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Willing   Listen
adjective
Willing  adj.  
1.
Free to do or to grant; having the mind inclined; not opposed in mind; not choosing to refuse; disposed; not averse; desirous; consenting; complying; ready. "Felix, willing to show the Jews a pleasure, left Paul bound." "With wearied wings and willing feet." "(Fruit) shaken in August from the willing boughs."
2.
Received of choice, or without reluctance; submitted to voluntarily; chosen; desired. "(They) are held, with his melodious harmony, In willing chains and sweet captivity."
3.
Spontaneous; self-moved. (R.) "No spouts of blood run willing from a tree."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Willing" Quotes from Famous Books



... act of setting foot upon the bridge down which she was running, slacked up at this command and presently stopped, for she had stopped herself and was looking back from a spot about halfway across, with the air of one willing, at last, to hear what ...
— The Mystery of the Hasty Arrow • Anna Katharine Green

... parishes, when the minister, in dismissing his congregation, told them that he had ceased to belong to the Established Church and would neither preach nor pray in that pulpit again; that he had joined the Free Protesting Church of Scotland, and, God willing, would speak the next Sabbath morning at the manse door to as many as cared to follow him. "What affecting leave-takings there must have been!" the Friar exclaimed. "When my grandfather left his church that May morning, only fifteen members remained behind, and he could hear the more ...
— Penelope's Progress - Being Such Extracts from the Commonplace Book of Penelope Hamilton As Relate to Her Experiences in Scotland • Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin

... reasonable things in the world that Andrew should marry her when his parents strongly desired it. In her estimation it was an absolute sin for him to go against the opinion of the brethren and become a soldier. Yet she was willing to forgive it all and help lead him back in ...
— A Little Girl in Old Philadelphia • Amanda Minnie Douglas

... because I have a key to that garden, which I got made from a wax impression. It is not very good soil, still I think she can grow enough for one table and I am in a position to select the table. If you are willing to aid and abet a countryman (and Gilder thinks you are,) please find the signature and address of ...
— Innocents abroad • Mark Twain

... perfectly willing to give up the desired spot to save the flowers, the Winnebagos launched out once more, and after paddling for half a mile found another camping ground equally desirable, though not as cozy as the first had been. There was more room here, and the ponchos were ...
— The Campfire Girls at Camp Keewaydin • Hildegard G. Frey

... the department of meteorology, and not to astronomy. But the fact of having looked to the astronomers shows how little the world knows of meteorology and how few meteorologists there are able, ready, and willing to rise and explain in face of the opposition of the public, who seem to think that the explanation must necessarily belong to astronomy. Astronomy proper deals with the position of the earth in space and its relation to the other heavenly bodies, whether suns, fixed stars, planets, ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 433, April 19, 1884 • Various

... willing to listen to the man who lays down rules for saving him from bodily ills than to the priest who exhorts him to save his soul. The first speaker can talk of this earth, the scene of the peasant's labors, while the priest is bound to talk to him of heaven, ...
— The Country Doctor • Honore de Balzac

... heard of another man who, after a long fever, got the idea that if he made water the country would suffer from a flood. No one could make him think otherwise; he said he was willing to die for the common good. This is how he was cured: a message was sent to him, supposedly from the commandant, saying that the town was threatened with a siege and there was no water in the moat, and asking him to fill it to keep the enemy out. The patient was delighted to be able to save both ...
— Comedies • Ludvig Holberg

... patient, having formerly been subject to ague, was struck with the resemblance of the febrile paroxysm, with what he had experienced under that disease, and was willing to flatter himself it might be of the same nature. He therefore took bark in the interval of fever, but with an increase of his cough, and this requiring venesection, the blood was found highly inflammatory. The vast quantity of blood which he had lost from time to time, produced a ...
— Zoonomia, Vol. II - Or, the Laws of Organic Life • Erasmus Darwin

... Napoleon holds Rome is a day of danger to him, a danger slight perhaps now, but serious if the occupation be prolonged. The Anti-papal party, and it includes almost all that are liberal and all that are energetic, are willing to give him time, but not an indefinite time. They are quiet only because they trust him. He is a magician who has sold himself to the Devil. The Devil is patient, but he will not be cheated. The Carbonari ...
— Correspondence & Conversations of Alexis de Tocqueville with Nassau William Senior from 1834 to 1859, Vol. 2 • Alexis de Tocqueville

... "I am no crocodile tamer; willing as I am to oblige you, and clever as I am with parlour tricks, I have not yet succeeded in inducing a crocodile to come to ...
— Bones - Being Further Adventures in Mr. Commissioner Sanders' Country • Edgar Wallace

... can raise it in the air, as I have often seen, what must we expect to result when the new motive force shall find its Franklin and be shown to the world as real "Vril"? The experiment of silently willing a subject to act in a manner not suggested by speech or sign has been repeatedly tried and succeeded in London drawing-rooms; and it has lately been suggested that atrocious crimes have resulted from overpowering volition. In cases of paralysis ...
— Supplemental Nights, Volume 3 • Richard F. Burton

... Napoleon was punctual. That I will say for him. If in any way I think less of Napoleon Bonaparte now than I did, let me at least admit that a more punctual, obliging, willing man ...
— Frenzied Fiction • Stephen Leacock

... said old Nokomis: "Bring not here an idle maiden, Bring not here a useless woman, Hands unskilful, feet unwilling; Bring a wife with nimble fingers, Heart and hand that move together, Feet that run on willing errands!" Smiling answered Hiawatha: "In the land of the Dacotahs Lives the Arrow-maker's daughter, Minnehaha, Laughing Water, Handsomest of all the women. I will bring her to your wigwam, She shall run upon your errands, Be your ...
— The Complete Poetical Works of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow • Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

... talk," he continued, "which struck me as being sensible: possibly (for we are all more or less conceited), because I agreed with her myself. She suspects Miss Jethro of knowing more about that damnable murder than Miss Jethro is willing to acknowledge. If you want to produce the right effect on her—" he looked hard at Alban and checked ...
— I Say No • Wilkie Collins

... now, in accordance with the hints of the census-takers and directors, and afterwards carry it on; (4) That all who, on account of age, weakness, or other causes, cannot give their personal labor among the needy, shall intrust the task to their young, strong, and willing relatives. (Good consists not in the giving of money, it consists in the loving intercourse of men. This alone ...
— What To Do? - thoughts evoked by the census of Moscow • Count Lyof N. Tolstoi

... Fielding for boxing the political compass, and for selling his pen. Another bookseller insinuates that Fielding's own attack on the Apology is but a half-hearted affair—"Ah Sir, you know not what F—-g could do if he were willing ... you would have seen him mince and hash it so as to make half the Town weep and the other laugh. Don't you think the Pen that writ Pasquin, Joseph Andrews, and the Champion could have answered the ...
— Henry Fielding: A Memoir • G. M. Godden

... private detectives, a sinister breed of traders upon base jealousies now happily vanished from the world, and wrote apropos of an advertisement for "stevedores" that I did not know what the duties of a stevedore might be, but that I was apt and willing to learn—and in the afternoons and evenings I wandered through the strange lights and shadows of my native valley and hated all created things. Until my wanderings were checked by the discovery that I ...
— In the Days of the Comet • H. G. Wells

... in prominent places, but for the most part in undesirable corners that the park gardener is willing to relinquish for the good of the cause. In Riverside Park the plat is adjacent to the summer playground, and the second year that I had the garden, at the end of June when school closed, a few of the children volunteered to attend to ...
— Construction Work for Rural and Elementary Schools • Virginia McGaw

... all of them were cowards; some, I dare say, were brave enough, for there are brave men among the Mexicans. A few were evidently willing to make the attack, but they wanted combination—they wanted a leader: he who acted as such appeared to be endowed with more ...
— The War Trail - The Hunt of the Wild Horse • Mayne Reid

... all persons he must not speak to you, if he had anything painful to tell; for that you were too much disturbed already, and had been for some hours, out of anxiety and terror about my mistress, to bear much more. So, when he heard that, he was less willing to speak freely than before. He might prove wrong, he said; he might give offence; things might turn out far otherwise than according to first appearances; for his part, he could not believe anything amiss of so sweet a lady. And after all, it would be better to ...
— Narrative And Miscellaneous Papers • Thomas De Quincey

... that I would like to visit the great country across the great salt water, and I have sometimes thought that the day would come for me to do so; still, I am getting advanced in years now. I am no longer young as I used to be. I am not always well, and it is a long way to go. Nevertheless I am willing to accompany you if the Great Spirit wills it. I committed myself to the hands of the Great Spirit when I became a Christian forty years ago. If it is His will that I should go, I will go; if it is not His will I will ...
— Missionary Work Among The Ojebway Indians • Edward Francis Wilson

... especially Maria, were much in her thoughts on seeing him; but no embarrassing remembrance affected his spirits. Here he was again on the same ground where all had passed before, and apparently as willing to stay and be happy without the Miss Bertrams, as if he had never known Mansfield in any other state. She heard them spoken of by him only in a general way, till they were all re-assembled in the drawing-room, when Edmund, being engaged ...
— Persuasion • Jane Austen

... force the full power of the law. I might, if I chose, and as I am fully entitled, commit you at once to Mazas, to keep you in solitary confinement. Your conduct has been deplorable, well calculated to traverse and impede justice. But I am willing to believe that you were led away, not unnaturally, as a gallant gentleman,—it is the characteristic of your nation, of your cloth,—and that on more mature consideration you will acknowledge and not ...
— The Rome Express • Arthur Griffiths

... language, may we not be blessed, as Brainerd was, through an interpreter? May we not be blessed also to save some English, and to stir up missionaries? My health is only tolerable; I would be better if we were once away. I am often so troubled as to be made willing to go or stay, to die or to live. Yet it is encouraging to be used in the Lord's service again, and in so interesting a manner. What if we should see the heavenly Jerusalem before the earthly? I am taking drawing materials, that I may carry ...
— The Biography of Robert Murray M'Cheyne • Andrew A. Bonar

... more willing to instance in Ctesias, because he tells his Story roundly; he no ways minces it; his Invention is strong and fruitful; and that you may not in the least mistrust him, he pawns his word, that all that he writes, is certainly true: And so successful ...
— A Philological Essay Concerning the Pygmies of the Ancients • Edward Tyson

... truth, "That is true which is seen"; since it would follow that stones hidden in the bosom of the earth would not be true stones, as they are not seen. He also condemns the following, "That is true which is as it appears to the knower, who is willing and able to know," for hence it would follow that nothing would be true, unless someone could know it. Therefore he defines truth thus: "That is true which is." It seems, then, that truth resides in things, and ...
— Summa Theologica, Part I (Prima Pars) - From the Complete American Edition • Thomas Aquinas

... delay and their inevitable escape, and how much the honor and service of his Majesty was despised and trampled on by him, and that we supposed by his unwillingness to assist in the apprehension he was willing they should escape. After which he left us, and went to several of the magistrates, and were together five or six hours in consultation, and upon breaking up of their council they told us they would not nor could ...
— Atlantic Monthly Vol. 6, No. 33, July, 1860 • Various

... laid hold of this sheep, repeating Leila illala Mahumet resullah, the words which the Sultan desired me to repeat in his presence, by way of proof whether I was a Mahometan or professed Mameluke. As the sheep gave no answer, I asked him whether he were Mahometan, Jew, or Christian. And willing to make him a Mahometan, I repeated the formula as before, which signifies, "There is but one God, and Mahomet is his prophet," being the words the Mahometans rehearse as their profession of faith. As the sheep answered never a word ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume VII • Robert Kerr

... in the case leaving a somewhat profane impression, as if he had said, "I'll be hanged if you get me to hear anything so solemn and unpiny." This acted as a signal for the general dispersal of the whole hairy tribe, though the birds seemed willing to wait further developments, music being naturally more ...
— The Mountains of California • John Muir

... maternal ancestor had recognized a woman chief (Mamzrau monwi), and saved her at the place of massacre called Maski, and now he asked her whether she would be willing to initiate the woman of Walpi in the rites of the Mamzrau. She complied, and thus the observance of the ceremonial called the Mamzrauti came to Walpi. I can not tell how it came to the other villages. This Mamzrau-monwi had no children, and hence my maternal ancestor's sister ...
— Archeological Expedition to Arizona in 1895 • Jesse Walter Fewkes

... reason why that which is true of most individuals of a class is not true of the remainder, nor are able to bring the former under any general description which can distinguish them from the latter, yet if we are willing to be satisfied with propositions of a less degree of generality, and to break down the class A into sub-classes, we may generally obtain a collection of propositions exactly true. We do not know why most wood is lighter than ...
— A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive • John Stuart Mill

... Boulaye," he announced, "I am ready and willing to meet you." And considering the grim alternative with which the Republicans had threatened him, the old Marquis had not the courage to ...
— The Trampling of the Lilies • Rafael Sabatini

... sisters-in-laws, this would not be much; but at Manor Cross it was felt to be misconduct. Mary was so much younger than they were! And then she was the grand-daughter of a tradesman! No doubt they all thought that they were willing to admit her among themselves on terms of equality; but then there was a feeling among them that she ought to repay this great goodness by a certain degree of humility and submission. From day to day the young wife strengthened herself in a resolution ...
— Is He Popenjoy? • Anthony Trollope

... that even the sad-eyed young widow could not help laughing; the first lisping words, which, alas, might not be the sweet baby names for father or mother—for by that time poor Lavinia had faded out of life, with words of whispered love and thankfulness to the grandparents so willing to do their utmost. But it was a sad little story at best, and even Grandmamma's brave old heart trembled when she thought that it might come ...
— "Us" - An Old Fashioned Story • Mary Louisa S. Molesworth

... sitting here doing nothing, without a soul to speak to. I've already smoked half-a-dozen cigars, till I'm so muddled I don't know what I'm about. It's so hot one can't walk in the day, and this is just the time for exercise." Lopez yielded, being willing to yield in almost anything at present to the brother of Emily Wharton; and, though the thing seemed to him to be very foolish, they entered the park by St. James's Palace, and started to walk round it, turning to the right and going in ...
— The Prime Minister • Anthony Trollope

... closer about the girl's frail form. The strain of guilty compunction that entered into Julie's feeling did but make it the more sensitive. She said to herself in a vague haste that now she would make amends. If only Lady Blanche were willing...
— Lady Rose's Daughter • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... During the calm, being willing to make the best use of our time, we put our fishing lines overboard, in sixty fathoms water, but without any success. As this was the only amusement our circumstances admitted, the disappointment was always ...
— A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 17 • Robert Kerr

... out of so small a sum we cannot expect any thing that can be of service from them; if we did it would soon bring a scandal upon religion; and the FREE PEOPLE in our society are but poor, but they are all willing, both free and slaves, to do what they can. As for my part, I am too much entangled with the affairs of the world to go on," as I would, "with my design, in supporting the cause: this has, I acknowledge, been a great hindrance to the Gospel in one way; ...
— The Journal of Negro History, Vol. I. Jan. 1916 • Various

... a deep breath of satisfaction. Here was a man who understood things, and took hold with conviction—a man who was really willing to do something. It was very disconcerting that he happened to ...
— Samuel the Seeker • Upton Sinclair

... Sabbath, as you say, is abolished, why do you, JOSEPH MARSH, continue to call the first day of the week the Sabbath. See V. T., 15th July. If you profess to utter the VOICE OF TRUTH from the bible, do be consistent, and also willing that other papers, besides yours and the Advent Herald, should give the present truth to the flock of God. I say let it go with lightning speed, every way, as does the political news by the electric telegraph. If the whole law and the prophets hang on the commandments, ...
— The Seventh Day Sabbath, a Perpetual Sign - 1847 edition • Joseph Bates

... Phillips had not stolen the four hundred dollars. Had not he, Jed Winslow, loudly proclaimed to Ruth Armstrong that he knew her brother to be a fine young man, one who had been imprudent, it is true, but much more sinned against than sinning and who would henceforth, so he was willing to swear, be absolutely upright and honest? Of course the fact that a sum of money was missing from the Orham National Bank, where Phillips was employed, did not necessarily imply that the latter had ...
— Shavings • Joseph C. Lincoln

... was he a man of worth and a good citizen, and Ann had liked him from their first meeting. As for Jerry, he worshipped Ann and would have done anything she asked him. Ever since he had discovered that Ann was willing to listen to and sympathise with his outpourings on the subject of his troubled wooing, he ...
— Piccadilly Jim • Pelham Grenville Wodehouse

... chosen head of a people who had just abolished royal government with all its pomp and parade, its titles and class immunities, but who were too refined, and too conscious of their real social and political strength as a basis for a great nation, to be willing to trample upon all deferential forms and ceremonies that might give proper dignity to, and respect for deserving rulers, without ...
— Washington and the American Republic, Vol. 3. • Benson J. Lossing

... could not possess her he should not live much longer, and that this was what rendered him so melancholy. 'Go, therefore,' he added, 'and ask her hand for me, and bring her here whether her father be willing or not, and I will amply reward thee.' Skirnir undertook to perform the task, provided he might be previously put in possession of Frey's sword, which was of such excellent quality that it would of itself strew ...
— The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson • Saemund Sigfusson and Snorre Sturleson

... for the extremely partial and irregular occurrence of such notes of authorship; as well as explain why a name duly prefixed in one copy is often missing in another.(527) Whether Victor's Commentary can in strictness be called a "Catena," or not, must remain uncertain until some one is found willing to undertake the labour of re-editing his pages; from which, by the way, I cannot but think that some highly interesting (if not some important) ...
— The Last Twelve Verses of the Gospel According to S. Mark • John Burgon

... drew his head in again, and went on with his dressing. What, indeed, could he do himself if the man were to appear on the scene, and if his daughter should declare herself willing to ...
— Marion Fay • Anthony Trollope

... from the river Kali, the Hindus from the south have not, in fact, been so bad as they pretend; and, although no one is willing to acknowledge a deficiency of zeal, or a descent from barbarians, yet, in fact, they may have permitted to remain such of the cultivators as chose to adopt the rules of purity, and to take the name of Sudras. I have not seen a sufficient ...
— An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal • Fancis Buchanan Hamilton

... note this fact: Whitman merely wanted to live with animals—he did not desire to become one. He wasn't willing to forfeit knowledge; and a part of that knowledge was that man has some things yet to learn from the patient brute. Much of man's misery has come ...
— Little Journeys to the Homes of the Great - Volume 12 - Little Journeys to the Homes of Great Scientists • Elbert Hubbard

... semi-idiotic grasp to all that came thus into his temporary possession. I have seen many erected to statesmen,—statesmen,—but never one to mere politicians; many to true orators, but never to mere demagogues; many to soldiers and leaders, but never to men who were not willing, when necessary, to risk all in the service of their country. No, you will find that the world's monuments and statues have been erected and its praises and honors have gone out to those who were ...
— What All The World's A-Seeking • Ralph Waldo Trine

... when a man claims to be all goodness, that claim alone does not make his credit any better in business, or at the bank. If a man is good, the world has a way of finding out his qualities. Most men are willing to admit, at least to themselves, that their qualities are somewhat mixed. I do not believe that the good people of the world are all bunched up in one corner and the bad ones in another. Christ's parable of the wheat and the tares explains that to my satisfaction. There is ...
— The Story of Cole Younger, by Himself • Cole Younger

... favor in Meshach Milburn's eyes, and was appointed to sleep in the store and watch it; and there Roxy came down in the twilights, and, with pity more than affection, heard him weave the illusion of his love for her, willing to be amused by it, because it was so sincere with him; for Jack was all lover, and meek and artful, bold and domestic, soft and outlawed, as the houseless Thomas cat that makes highways of the fences, and wooes the demurest ...
— The Entailed Hat - Or, Patty Cannon's Times • George Alfred Townsend

... in Virginia, but also in other colonies, his fiery words acted like magic in stirring up the people against the Stamp Act. He had proved himself a bold leader, willing to risk any danger for the cause of ...
— Stories of Later American History • Wilbur F. Gordy

... sons, sacrifice and rejoice that they will have people to take care of them and to bury them; unless indeed they bring up sons from want of heirs; as if one could not find or fall in with anyone who would be willing to have another's property! Why, the sand on the sea shore, and the dust, and the wings of birds of varied note, are less numerous than the number of would-be heirs. For had Danaus, the father of fifty daughters, been childless, he would have had more heirs, ...
— Plutarch's Morals • Plutarch

... I was always willing to drink when any one was around. I drank by myself when no one was around. Then I made another step. When I had for guest a man of limited drinking calibre, I took two drinks to his one—one drink with him, the other drink without him and ...
— John Barleycorn • Jack London

... tendency of these people to "run the town" when sufficiently numerous to make it possible. The Slavs in the iron towns come to America for a few years, intent solely on saving every dollar within reach. They are willing to work for wages which from the American standard seem low, but to them almost fabulous; herd together in surprising promiscuity; maintain a low scale of clothing and diet, often to the ruin of health; and eventually return to Eastern ...
— Afloat on the Ohio - An Historical Pilgrimage of a Thousand Miles in a Skiff, from Redstone to Cairo • Reuben Gold Thwaites

... to know whether she could beat Seaman," said Zibeline. "Are you willing to run a ...
— Zibeline, Complete • Phillipe de Massa

... understand that in certain circumstances Albert would be very grateful to a man who would hold his tongue. He might be quite willing to do you a good turn if you undertook to answer no questions ...
— Hyacinth - 1906 • George A. Birmingham

... her spirits, and partly because the day's journey had been a short one—for the stoppage at Meitingen was quite unnecessary, they were within four hours of Augsburg, and might very well have reached it—Adelaide was less fatigued and less willing to go to bed than usual. She sat late; and it was past twelve when, having asked for her candle, Karl received the signal to go and prepare the stove. Mazzuolo followed him out, to see that the work was ...
— Tales for Young and Old • Various

... first terrible attack of suffocation, Mr. Seeley had been reluctant to ask for my husband's help; still, as he had recovered so soon, and had resumed his ordinary avocations, he was willing and able to do several urgent things for the ...
— Philip Gilbert Hamerton • Philip Gilbert Hamerton et al

... "Director of Criminal Investigations," said, in 1883: "It has been urged more than once that better and more reliable detectives might be found among the retired officers of the army and younger sons of gentlemen than in the ranks of the police. Willing, as I hope I shall always be, to give every suggestion a fair trial, six such recruits have been enrolled in the Criminal Investigation Department with a result, I am sorry to say, eminently unsatisfactory. There is, I fear, little doubt ...
— Scotland Yard - The methods and organisation of the Metropolitan Police • George Dilnot

... Buckner, tall, lean, whitehaired, genial and alert, answered the call of his door bell. Although anxious to oblige the writer and willing to grant an interview, the life of a city doctor is filled with anxious solicitation for others and he is always expecting a summons to the bedside of a patient or a professional interview ...
— Slave Narratives: A Folk History of Slavery in the United States - From Interviews with Former Slaves: Indiana Narratives • Works Projects Administration

... been willing to remain forever in this enchanting asylum; it was the realm he had pictured in his dreams; he felt himself at home; his master had to give him his exact location, and it was with the gravest air imaginable that he wrote down on his tablets fifteen degrees forty-three minutes ...
— Five Weeks in a Balloon • Jules Verne

... Empire? How did Marlborough and Clive, Chatham and Walpole, do their great world-work with an Irish Parliament behind them? The answer is, of course, that they did it better, and not worse, because Ireland was so far satisfied with her fortunes as to be willing to put her full force into the ...
— Home Rule - Second Edition • Harold Spender

... so expeditious that in this respect it is not equalled in any other country. Their post establishments are well organised; there are post-houses in all directions, and they are abundantly provided with horses. Every idea of comfort must, however, be set aside by those who are willing to conform themselves to the common method of riding post. A kind of vehicle is given which is not unlike a very small crate of earthenware fastened to four small wheels by means of wooden pegs, and altogether not higher than a common wheelbarrow. It ...
— Roumania Past and Present • James Samuelson

... like other slaves, to the benches, but carried only a ring on the foot as a badge of servitude. Indeed, when not engaged in service, they enjoyed a certain amount of liberty, being allowed to go on shore and trade, purchasing meat for such of the white men as had any money or were willing to earn some by clearing their neighbours' clothes of vermin—a common trade on board these galleys, where the confined space, the dirt and profuse sweating at the oar bred all manner ...
— The Blue Pavilions • Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch

... workingman to make it possible to catch him with cheap chapels and assistant pastors. He will not seek salvation in forma pauperis, and thinks the best talent in the ministerial market not a whit too good for him. He not unnaturally doubts the sincerity of Christians who are not willing to kneel beside badly dressed persons in prayer on the one day of the week when prayer is public. In fact, to fit the Protestant Church in this country to lay hold of the laboring population a great process of reconstruction would be necessary. The congregational ...
— Reflections and Comments 1865-1895 • Edwin Lawrence Godkin

... the state of his health absolutely demanded a short withdrawal from all business cares; and that no fee could tempt him to abandon his purpose. "Well," was the reply of one of the delegation, "it isn't the fee that we think of at all, though we are willing to pay what you may charge; but it's justice. Here are two New Hampshire men who are believed in Exeter, and Newbury, and Newburyport, and Salem to be rascals; but we in Newmarket believe, in spite of all evidence against them, ...
— The Great Speeches and Orations of Daniel Webster • Daniel Webster

... her misfortunes. She was querulous, lachrymose, and utterly despondent. From what Lizzie now learned, her hostess was enveloped in a mass of debt which would have been hopeless, even had Lucinda gone off as a bride; but she had been willing to face all that with the object of establishing her niece. She could have expected nothing from the marriage for herself. She well knew that Sir Griffin would neither pay her debts nor give her a home nor lend her ...
— The Eustace Diamonds • Anthony Trollope

... convicts. Smoke curling up from the fort and from a building on the other side of them told the besieged that the enemy had taken up their positions during the night as Ritter had prophesied. Evidently they were willing to wait for their triumph rather than risk any lives by trying to ...
— The Boy Chums in the Forest - or Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades • Wilmer M. Ely

... thereby discover'd their real Intention, so it met with Abhorrence and Detestation in all the Men of Principles, Prudence and Moderation in the Kingdom, who tho' they were Solunarians in Religion, yet were not for Blood, Desolation and Persecution of their Brethren, but with the Queen were willing they should enjoy their Liberties and Estates, they behaving themselves quietly ...
— The Consolidator • Daniel Defoe

... for error. As a philosopher, and a man of science, he was candid, ingenuous, and open to conviction; he never dealt in mystery, or pretended to any secret in art; he was always ready in explanation, and desirous of assisting every person willing to acquire knowledge. Virtue was the basis of all his actions; science never possessed a fairer fabric, nor did society ever sustain a ...
— Popular Lectures on Zoonomia - Or The Laws of Animal Life, in Health and Disease • Thomas Garnett

... who roused her, and told her She must go arm'd to be safe, as of yore! Those were the days before corps and their drilling, When the true patriot was check'd with a snub,— So, on Blackheath, devotedly willing, Stood your ...
— My Life as an Author • Martin Farquhar Tupper

... it is to ride a spirited horse, even perhaps though requiring some strength and skill, than to creep along upon a jaded hack. In the one case you feel under you the free, responsive spring of a living and willing force; in the other you have to spur a dull and ...
— The Pleasures of Life • Sir John Lubbock

... up. "I want to do no half service. I go into this heart and soul, but I do not wish to go alone. It will be so much to me to know that you are quite willing, and bade me go. ...
— What Answer? • Anna E. Dickinson

... Church is yours. Instead of turning us out neck and crop, let us stay on till Christmas, and we'll gie way to the young woman, Mr. Mayble, and make no more ado about it. And we shall always be quite willing to touch our hats when we meet ye, Mr. Mayble, just as before.' That sounds very ...
— Under the Greenwood Tree • Thomas Hardy

... the little child learns to look long before he is a year old. And that is the way to be saved. It is to look at the Lamb of God "who taketh away the sin of the world;" and there is life this moment for every one who is willing ...
— The Way to God and How to Find It • Dwight Moody

... be, but it has not yet the force of imperative duty, and it would hurt Ann more than I feel willing to do. Talk of something else. She would cease her mild canvass if she thought it ...
— Westways • S. Weir Mitchell

... judgment. No doubt he was magnetic, dominating, a master of men. I thought: there are two Locastos, the primordial one, the Indian, who had assaulted me; and the dignified genial one, the Spaniard, who was willing to own defeat and make amends. Why should I not take ...
— The Trail of '98 - A Northland Romance • Robert W. Service

... criminal class; but the growth of luxury had induced a relaxation of the old severity, and a sensitive age would no longer tolerate what appeared to be an excess of rigour, even towards the most guilty; moreover, it was found that juries were less willing to convict, and justice was often cheated because there was no alternative between virtually condemning a man to death and letting him go free; it was also held that the country paid in recommittals for its over-severity; ...
— Erewhon • Samuel Butler

... impaired, to the serious damage of his own welfare and involving the common weal as well. When at the outbreak of the war the sale of intoxicants became totally prohibited the measure was received with willing submission and hailed with general approval, which speaks volumes for the burgher population and without doubt also tends to preserve their efficiency ...
— Origin of the Anglo-Boer War Revealed (2nd ed.) - The Conspiracy of the 19th Century Unmasked • C. H. Thomas

... with marvellous fortitude. She is now quite merry, and inclined to play the coquette. Poor thing! Let us be thankful for her that she has been granted this elasticity of temper, and that she is willing to the last to cheer gloom of whomsoever will be cheered in return for a little tenderness ...
— Narrative of a Mission to Central Africa Performed in the Years 1850-51, Volume 1 • James Richardson

... their faces with handkerchiefs which they carried in their girdles. Something in their slightly-bowed attitude reminded me of the captives depicted on Egyptian monuments, with cords about their necks. How curious is that instinct which makes each sex, in different ways, the willing slave of the other! These human steam-tugs paced and pulled, and drew the varnished craft swiftly against the stream, evidently determined to do a certain distance by a certain hour. As I drifted ...
— The Open Air • Richard Jefferies

... was scarcely willing to admit such a hope but it was the foundation of his decision. "I've got to do what I can," he said. "I must take the chance. The uncertainty will torment me all ...
— The Memory of Mars • Raymond F. Jones

... winning the daughter, they answered: "The woman Li is possessed of considerable property, for her previous dealings have been with wealthy and aristocratic families, from whom she has received enormous sums. Unless you are willing to spend many thousand pounds, the daughter will have ...
— More Translations from the Chinese • Various

... tempest-shaken tree appears motionless. A study of the same organism from acorn to seed-bearing oak, reveals not a phase but a life. It is something like this—"to the era of Meiji" (A.D. 1868-1894) which I have essayed. Hence I am perfectly willing to accept, in advance, the verdict of smart inventors who are all ready to patent a brand-new religion for Japan, that my presentation ...
— The Religions of Japan - From the Dawn of History to the Era of Meiji • William Elliot Griffis

... friends here in Paris informed of your movements and the progress of affairs, and through her we can have intimate knowledge of what passes in the palace, so that they can hardly fail to know when to take the decisive step. Are you willing to undertake this difficult and dangerous enterprise?" asked Mr. Morris, looking ...
— Calvert of Strathore • Carter Goodloe

... heard groans. At last, unable to endure his sufferings, he called out to his daughter. The marquise went to him. But now her face showed signs of the liveliest anxiety, and it was for M. d'Aubray to try to reassure her about himself! He thought it was only a trifling indisposition, and was not willing that a doctor should be disturbed. But then he was seized by a frightful vomiting, followed by such unendurable pain that he yielded to his daughter's entreaty that she should send for help. A doctor arrived at about eight o'clock in the morning, but ...
— CELEBRATED CRIMES, COMPLETE - THE MARQUISE DE BRINVILLIERS • ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE

... adventure for less than L12 10s., but if his lordship were to make any "ceasement" (assessment) or raise subscriptions from the best disposed and most able of the companies, the council and company of the plantation would be willing to give bills of adventure to the masters and wardens for the general use and behoof of each company, or in the case of subscription by the wards to the alderman and deputy of each ward for the ...
— London and the Kingdom - Volume II • Reginald R. Sharpe

... hands upon every object of ancient art in Europe which it is possible to discover. His evil star brought him into touch with my friend Etienne de Vaudreix, ALIAS Arsene Lupin, ALIAS myself. He learnt, in this way, that a certain M. de Gesvres was willing to part with four pictures by Rubens, ostensibly on the condition that they were replaced by copies and that the bargain to which he was consenting remained unknown. My friend Vaudreix also undertook to persuade ...
— The Hollow Needle • Maurice Leblanc

... still the most earnest; and although Herod had been a great while apprized of these attempts, yet did not he indulge any severity to them, but by rational methods aimed to mitigate things, as not willing to give any ...
— The Antiquities of the Jews • Flavius Josephus

... We rightly ascribe this sort of contentment to mere unmanliness and want of spirit. The content which we approve is an ability to do cheerfully without what can not be had, a just appreciation of the comparative value of different objects of desire, and a willing renunciation of the less when incompatible with the greater. These, however, are excellences more natural to the character, in proportion as it is actively engaged in the attempt to improve its own or some other lot. He who is continually ...
— Considerations on Representative Government • John Stuart Mill

... willing consent to his, the Hakim retiring conducted his companions back into the streets; and the young princes, whose eyes were now opened to the instruction they were receiving, came up to ...
— Aunt Judy's Tales • Mrs Alfred Gatty

... are wretched because you cannot have yourself driven round the Park. I cannot find you a carriage, and will not attempt to do so. You may go to Baden-Baden, if you please;—that is, if your mother is willing to ...
— The Small House at Allington • Anthony Trollope

... Persons willing to assist in this work of publication, by the annual payment, during such time as they may please, of ten dollars (which sum, it will be understood, includes the annual membership fee of the Society), are requested to remit their subscriptions to the Treasurer, John H. Hinton, M.D., No. 41 ...
— Current Superstitions - Collected from the Oral Tradition of English Speaking Folk • Various

... prominent people will be involved—men who stand high, who will be torn from their high estate. I am willing that you should perform your full professional duty, save as concerns one individual, and I want you to promise that you will save that one individual, though he may be the most guilty of the ...
— Cad Metti, The Female Detective Strategist - Dudie Dunne Again in the Field • Harlan Page Halsey

... complaints were made of the unjust Governor, that Henry was at last obliged to check his rapacity. Probably, he was all the more willing to do so, in consequence of some ...
— An Illustrated History of Ireland from AD 400 to 1800 • Mary Frances Cusack

... she had heard in the church that only the good Christians went to heaven, and that those who were not Christians must burn in hell; and that for the sake of retaining her husband's affection she was not willing to die an infidel, and come to so bad an end. Finally, when it seemed that the sick man was well prepared, and his sickness was becoming dangerous, he was baptized, and then our Lord was pleased to give him health—whereat the good woman was more than ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, - Volume XIII., 1604-1605 • Ed. by Blair and Robertson

... Aloha and sail into the New York harbour with the prize that he had won. "I drink now to those among you and among all men who have won and kept that which is greater than these," the prince had said, and St. George perfectly understood. He had but to look at Olivia to be triumphantly willing that the gods should keep their secrets about time and the link between the two worlds so long as they had given him love. What should he care about time? He had ...
— Romance Island • Zona Gale

... failing us, we took also ten of the best of those Strathmuir men who had accompanied us on the sea-cow trip, to serve as bearers when it became necessary. It cannot be said that these snuff-and-butter fellows—for most, if not all of them had some dash of white blood in their veins—were exactly willing volunteers. Indeed, if a choice had been left to them, they would, I ...
— She and Allan • H. Rider Haggard

... held his tongue. Katherine declared herself ready and willing to accept the offer, and Miss Payne, with resolute candor, declared that the remuneration was miserable, but that it was as well to be doing something while waiting for ...
— A Crooked Path - A Novel • Mrs. Alexander

... while in this mood of mind, she is willing to admit that she has not had such an overwhelming view of the nature of sin as some have, nor of the ecstatic joy which some experience on conversion; but she had what was as good—a calm hope in the merits of a crucified Savior, a high estimate ...
— Daughters of the Cross: or Woman's Mission • Daniel C. Eddy

... To a delegation of the insurgents who met him on the way to complain of such an armed force coming to conquer them, Washington replied that although we had made a republican form of government and enacted laws under it, yet we had given no testimony to the world of being able or willing to support our Government; that, this being the first instance of the kind since the commencement of the Government, he thought it his duty to bring out such a force as would not only be sufficient to subdue the insurgents if they made resistance, but to crush to atoms all opposition that ...
— The United States of America Part I • Ediwn Erle Sparks

... beckons from the plain, Then hid in shades, eludes her eager swain; But feigns a laugh, to see me search around, And by that laugh the willing ...
— The Poetical Works Of Alexander Pope, Vol. 1 • Alexander Pope et al

... thought inconsistent in Tisbina, notwithstanding Mr. Panizzi's pleasantry, to be so willing to take another husband, after having poisoned herself for the first; but she seems intended by the poet to exhibit a character of impulse in contradistinction to permanency of sentiment. She cannot help shewing pity for Prasildo; she cannot help ...
— Stories from the Italian Poets: With Lives of the Writers, Vol. 2 • Leigh Hunt

... has taken the country from the black fellow, and with it his right to travel where he will for pleasure or food, and until he is willing to make recompense by granting fair liberty of travel, and a fair percentage of cattle or their equivalent in fair payment—openly and fairly giving them, and seeing that no man is unjustly treated or hungry within his borders—cattle killing, and at times even man killing by blacks, will ...
— We of the Never-Never • Jeanie "Mrs. Aeneas" Gunn

... that would be only a bother. Well, I want to get rid of the pair of them,' said my willain, 'so name the price you are willing to give.' ...
— Hidden Hand • Emma Dorothy Eliza Nevitte Southworth

... find out," replied Eureka. "If you can prove I'm guilty, I'll be willing to die nine times, but a mind's eye is no proof, because the Woggle-Bug has no ...
— Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz • L. Frank Baum.

... not less astonished than delighted at his reappearance; he had been numbered with the dead. But his love still seemed strangely coy; willing, but yet somehow mysteriously withheld. The old intrigues were still on foot. Israel soon discovered, that though rejoiced to welcome the return of the prodigal son—so some called him—his father still remained inflexibly determined against the match, and still inexplicably countermined ...
— Israel Potter • Herman Melville



Words linked to "Willing" :   temperament, volition, happy, ready, unforced, selection, willing and able, option, voluntary, disposition, pick, intention, disposed, willingness



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