord," she concluded, solemnly, as she rose to quit the room. "Even a girl of my station would draw the line at that." ...
— Short Cruises • W.W. Jacobs

... physical one. And Leffingwell was providing a physical solution. Besides, the educators had been themselves educated, through Vocational Apt. And while they, and the government, fervently upheld the principle of freedom of speech, they had to draw the line somewhere. As everyone knows, freedom of speech does not ...
— This Crowded Earth • Robert Bloch

... suicide. Blount's memory bears its weight of obloquy. It is hard to draw the line when and where a man has a right to take away his life. Common sense tells us that so long as our families are dependent upon us, we have no right to end our lives; and if we have no dependents, no friends, then our country has a claim upon us. But, at the same time, the ...
— Ancient and Modern Celebrated Freethinkers - Reprinted From an English Work, Entitled "Half-Hours With - The Freethinkers." • Charles Bradlaugh, A. Collins, and J. Watts

... I won't," cried his companion. "I'll make the best of what we've got as much as you like, but I must draw the line ...
— The Lost Middy - Being the Secret of the Smugglers' Gap • George Manville Fenn

... I draw the line there, that's true," Bumpus admitted, with a shrug of his fat shoulders, as his eyes unconsciously dropped, so that he looked down into the depths of the lake, "a full mile deep," as he always ...
— The, Boy Scouts on Sturgeon Island - or Marooned Among the Game-fish Poachers • Herbert Carter

... poor, not between the functional classes, employers and employes. While the workmen took good care to exclude from their ranks "persons not living by some useful occupation, such as bankers, brokers, rich men, etc.," they did not draw the line on employers as such, master workmen ...
— A History of Trade Unionism in the United States • Selig Perlman

... considerate: she made Joseph carry hers to the Friary when he left your papers. Was he not a benevolent Joseph? Mrs. Trimmings wanted to wrap up her silk in newspaper; but I said to myself, 'One must draw the line somewhere;' and so I held out for brown paper. Do you think you could have offered to carry a parcel in newspaper, Mr. Drummond? Oh, by the bye, how can you condescend to walk with a dressmaker? But this is a quiet road, and no ...
— Not Like Other Girls • Rosa N. Carey

... least realize your position in society. It is all well enough to please your relatives, although I think you often overdo that. You could just as well send them a present now and then, and please them more than to go yourself. But as for any outsiders, it is impossible. I draw the line there." ...
— The Girl from Montana • Grace Livingston Hill

... from Christ's favour, of whom I speak? Do not think I say a strong thing, my brethren, when I tell you that I am speaking of some of those who now hear me. Not that I dare draw the line any where, or imagine that I can give any rule for knowing for certain, just who come to Him in heart and spirit, and who do not; but I am quite sure that many, who would shrink from giving up their interest in the Gospel, and who profess to cast their ...
— Parochial and Plain Sermons, Vol. VII (of 8) • John Henry Newman

... in the Rebellion, the estimated value of whose taxable property is over twenty thousand dollars." The intention of this exception was to draw the line between the men who could exert influence in their respective communities, and those who were necessarily led by others. Fixing this partition between voluntary and involuntary guilt on the property line was a favorite measure with ...
— Twenty Years of Congress, Volume 2 (of 2) • James Gillespie Blaine

... in driving them off, but the next day the Indians returned in larger numbers, killed some of the whites and burnt the ranch. We next hear of Jack Slade in Montana, where he took to his old trade again. The Vigilants thought they must "draw the line somewhere," so they drew it at Jack Slade. He escaped several times the threatened vengeance, saved by the intercession of his wife, a faithful and determined woman, but he did not mend his ways. One ...
— Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science, Vol. 15, - No. 90, June, 1875 • Various

... difficult, from the slight social record that we have of Cervantes, to draw the line where imagination begins ...
— Wit and Wisdom of Don Quixote • Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

... the way. I often remembered about the chrysanthemum while I was in the office; but even Gilray could hardly have expected me to ask leave of absence merely to run home and water his plant. You must draw the line somewhere, even in a government office. When I reached home I was tired, inclined to take things easily, and not at all in a proper condition for watering flower-pots. Then Arcadians would drop in. I put it to any ...
— My Lady Nicotine - A Study in Smoke • J. M. Barrie

... putting Betty forward so much. Why, you know I don't mind her running in and out. She's at your house twice as often as Jane is here. And when girls begin to go to parties there's no telling just where to draw the line. It's very good of you to ask her. Yes, I do suppose she ought to go. The girls ...
— A Little Girl in Old Boston • Amanda Millie Douglas

... grows Fetichism in which a visible object is found for the abode or medium of the spirit, so also, out of the same soil arises what we may call Imaginary Zooelogy. In this mental growth, the nightmare of the diseased imagination or of the mind unable to draw the line between the real and the unreal, Chinese Asia differs notably from the Aryan world. With the mythical monsters of India and Iran we are acquainted, and with those of the Semitic and ancient European cycle of ideas which ...
— The Religions of Japan - From the Dawn of History to the Era of Meiji • William Elliot Griffis

... is a lieutenant, he will command his company in the absence of the captain. He can wear epaulets, and be entitled to all the rights and privileges 'of an officer and a gentleman;' he is no longer doomed to inferiority. In case of battle, where bullets have no respect of persons, and do not draw the line at color, it may easily happen that a regiment or battalion will do its best work in the face of the enemy under the command of a Negro chief. Thus far the Government has been swift to recognize heroism and ...
— History of Negro Soldiers in the Spanish-American War, and Other Items of Interest • Edward A. Johnson

... are not honest. We must draw the line somewhere, Lola. I draw it at Russians. At least I think we ought to. But I'll think it ...
— South Wind • Norman Douglas

... I'm sure,' answered Mr. Van Torp in a doubtful tone. 'Perhaps I wouldn't. But it would only have been business if I had. It's not as if Bamberger and I had started a story on purpose about our quarrelling in order to make things go down. I draw the line there. That's downright dishonest, I call it. But if we'd just let things slide and taken advantage of what happened, it would only have been business after all. Except for that doubt about getting back to par,' he added, ...
— The Primadonna • F. Marion Crawford

... for us to draw the line. The time has come for the responsible leaders of both political parties to take a stand against overgrown Government and for the American taxpayer. We are not spending the Federal Government's money, we are spending the taxpayer's money, and it must be spent ...
— State of the Union Addresses of Richard Nixon • Richard Nixon

... than the pert little schoolgirl of ten has all too often. And we want careful girls and prudent girls, who think enough of the generous father who toils to maintain them in comfort, and of the gentle mother who denies herself much that they may have so many pretty things, to count the cost and draw the line between the essentials and non-essentials; girls who strive to save and not to spend; girls who are unselfish and eager to be a joy and a comfort in the home rather than an expense and a useless ...
— How to Succeed - or, Stepping-Stones to Fame and Fortune • Orison Swett Marden

... to the eastward, where, as in the Scioto Valley, we find the so-called sacred inclosures in larger numbers. In the State of Ohio, then, there were at least two well defined types of works by the Mound Builders. But if we split the Mound Builders up into tribes, where shall we draw the line between ...
— The Prehistoric World - Vanished Races • E. A. Allen

... unifying the ego and the non ego, that with them there will soon be as little of the non ego left as there is of the ego with their opponents. Both, however, are so far agreed as that we know not where to draw the line between the two, and this renders nugatory any system which is founded upon a ...
— Selections from Previous Works - and Remarks on Romanes' Mental Evolution in Animals • Samuel Butler

... to-morrow?" Hazelton gasped. "That's where I draw the line. Before I'll stir a step from here I must have at least food enough to ...
— The Young Engineers in Mexico • H. Irving Hancock

... please! I knelt down beside him, of course, and then he took my hand, so I—Honestly, I don't care much what men say—if they only say it right—but I draw the line at being stroked! If that's your idea of a flirtation, it ...
— The Old Gray Homestead • Frances Parkinson Keyes

... draw the line. At Medora, for instance, the Marquis de Mores, a French settler, assumed the attitude of a feudal proprietor. Having been the first to squat in that region he regarded those who came later as interlopers, and he and his men acted very sullenly. They even carried their ill-will and intimidation ...
— Theodore Roosevelt; An Intimate Biography, • William Roscoe Thayer

... himself and his repose he must get rid of in as few motions as is consistent with reasonable thoroughness. The end in view is a hot meal and a comfortable dry place to sleep. The straighter he can draw the line to those two points the ...
— The Forest • Stewart Edward White

... Nevill. I'm no spoil-sport," snapped the old lady, in her childlike voice. "I know what I can do and what I can't. I draw the line at camels! Angus and Hamish will take care of me, and I'll wait for you at Touggourt. I can amuse myself in the market-place, and looking at the Ouled Nails, till you ...
— The Golden Silence • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... from Fitzjames's speeches that he felt much sympathy for the persons who had been placed in a position of singular difficulty, and found it hard to draw the line between energetic defence of order and over-severity to the rebels. He explains very carefully that he is not concerned with the moral question, and contends only that the legal name for their conduct is murder. In fact, he paid compliments to the accused which would ...
— The Life of Sir James Fitzjames Stephen, Bart., K.C.S.I. - A Judge of the High Court of Justice • Sir Leslie Stephen

... it as you see. First along we intended no more than just to break the news to Eli's mother, an' hand him over to her; but Bill reckoned that to hand him over, cask an' all, would look careless; for (as he said) 'twasn' as if you could bury 'im in a cask. We allowed your Reverence would draw the line at that, though we hadn' the pleasure o' ...
— News from the Duchy • Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

... admitted that it is a difficult matter to draw the line of demarcation between National and State control, and that Congressional regulation of railways would remedy many evils which now affect our transportation system; yet there is reason to believe that the proposed change would in the end be ...
— The Railroad Question - A historical and practical treatise on railroads, and - remedies for their abuses • William Larrabee

... visitor yet whom she did not drag into her stables, from archbishops downwards; and I don't suppose she'd draw the line at a queen,' ...
— The Golden Calf • M. E. Braddon

... glad that her father did not use tobacco, for she would not care to be outdone by these Prince Edward Island girls; yet in her case she felt that even lovingkindness had its limit, and that she would have to draw the line this ...
— Miss Dexie - A Romance of the Provinces • Stanford Eveleth

... me (concluded Reginald) is that I am so easily pleased. But I draw the line at a "Prince ...
— Reginald • Saki

... sheets should show on their face the method by which the "spread" departments are handled, and how revenue and suspense departments are segregated. When too much detail is presented, it is but a waste of accounting and consequent expense. Where to draw the line in this regard is, however, a matter of great difficulty. No cost sheet is entirely satisfactory. The appended sheet is in use at a number of mines. It is no more perfect than many others. It will be noticed that the effect of this system is to throw the general expenses ...
— Principles of Mining - Valuation, Organization and Administration • Herbert C. Hoover

... come with me and we'll show it to mamma!" But Shelley says: "Not me! I have to draw the line somewhere. I shall be far away from here to-night. I am not afraid of enemy soldiers, for I've been up against them too often. But there are worse things than death, so you'll have to face mamma alone. You can tell her I did it, but I will not be there to hear you. So good-bye ...
— Ma Pettengill • Harry Leon Wilson

... calmly, rationally, and with that gentlemanlike air of undoubted respectability, which gives to an assertion such an impress of truth, that the stranger, confused as he was by what he had seen, felt it rather difficult to draw the line at the moment, especially in such society, between a sane man and ...
— The Black Baronet; or, The Chronicles Of Ballytrain - The Works of William Carleton, Volume One • William Carleton

... and put an end to the scandal. These women need trimmers; an army of trimmers. I have done a good deal of trimming in my day. Of course it involves some trouble and a close degree of intimacy, now and then. But a sensible man will always know where to draw the line." ...
— Alone • Norman Douglas

... something almost imperious in Elizabeth's manner at times that made them feel quite small beside her; and however careless she might be of the convenances in her way of speaking to them, they had very soon found that wherever she chose to draw the line, so far could they go ...
— The Pilot and his Wife • Jonas Lie

... And they're all saying you're likely to marry Withrow. Wait now. Withrow, I'm telling you, isn't fit to wash the gurry off Maurice's jack-boots. I'm a careless man, Miss Foster, and in my life I've done things I wish now I hadn't, but I draw the line above the head of a man like Withrow. Whatever I am, I'm too good to be company for Fred Withrow. And on top of all that he's so carried away with this other woman—this same woman—and she caring more for Maurice's eyelash than Withrow's ...
— The Seiners • James B. (James Brendan) Connolly

... it must indeed be here repeated that Stevenson for the reason he himself gave about Deacon Brodie utterly fails in that healthy hatred of "fools and scoundrels" on which Carlyle somewhat incontinently dilated. Nor does he, as we have seen, draw the line between hero and villain of the piece, as he ought to have done; and, even for his own artistic purposes, has it too much all on one side, to express it simply. Art demands relief from any one phase of human nature, more especially ...
— Robert Louis Stevenson - a Record, an Estimate, and a Memorial • Alexander H. Japp



Words linked to "Draw the line" :   confine, draw a line, restrain, limit, trammel, restrict, throttle, bound



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