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Obey   Listen
verb
Obey  v. t.  (past & past part. obeyed; pres. part. obeying)  
1.
To give ear to; to execute the commands of; to yield submission to; to comply with the orders of. "Children, obey your parents in the Lord." "Was she the God, that her thou didst obey?"
2.
To submit to the authority of; to be ruled by. "My will obeyed his will." "Afric and India shall his power obey."
3.
To yield to the impulse, power, or operation of; as, a ship obeys her helm.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Obey" Quotes from Famous Books



... persuade the negro to destroy these birds or get the Indian to let fly his arrow at them. They are birds of omen and reverential dread. Jumbo, the demon of Africa, has them under his command, and they equally obey the Yabahou, or Demerara Indian devil. They are the receptacles for departed souls, who come back again to earth, unable to rest for crimes done in their days of nature; or they are expressly sent by Jumbo, or Yabahou, to haunt cruel and hard-hearted masters ...
— Wanderings In South America • Charles Waterton

... therefore, but the more incumbent upon your princess to own her allegiance to the law of the island by keeping her troth with me—that troth witnessed and sanctioned by you yourselves? This ceremony concluded I will answer the demands of the loyal subjects whose interests alone I serve. For we obey that which is higher than authority—the law, born in ...
— Romance Island • Zona Gale

... quiet looks confiding, Hence grateful instincts seated deep, By whose strong bond, were ill betiding, They'd risk their own his life to keep. What joy to watch in lower creature Such dawning of a moral nature, And how (the rule all things obey) They look to a higher mind to be their ...
— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 6, No. 38, December, 1860 • Various

... have been made to Whitehall that vigorous measures should be taken to solve the mystery, with the result that I have been ordered to investigate. These orders arrived about a week ago, but up to the present I have been quite unable to obey them, for the very good and sufficient reason that every ship at my disposal is needed for work even more important than the hunting down of hitherto merely supposititious pirates. Your adventure, however, with the Indiaman and her mysterious pursuer, goes to prove that there actually is ...
— A Middy in Command - A Tale of the Slave Squadron • Harry Collingwood

... of you!" ordered Frank, at the same time motioning toward the stairway. "We can't do much with these men except disarm them," he said in an aside to his companions, as the Germans sullenly prepared to obey. "We've got to clean out this house and a lot of others, and we haven't got enough men to guard prisoners. You break up their rifles, Tom, and then rejoin us in ...
— Army Boys on German Soil • Homer Randall

... more once than it does now. Then the solar globe was the first heaven, and to live under its laws, puttings off the coat of skin, was an object which men believed to be worth striving for. They recognized, as we do not, that our prakritic laws were not all they had to obey; that the higher law of the solar globe on which they lived, of which the lower prakritic laws were merely an outcome and detail, was worthy of the closest study. And they recognized that these higher laws of the etheric globe were metaphysical as well as ...
— Ancient and Modern Physics • Thomas E. Willson

... present the additional objection, and no apology could answer to you or your friends but a public explanation from Castlereagh, which could not be made. I assure you I have been very much disturbed by your letter, being always anxious to obey your wishes and forward your objects, and in the first place called on Lord L—— for ...
— Memoirs of the Court of George IV. 1820-1830 (Vol 1) - From the Original Family Documents • Duke of Buckingham and Chandos

... to the Colossians, the following passage deserves earnest attention:—"Servants, obey in all things your masters according to the flesh; not with eye-service, as men-pleasers; but in singleness of heart, fearing God: and whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing, that of the Lord ye shall receive ...
— The Anti-Slavery Examiner, Omnibus • American Anti-Slavery Society

... and crowded in another person's measure. If the person had not been upright, scrupulously just in his dealings, and a good provider, that would have altered her respect for him. And wives were to obey their husbands, just as children were ...
— A Little Girl in Old Boston • Amanda Millie Douglas

... me a note ordering me to go to the Bussola at one o'clock, Signor Bussinello, Secretary of the Council of Ten, having something to say to me. Astonished at such an order—always of bad omen, and vexed at being obliged to obey, I went at the time appointed, and my lord secretary, without giving me a word, ordered me ...
— The Memoires of Casanova, Complete • Jacques Casanova de Seingalt

... Church, and requested me to withdraw at once to the Barnabite monastery, where I was to remain till I received the minor orders. Now the Abbot of the Barnabites was the Belverde's brother, and I saw at once that to obey his order would place me in that lady's power. I again addressed myself to the Bishop, but to my despair he declared himself unable to aid me farther, saying that he dared not offend the Holy Office, and that he had already run considerable risk in ...
— The Valley of Decision • Edith Wharton

... reign, which was king of the Assyrians, and reigned in the city of Nineveh, fought against Arphaxad and took him in the field, whereof Nebuchadnezzar was exalted and enhanced himself, and sent unto all regions about and unto Jerusalem till the Mounts of Ethiopia, for to obey and hold of him. Which all gainsaid him with one will, and without worship sent home his messengers void, and set nought by him. Then Nebuchadnezzar, having them at great indignation, swore by his reign and by his throne that he would avenge him on them all, and thereupon ...
— Bible Stories and Religious Classics • Philip P. Wells

... laughing fit ended in sobs, and then tears flowed from her eyes, which she mopped convulsively with an already damp pocket-handkerchief. Before she had recovered sufficient self-possession to speak, she signed to Hyacinth to fetch a bottle of smelling-salts from the chimney-piece. He hastened to obey, and found himself kneeling beside the sofa, holding the bottle to her nose. After a while she recovered sufficiently to tell him that she had not slept at all during the night, and felt extremely unwell and quite unstrung in consequence. Another fit of immoderate and tearful laughter followed, ...
— Hyacinth - 1906 • George A. Birmingham

... belief, they made Greece give up certain advantages which she had regained in Epirus, and made her withdraw her troops, promising that Turkey should not advance any farther, if Greece would obey their wishes. ...
— The Great Round World and What Is Going On In It, Vol. 1, No. 30, June 3, 1897 - A Weekly Magazine for Boys and Girls • Various

... smiled. It was a wonderful smile—a flash of tenderness telling him that she knew what he was saying, and that she would obey him. She made no effort to detain him with her hands, but in that moment—if life had been the forfeit—Philip would have stolen the precious time in which to take her in his arms. For a space he held her close to him, his lips crushed to hers, and faced the wall again with the ...
— The Golden Snare • James Oliver Curwood

... afternoon, four years after Larry's coming of age; "You may be sure that I pointed out to Barty that he and Larry were playing the deuce with you over the sale, but what could I do? After all, Barty had to obey the orders he got ...
— Mount Music • E. Oe. Somerville and Martin Ross

... inquiry into all religions and so be sure to find out the best, I shall for a time look upon myself as one not at all interested in any particular religion whatsoever, much less in the Christian religion; but only as one who desires, in general, to serve and obey Him that made me in a right manner, and thereby to be made partaker of that happiness my nature ...
— Oriental Religions and Christianity • Frank F. Ellinwood

... is heard, and a fox has been found. Mr. Jorrocks, gallopping along the ride with many oaths, implores those around him to hold their tongues and remain quiet. Why he should trouble himself to do this, as he knows that no one will obey his orders, it is difficult to surmise. Or why men should stand still in the middle of a large wood when they expect a fox to break, because Mr. Jorrocks swears at them, is also not to be understood. Our friend pays no attention to Mr. Jorrocks, but makes for the end of the ride, going with ears ...
— Hunting Sketches • Anthony Trollope

... day I assembled them together and spoke to them strongly about these matters. Since then I have seen with pleasure that they have not opposed me, but that they have chosen among themselves a chief whom they obey,—not all of them unfortunately, for there are some of them who are wicked and have always given me much trouble; their love for brandy is ...
— Memoir • Fr. Vincent de Paul

... you nay there, though I am the father of one of them; nevertheless, they can well wait for a couple of years. They have not yet learned that the first duty of a knight is to obey, and it were well they served under some brave captain, and learned how to receive as well as give orders. To-morrow, gentlemen, I ride to St. Alwyth, for news has come in that the Kentish rebels, as well as those of Essex, are burning and slaying ...
— A March on London • G. A. Henty

... propel &c. 284; whip, lash, goad, spur, prick, urge; egg on, hound, hurry on; drag &c. 285; exhort; advise &c. 695; call upon &c. press &c. (request) 765; advocate. set an example, set the fashion; keep in countenance. be persuaded &c.; yield to temptation, come round; concede &c. (consent) 762; obey a call; follow advice, follow the bent,.follow the dictates of; act on principle. Adj. impulsive, motive; suasive, suasory[obs3], persuasive, persuasory[obs3], hortative, hortatory; protreptical|; inviting, tempting, ...
— Roget's Thesaurus • Peter Mark Roget

... Spirit. Therefore Peter in no respect contradicts his Lord, who says, addressing the people, 'Search the Scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which speak of me.' Oh, my lords, what I have done—what thousands have done in Spain—has simply been to obey our loving Saviour in reading His holy Word, in striving to carry out His precepts by assembling ourselves together in prayer, by exhorting and comforting one another. If this be a crime, I am a criminal; but if not, why imprison ...
— The Last Look - A Tale of the Spanish Inquisition • W.H.G. Kingston

... absolute confidence of a man, obey him. Only thus do you get him to lay aside his weapons, be he friend or enemy. Any dullard can be waited on and served, but to serve requires judgment, skill, tact, patience ...
— Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great, Volume 11 (of 14) - Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Businessmen • Elbert Hubbard

... to obey when a young; man, small and agile, ran past him from behind, heedless of the panic. Stopping at the foot of the bank he dropped on one knee, resting his revolver in the hollow of his left arm. It, was Jack Brinsmade. At the same time two of the soldiers above lowered their ...
— The Crossing • Winston Churchill

... of Fenelon, power is poison; and as kings are nearly always bad, they ought not to govern, but only to execute the law. For it is the mark of barbarians to obey precedent and custom. Civilised society must be regulated by a solid code. Nothing but a constitution can avert arbitrary power. The despotism of Lewis XIV. renders him odious and contemptible, and is the cause of all the evils which the country suffers. If the governing power which rightfully ...
— Lectures on the French Revolution • John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton

... through a man until he feels like they were scorching the furniture behind him. Well, I'll tell you. While Judith is away I am running this outfit. And if the men think I'm coming straight from her with an order they obey it. If they get the notion she isn't here, they're apt to ask ...
— Judith of Blue Lake Ranch • Jackson Gregory

... said, "command my brother Gordon; he will be proud to obey you. I will go out myself to aid in the search, if you will let me ...
— Run to Earth - A Novel • M. E. Braddon

... waters of the dark blue sea, Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free, Far as the breeze can bear, the billows foam, Survey our empire, and behold our home![198] These are our realms, no limits to their sway— Our flag the sceptre all who meet obey. Ours the wild life in tumult still to range From toil to rest, and joy in every change. Oh, who can tell? not thou, luxurious slave! Whose soul would sicken o'er the heaving wave; 10 Not thou, vain lord of Wantonness and Ease! Whom Slumber soothes not—Pleasure cannot please— Oh, who can ...
— The Works Of Lord Byron, Vol. 3 (of 7) • Lord Byron

... have an opportunity of convincing the brave clans, that I can hazard my life in that service as freely as the meanest of them. Ye know their temper, gentlemen; and if they do not think I have personal courage enough, they will not esteem me hereafter, nor obey my commands with cheerfulness. Allow me this single favour, and I here promise, upon my honour, never again to risk my person while I have that of ...
— Lays of the Scottish Cavaliers and Other Poems • W.E. Aytoun

... asked him here if he is not a respectable person," I said, innocently. "But Italian Madonnas ought to chasten and elevate his thoughts. Anyway, your responsibility towards me is self-constituted. I am the only person whom I mean to obey," and I settled myself ...
— Red Hair • Elinor Glyn

... ear is the sole judge. It is impossible to lay down laws. Even in our accentual and rhythmic language no analysis can find the secret of the beauty of a verse; how much less, then, of those phrases, such as prose is built of, which obey no law but to be lawless and yet to please? The little that we know of verse (and for my part I owe it all to my friend Professor Fleeming Jenkin) is, however, particularly interesting in the present connection. We have been accustomed to describe the heroic line ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 16 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson

... will now have to be made in the marriage service. If it be permissible for the bride to omit her promise "to obey," as is reported to have been the case at a wedding last week, why should any undertaking "to love," "to honour," "to cherish," and so forth remain in the text? With all this left out, a marriage, which, of course, will no longer be an ecclesiastical ...
— Punch, Or The London Charivari, Vol. 100, April 18, 1891 • Various

... state, than his own innocence. Say then, there can be nothing in their thought Shall want to please us, that hath pleased them; Our suffrage rather shall prevent than stay Behind their wills: 'tis empire to obey, Where such, so great, so grave, so good determine. Yet, for the suit of Spain, to erect a temple In honour of our mother and our self, We must, with pardon of the senate, not Assent thereto. Their lordships may object Our not denying the same late request Unto the Asian cities: we desire ...
— Sejanus: His Fall • Ben Jonson

... was in a position to obey. The others were forced to jump for their lives, as the machine bore down on them. This one man, however, raised his rifle and aimed at the driver, just as ...
— The boy Allies at Liege • Clair W. Hayes

... they had broken his commands to his people, which was to kill only the buffalo. But he said he would try them again. He told them to go to the Stinking Water, and take some mud and rub it on their eyes, then to wash it off and they would see. Then he told them they must obey him and go hunt the ...
— The Great Salt Lake Trail • Colonel Henry Inman

... doorsteps looking at the glory of the moon on the mountain forest, he was startled by the sight of a figure slowly climbing toward him up the slope. A second glance told him that it was Jethro's. Vaguely troubled, he watched his approach; for good Priest Ware, while able to obey one-half the scriptural injunction, had not the wisdom of the serpent, and women, as typified by Cynthia, were a continual puzzle to him. That very evening, Moses Hatch had called, had been received with more favor ...
— The Crossing • Winston Churchill

... obey his dear Rosalie, who for the last five months had given him so many proofs of filial affection,—Monsieur de Watteville went in person to subscribe for a year to the Eastern Review, and lent the four numbers already out to his daughter. In the ...
— Albert Savarus • Honore de Balzac

... now vexed you enough, and will try to please you. Your resolution to obey your father I sincerely approve; but do not accustom yourself to enchain your volatility by vows: they will sometime leave a thorn in your mind, which you will, perhaps, never be able to extract or eject. Take this warning, ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 2 • Boswell

... marry Grzesikiewicz, I tell you; I, your father, command you to do so! You will obey me immediately, or I will ...
— The Comedienne • Wladyslaw Reymont

... "You look at that lean figure, and the wizened-up old hawk's face, with the white hair all round it, and you'd think that he was in his dotage. But when he talks—I don't wonder men obey him!" ...
— The Moneychangers • Upton Sinclair

... member of The First Church of Christ, Scientist, shall fail to obey this injunction, it will render him liable to lose his membership in ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... Peter, doggedly, evidently deciding that, this time, he could safely obey Lolla's orders, and quite ready to do so. "If you make any ...
— The Camp Fire Girls at Long Lake - Bessie King in Summer Camp • Jane L. Stewart

... himself to the exercises of charity, without returning to Assisi; but calling to mind the order which had been given him by the voice which came from the crucifix, to repair the Church of St. Damian, he thought himself bound to obey it, at least by "questing" for what was requisite for working at it. The profound humility which he had acquired by the degradations he had subjected himself to, gave him the courage he required for begging in ...
— The Life and Legends of Saint Francis of Assisi • Father Candide Chalippe

... strange perversity. How much more fitting it were to bow in reverent ignorance before the perfect hand, taken up from the ground, no more to dull its percipient surfaces on earth and stones and bark, but to minister to its lord's expanding mind and obey his creative will, while his frame stands upright and firm upon a single pair of true feet, with their toes all ...
— Concerning Animals and Other Matters • E.H. Aitken, (AKA Edward Hamilton)

... Carolina must be forced to obey the laws of the land. The tariff will be collected by force if necessary. To nullify an Act of Congress would be most dangerous to the Union. Take soldiers and war vessels, General Scott, to Charleston and enforce ...
— History Plays for the Grammar Grades • Mary Ella Lyng

... as though to waver out another protest, but then spun and hurried off—military-like, glad to have an order to obey to keep his ...
— Border, Breed Nor Birth • Dallas McCord Reynolds

... number that attend the steps of our great chief, running of his errands, and doing him homage. But, come along, you must go and spread the blanket of friendship before the great man, whom all the Elks, no matter where found, as well as the inhabitants of the valley, worship and obey." ...
— Traditions of the North American Indians, Vol. 3 (of 3) • James Athearn Jones

... And I think the senses ought not to rove about, like an ill-trained maid, when sent on an errand by the soul, but to do their business, and then return quickly with the answer, and afterwards to keep within the bounds of reason, and obey her behests. But it is like those lines ...
— Plutarch's Morals • Plutarch

... in the mean while, stood apart from the tumult, crying out with a loud voice, "Fear not, Ilbrahim; come hither and take my hand," and his unhappy friend endeavored to obey him. After watching the victim's struggling approach with a calm smile and unabashed eye, the foul-hearted little villain lifted his staff and struck Ilbrahim on the mouth so forcibly that the blood issued in a stream. The poor child's arms had been raised ...
— Twice Told Tales • Nathaniel Hawthorne

... them a peremptory message, commanding them to appear to surrender themselves at the nearest government station within one month, they returned an impudent answer, saying that they had so far accepted orders from no one, and asking — Who was he that they should obey him? Steps were at once taken to enforce obedience. Since to storm the hill might well cost many lives, it seemed preferable to try to lure its defenders from their stronghold. The Resident, without ...
— The Pagan Tribes of Borneo • Charles Hose and William McDougall

... some other time," said Jonas. "But don't stay up here. You don't obey so well as Oliver. Go down and give ...
— Jonas on a Farm in Winter • Jacob Abbott

... louder and louder, till one might have thought the world was going to ruin. Good gracious! There came one wasp after another, one swarm behind another, whole ranks, great clouds of wasps of all sizes, all ready to circle the earth and obey the Poor Boy's commands. ...
— Roumanian Fairy Tales • Various

... "I obey you, Mistress," the man said again, lifting his hat and bowing deeply. "I regret that the officiousness of this blundering varlet should have mistaken my intentions, which were but to ...
— When London Burned • G. A. Henty

... the space of some two hours: without effect. Whereupon Archivist Camus, getting quite loud, proclaims, in the name of the National Convention, for he has the power to do it, That General Dumouriez is arrested: "Will you obey the National Mandate, General!" "Pas dans ce moment-ci, Not at this particular moment," answers the General also aloud; then glancing the other way, utters certain unknown vocables, in a mandatory manner; seemingly a German word-of-command. (Dumouriez, iv. 159, &c.) Hussars ...
— The French Revolution • Thomas Carlyle

... o'clock that the Emperor had just retired, and that in case any soldiers should arrive during the night who had accompanied him, he had given orders that they should be on duty at the palace conjointly with the National Guard. The poor creatures were hardly in a condition to obey such an order. At two o'clock in the morning we saw two of them arrive in a most pitiable condition; they were perfectly emaciated, and their feet blistered. All that they could do was to throw themselves on their bags, on which they fell sound asleep; and they did not even awake while the duty of ...
— The Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte • Bourrienne, Constant, and Stewarton

... Esau is a hairy man, while I am smooth. Perhaps my father will feel of me; then I shall appear to him as a deceiver, and I shall bring blame upon me and not a blessing." But his mother said to him, "Upon me be the blame, my son; only obey me and go, bring the kids to me." So he went and brought them to his mother, and his mother made savory food such ...
— The Children's Bible • Henry A. Sherman

... command, but assisting where opportunity served. He was seen in different parts of the field, but his chief exertions appear to have been expended upon the attempted fortification of Bunker's Hill, where he met the fugitives in the retreat, and conducted "such of them as would obey him," says Bancroft, to the ...
— Great Men and Famous Women. Vol. 2 of 8 • Various

... we see them. These two precepts are not mere tautology, but the second of them is the ground of the first. The force of our recoil from the bad will be measured by the firmness of our grasp of the good; and yet, though inseparably connected, the one is apt to be easier to obey than is the other. There are types of Christian men to whom it is more natural to abhor the evil than to cleave to the good; and there are types of character of which the converse is true. We often see men very earnest and entirely ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture: Romans Corinthians (To II Corinthians, Chap. V) • Alexander Maclaren

... first, but always came to me. The parlor-maid, a new one, and not a great favorite with Joe, made matters worse by correcting him in an audible voice; and once, when somebody wanted oyster-sauce, she told Joe to hand it. The poor boy, wishing to obey quickly, forgot to give the bear-skin a wide berth, slipped on it, and in a moment had fallen full length, having in his fall deposited the contents of the sauce- tureen partly into a blue leather armchair, and the rest ...
— J. Cole • Emma Gellibrand

... the little ceremony. He hurriedly mumbled over several passages of the Code, giving the numbers of the paragraphs; and I was given confusedly to understand that I was threatened with the police if I did not blindly obey all the orders and crotchets of my husband, and if I did not follow wherever he might choose to take me, even if it should be to a sixth floor in the Rue-Saint-Victor. A score of times I was on the point of interrupting the Mayor, and saying, ...
— Monsieur, Madame and Bebe, Complete • Gustave Droz

... the servant of a corporation. You have in no instance access to the men who are really determining the policy of the corporation. If the corporation is doing the things that it ought not to do, you really have no voice in the matter and must obey the orders, and you have oftentimes with deep mortification to co-operate in the doing of things which you know are against the public interest. Your individuality is swallowed up in the individuality and purpose of ...
— The New Freedom - A Call For the Emancipation of the Generous Energies of a People • Woodrow Wilson

... was not entirely sorry to obey the request. Mr Meggs's sudden fury had startled and frightened her. So long as she could end the scene victorious, she ...
— The Man with Two Left Feet - and Other Stories • P. G. Wodehouse

... therefore, from the very nature of the case, it must be God's book, why not believe it, and obey it? ...
— Modern Spiritualism • Uriah Smith

... not? Have I not explained to you by what constant, long, daily practice I have learnt to plant my knives without seeing what I am doing?" "Yes, well, what then?" "Well! Cannot you understand what she has understood with such terrible results, that now my hand would no longer obey me, if I wished to make a mistake as I threw?" "Is it possible?" "Nothing is truer, I am sorry to say. For I really have wished to have my revenge, which I have dreamt of, and which I thought so easy. Exasperated by that bad woman's insolence and confidence in ...
— The Works of Guy de Maupassant, Volume II (of 8) • Guy de Maupassant

... a word in the giant's own language, meaning "hurry." And Koku knew when Tom used that word that there was need of haste. So, though he had sat down, evidently to take his ease after a long tramp through the woods, Koku sprang up to obey his master's bidding. ...
— Tom Swift and his Big Tunnel - or, The Hidden City of the Andes • Victor Appleton

... wilt be peace, wilt be power. Thy hand on the reins and thine eye on the way Shall be wisdom to guide and controlling to stay, And my life in that hour Shall be led into leading, and rest when it comes to obey; For thou wilt be peace and ...
— Poems with Power to Strengthen the Soul • Various

... as axiomatic the world regards as folly, if you take Christ for your Teacher. All that you labour to secure the world does not care to possess, if you have Him for your aim. All that you live to seek it has abandoned; all that you desire to obey it will not even consult, if you are taking Christ and His law for your rule. And therefore there must come, sooner or later, and more or less intensely in all Christian lives, opposition and tribulation. ...
— Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. John Chaps. XV to XXI • Alexander Maclaren

... difficult to obey that request. I didn't know exactly where to look, while I sat facing her. So I got up, vaguely full of goodwill, prepared even to move off as far as the window, ...
— The Arrow of Gold - a story between two notes • Joseph Conrad

... Yes, I would be taken; But, as a Roman ought,—dead, my Ventidius: For I'll convey my soul from Caesar's reach, And lay down life myself. 'Tis time the world Should have a lord, and know whom to obey. We two have kept its homage in suspense, And bent the globe, on whose each side we trod, Till it was dented inwards. Let him walk Alone upon't: I'm weary of my part. My torch is out; and the world stands before me, Like ...
— All for Love • John Dryden

... children speak only in the authority of love, yet authority, loving and to be obeyed. The most important lesson to impart is obedience to authority as authority. The question of salvation with most children will be settled as soon as they learn to obey parental authority. It establishes a habit and order of mind that is ready to accept divine authority. This precludes skepticism and disobedience, and induces that childlike trust and spirit set forth as a necessary state of salvation. Children that ...
— Searchlights on Health - The Science of Eugenics • B. G. Jefferis and J. L. Nichols

... Herod! Why, 'twas greatly thought! 'Twas worthy of the bosom which conceiv'd it! Yet 'twas too merciful to be his own. Yes, Douglas, yes, my husband, I'll obey thee, And bless thy genius which has found the means To reconcile thy vengeance with my peace, The deadly means ...
— Percy - A Tragedy • Hannah More

... thanked me for my verses—Lord, as if that ample baggage could ever be humble!—and would be flattered beyond praise if my dignity would honor her with my presence on such a day at such an hour. And I was very well pleased with this missive, and was very careful to obey ...
— The God of Love • Justin Huntly McCarthy

... company on the yacht or no. He would say, "Shall I come? or shall I stay behind?" Claudius had much to learn from Mr. Barker before he was competent to deal with women. But then Claudius would have scorned the very expression "to deal" with them; theirs to command, his to obey—there was to be no question of dealing. Only in his simple heart he would like to know in so many words what the commands were; and that is sometimes a little hard, for women like to be half understood before they speak, and ...
— Doctor Claudius, A True Story • F. Marion Crawford

... "be good enough to hand me those tables; they contain a dice-box.—Nay, Mr. Meredith," seeing Ned about to assist the helpless, frightened woman; "when present, at least, I expect my wife to obey me." Lucy was forced to rise, and, trembling in every limb, to present the tables to her lord. Sir Hugh placed the dice-box on the table, laid his pistols beside it, and, taking a seat, motioned to Cousin Edward to do the same. "You are a man ...
— Kate Coventry - An Autobiography • G. J. Whyte-Melville

... was thought best that he should keep on with the work he had begun. The grandmother urged his return: "My Francois," she said, "we must accept the will of God. Thy father, my son, Jean-Louis, said that you were to be a painter; obey him, ...
— Great Men and Famous Women, Vol. 8 (of 8) • Various

... was hoisted on board the Queen Charlotte. The day before that event the men came and informed Sir Harry of what was to take place, but that he might rely on their loyalty, and as far as was consistent with prudence, that they would obey every order from the officers, to which resolution they most scrupulously adhered. While such was the state of affairs, the Saint Fiorenzo having received orders to proceed to Sheerness for the purpose of fitting out to carry over the Princess Royal, ...
— How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves - Updated to 1900 • W.H.G. Kingston

... seemed to be quite charmed by, his condescension. "To-morrow is a fast day," said she, setting down her glass, "and although it will be a day of great fatigue for me, as I shall have to undergo the question as well as death, I intend to obey the orders of the Church and keep ...
— CELEBRATED CRIMES, COMPLETE - THE MARQUISE DE BRINVILLIERS • ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE

... dismiss all objections to Coercion Acts, together with all arguments founded upon such objections, with one peremptory remark—namely, that since a law is merely a rule which men are compelled to obey by the power of the State, and Coercion is but another name for compulsory obedience to the law, to object to Coercion is in reality to object to law itself, or in effect to the existence of political society. The temptation ...
— England's Case Against Home Rule • Albert Venn Dicey

... will look after them," answered the negro, in French; not very good French, by-the-by, but Mr Collinson understood it. "I must, however, obey my young mistress first, and attend to you; so, if ...
— Sunshine Bill • W H G Kingston

... countenances of the crew; many looked pale and haggard. The past hours had been trying ones, and the soldiers, some in their shirts and trousers only, were labouring away manfully at the pumps; the crew at their stations, ready to obey the commands which any sudden emergency might demand. At length the carpenter reported that he had so far conquered the leaks that the ship might safely be put ...
— The Voyages of the Ranger and Crusader - And what befell their Passengers and Crews. • W.H.G. Kingston

... old antagonist for protection. He did not appeal to that heart in vain. General Grant at once took up the cudgels in his defence, threatened to resign his office if such officers were indicted while they continued to obey their paroles, and such was the logic of his argument and the force of his character that those indictments were soon after quashed. So that he penned no idle platitude; he fashioned no stilted epigrams; he spoke the earnest ...
— Modern Eloquence: Vol III, After-Dinner Speeches P-Z • Various

... the worthy successor of Lagrange and Laplace, and encouraged hopes destined to be abundantly realised. His attention was directed by Arago to the Uranian difficulty in 1845, when he cheerfully put aside certain intricate cometary researches upon which he happened to be engaged, in order to obey with dutiful promptitude the summons of the astronomical chief of France. In his first memoir on the subject (communicated to the Academy, November 10, 1845), he proved the inadequacy of all known causes of disturbance to account ...
— A Popular History of Astronomy During the Nineteenth Century - Fourth Edition • Agnes M. (Agnes Mary) Clerke

... for a fellow that felt like Emil Forster to go and lick him. But to lay hold of a man who hated war with all his heart and soul, to drag him away from the little business he had painfully built up, and compel him to put on a uniform and obey other men's orders—well, when you saw a thing like that, you knew about the atrocities ...
— Jimmie Higgins • Upton Sinclair

... friend, with a persistency strange in one so timid and fearful. Convalescence came, with its unwilling fretfulness, its fits of unreason. Still Lobelia clung to Grace, and no one else could make her listen and obey. The nurse laughed, and said she might as well go, and leave her diploma with Miss Wolfe; yet stayed, for the two worked together in pleasant harmony and friendship. At last, Doctor Hendon ordered a change of scene, and now, too, Grace ...
— Peggy • Laura E. Richards

... accustomed blindly to obey; and to whom can one more easily render obedience than to the duke, since the event always proves the wisdom ...
— Egmont - A Tragedy In Five Acts • Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

... obeys them. That is the theory. But there are several mitigating circumstances. In the first place, it is often difficult for an Editor to make his policy quite clear to his staff. Next, the leader-writer, no matter how strong his intention to obey his instructions and to enter into the spirit of his chief, may fail to do so, from want of that complete clarity of mind that comes only with personal conviction. If not his own view, his own understanding of the facts is apt ...
— The Adventure of Living • John St. Loe Strachey

... ordered out, and the garrison, and they would come for us, and there would be another prodigious time, and that would get cabled too, and—well, Joe, I was in a state of perfect bliss. But happily, oh, so happily, that big portier wouldn't let us out—he was sorry, but he must obey orders—we must go back up stairs and wait. Poor Livy—I couldn't help but enjoy her distress. She said we were in a fix, and how were we going to explain, if the princess should arrive before the rightful Americans came? We went up stairs again—laid ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... having estimated San Martin and his proceedings in Peru as they deserved, and hence he had become obnoxious to those whose design it was to lay Chili at the feet of the Protector. On Santa Cruz proceeding to Conception to take up the command, the troops unanimously refused to obey his authority, or to permit General Freire to leave them. The people of Conception, who had suffered more from their patriotism than any other in Chili, were equally resolute, not only from attachment to Freire, but ...
— Narrative of Services in the Liberation of Chili, Peru and Brazil, - from Spanish and Portuguese Domination, Volume 1 • Thomas Cochrane, Tenth Earl of Dundonald

... would take no denial to my reading it to them, in order to mark errata; and to cut the matter short, I was compelled to communicate the affair to my cousin Edward, and then to obey ...
— The Diary and Letters of Madame D'Arblay Volume 1 • Madame D'Arblay

... that a merchant in Saragossa on his death-bed desired his wife to sell a fine Spanish horse for as much as it would fetch and give the money to the mendicant friars. After his death his widow did not approve of such a legacy, but, in order to obey her late husband's will, she instructed a servant to go to the market and offer the horse for a ducat and her cat for ninety-nine ducats, both, however, to be sold together. A gentleman purchased the horse and the cat, well knowing that the former ...
— Flowers from a Persian Garden and Other Papers • W. A. Clouston

... sad faces, the children turned to obey their mother, who, not for a moment relenting, spoke to them sharply for their lack of prompt obedience. They went ...
— The Two Wives - or, Lost and Won • T. S. Arthur

... Obey him, and follow his bidding! And if 'tis unpleasant to bridle the tongue, Yet talking is bad, silence good ...
— The Poems of Goethe • Goethe

... laughed Rob. "You know, a boy scout promises to obey the law, and the game law is as much a ...
— The Boy Scouts of the Eagle Patrol • Howard Payson

... saddle, and then stood to see what I would do next. When I made him understand that I meant to walk round the point, he very earnestly insisted that I should get back to the saddle again, and was so positive that I had only to obey. It was well I did so, for the mule went round safely enough, and could afford to go up to his ankles in ...
— Sunny Memories of Foreign Lands V2 • Harriet Beecher Stowe

... I made my call on the following morning it would be early enough, and Sir Robert was rather inclined to agree with her. But the receipt of the telegram seemed to suggest that something unexpected had happened, and I therefore determined to obey the summons that night. I accordingly scribbled a reply saying that I would present myself at nine o'clock; and within ten minutes of that hour I was once more in the Ambassador's house. His Excellency was out; but Mr Kuroda ...
— Under the Ensign of the Rising Sun - A Story of the Russo-Japanese War • Harry Collingwood

... awaits the realization by woman of her divine call. When woman knows that she is really a co-creator with God in the reproduction of the race, a new era will dawn for mankind. You promise me faithfully to obey my instructions?" ...
— The Foolish Virgin • Thomas Dixon

... you were by no means to blame for this; everybody admitted that both of you were perfectly free to do as you liked; but you ran full tilt against the ideas of the world, and the world has not shown you the consideration that is shown to those who obey the rules of the game. If you had left Coralie to this M. Camusot, if you had hidden your relations with her, you might have married Mme. de Bargeton; you would now be prefect of ...
— Lost Illusions • Honore De Balzac

... which was bought with a sum of money left to us by an uncle. On this we have managed to get along comfortably, and have even been able to pay for occasional help in the work of our very modest household. When your Lordship's food order was issued we determined to obey it strictly, being glad of an opportunity to show our patriotic devotion to the cause of our country. "It will be hard for us, Penelope," I said, "for we are not used to such quantities of meat, and even the allowance of bread ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 152, April 4, 1917 • Various

... Pepe, who had marched to the front in northern Italy with 14,000 men, to return at once. General Pepe, who had already reached Bologna and had entered hostilities under Charles Albert's command, declined to obey the orders of his sovereign. His rank and file trooped back to Naples. Only fifteen hundred Neapolitan volunteers remained with Pepe at the front. A number of the officers who returned felt their disgrace so keenly that they committed suicide. The Neapolitan fleet, which had ...
— A History of the Nineteenth Century, Year by Year - Volume Two (of Three) • Edwin Emerson

... stars obey. Peter the Great went to Holland, to England, and to France. I came, I saw, I conquered. Here we have co-ordinate words, co-ordinate phrases, and co-ordinate clauses, that is, words, phrases, and clauses ...
— Higher Lessons in English • Alonzo Reed and Brainerd Kellogg



Words linked to "Obey" :   listen, abide by, comply, mind, disobey, take orders, conform, adjust, obedience, obeisance, heed



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