"Impossible" Quotes from Famous Books
... to hear you say so, Mistress Thankful," said Washington quietly; "for 'twould have been natural for you to have sought an interview with your recreant lover in yonder camp, though the attempt would have been unwise and impossible." ... — Thankful Blossom • Bret Harte
... more than rescue; it annexes and appropriates what it saves. It has "perfected" them (ver. 14); that is to say, it has placed them effectually in that position of complete "peace with God" which guilt while still unsettled makes impossible. It has "put them among the children," within the home circle of Divine love. It has done this "in perpetuity," [Greek: eis to dienekes] (ver. 14); that is to say, they will never to the very last need anything but that sacrifice and offering ... — Messages from the Epistle to the Hebrews • Handley C.G. Moule
... ghost of Uncle Klavdy should appear this minute?" flashed through Vaxin's mind. "But, of course, that's impossible." ... — Love and Other Stories • Anton Chekhov
... after a little pressing, he accepted the mount, and, of course, found it impossible to refuse his confidence to the man whose horse he ... — Two Knapsacks - A Novel of Canadian Summer Life • John Campbell
... as to chin and monopolized by a pair of dark eyes, sad and deep and beautiful. A faded blue "jumper" was buttoned tightly across the narrow chest; frayed trousers were precariously attached to the "jumper," and impossible shoes and stockings supplemented the trousers. Glancing from boy to bottle, the "comp'ny mit ... — Little Citizens • Myra Kelly
... comprehensive conception in philosophy; the idea of the Kingdom of God is the highest and broadest idea in sociology and ethics. It is so high and broad that many find it hard even to grasp the idea. Just as a barbaric tribe of hunters or fishermen would find it impossible to comprehend the social coherence and the patriotism of a nation of a hundred millions; just as the narrow nationalist of today falls down intellectually and morally when he confronts world-forces and relations: so we who are trained to think in terms of family and State, give out when ... — The Social Principles of Jesus • Walter Rauschenbusch
... hustled Mr. Page and attacked him sword in hand, and Captain Hill and his noble friend endeavoured to force Madam Bracegirdle into the coach. Mr. Page called for help: the population of Drury Lane rose: it was impossible to effect the capture; and bidding the soldiers go about their business, and the coach to drive off, Hill let go of his prey sulkily, and he waited for other opportunities of revenge. The man of whom he was most jealous was Will Mountford, the comedian; Will removed, he thought Mrs. Bracegirdle ... — Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges • William Makepeace Thackeray
... but one birth and one death to all things, be it hound, or be it deer; be it red skin, or be it white. Both are in the hands of the Lord, it being as unlawful for man to strive to hasten the one, as impossible to prevent the other. But I will not say that something may not be done to put the last moment aside, for a while at least, and therefore it is a question, that any one has a right to put to his own wisdom, how far he will go, and how much pain he will suffer, to lengthen out a time that may ... — The Prairie • J. Fenimore Cooper
... "No, children, it's impossible now. I'm busy over a scene of my storicalnovul. Ask your father." He growled it at ... — The Extra Day • Algernon Blackwood
... not lured there, slaughtered, and made to seem the victim of accident by this unscrupulous man and woman? Such things have been done; but for a daughter to fabricate such a plot as they impute to me is past belief, out of Nature and impossible. With all their wiles, they cannot prove it. I dare them to do so; I dare ... — Room Number 3 - and Other Detective Stories • Anna Katharine Green
... be wildly happy, in view of her shortcomings, but found it impossible. May was here and she, too, must be riotously joyful. The boys were wont to be off on fishing expeditions once more, and over hill and dale she followed them in spite of all opposition. One radiant afternoon John and Charles Stuart went, as usual, far afield on their homeward journey ... — 'Lizbeth of the Dale • Marian Keith
... fortune—and with the fortune that you justly expect—I will say that there is every reason to suppose that these good things have entered into his calculation more largely than a tender solicitude for your happiness strictly requires. There is, of course, nothing impossible in an intelligent young man entertaining a disinterested affection for you. You are an honest, amiable girl, and an intelligent young man might easily find it out. But the principal thing that we know about this young man—who is, indeed, very ... — Washington Square • Henry James
... betwixt his fears and his ignorance. He looked from time to time through the key-hole of the closet in which Forester was confined, and exclaimed, "Grand Dieu! comme il a l'air noble a cet instant! Ah! lui coupable! he go to gaol! it is impossible!" ... — Tales And Novels, Volume 1 • Maria Edgeworth
... Montaignesque opinions. In the very year of the appearance of Florio's folio, it was a trifle too soon to make the assumption that Montaigne was demoralising mankind, even if we assume Shakspere to have ever been capable of such a judgment. And that assumption is just as impossible as the other. According to Mr. Feis, Shakspere detested such a creed and such conduct as Hamlet's, and made him die by poison in order to show his abhorrence of them—this, when we know Hamlet to have died by the poisoned foil in the earlier play. On that view, Cordelia died by hanging in ... — Montaigne and Shakspere • John M. Robertson
... campaign with the siege of Motya, which was the magazine of the Carthaginians in Sicily; and he pushed on the siege with so much vigour, that it was impossible for Imilcon, the Carthaginian admiral, to relieve it. He brought forward his engines, battered the place with his battering-rams, advanced to the wall towers, six stories high (rolled upon wheels,) and of an equal height with their houses; ... — The Ancient History of the Egyptians, Carthaginians, Assyrians, • Charles Rollin
... snowfall Larry Kildene returned. He had lingered long after he should have taken the trail and had gone farther than he had dreamed of going when he parted from his three companions on the mountain top. All day long the snow had been falling, and for the last few miles he had found it almost impossible to crawl upward. Fortunately there had been no wind, and the snow lay as it had fallen, covering the trail so completely that only Larry Kildene himself could have kept it—he and his horse—yet not impeding his progress with drifts ... — The Eye of Dread • Payne Erskine
... fibres that form the wall. The vascular laminae are leaf-like projections, the sides of which are covered by secondary leaves. Horny laminae, arranged the same as vascular laminae, line the wall. These two structures are so firmly united that it is impossible to tear them apart without destroying the tissue. The velvety tissue covers all of the inferior surface of the foot, with the exception of the bars. As the name indicates, its surface is covered by vascular papillae that resemble the ply on velvet. It is firmly ... — Common Diseases of Farm Animals • R. A. Craig, D. V. M.
... thousand pages!" he answered. "Impossible! We must divide the book." It may have been to assuage the disappointment he read on my face that he added, "You'll double ... — Sister Teresa • George Moore
... "It's impossible to be certain about that. I have precise information. I do not dispute that he may have contributed to accelerate the course of events by the moral influence, so to say, of the affront; but as to the general conduct and moral characteristics of that personage, I am in agreement with you. ... — Crime and Punishment • Fyodor Dostoyevsky
... Langham had turned to Rose—a wild fury with Lady Charlotte and the whole affair sweeping through him. But there was no time to demur; that judicial eye was on them; the large figure and towering cap bent towards him. Refusal was impossible. ... — Robert Elsmere • Mrs. Humphry Ward
... observed by the most talented writer on this subject "the history of the bow is practically that of the violin." It will therefore be readily understood that in the earlier portions of this opusculum it will be impossible to separate them to any great extent; also, I must crave my readers' indulgence for going over a considerable tract of already well trodden ground. My excuse must be my desire for completeness, for, as I propose to deal with the evolution of the ... — The Bow, Its History, Manufacture and Use - 'The Strad' Library, No. III. • Henry Saint-George
... we came to the Arkansas River—flat-banked, sand-bottomed, wide, wandering, impossible thing—whose shallow waters followed aimlessly the line of least resistance, back and forth across its bed. Rivers had meant something to me. The big muddy Missouri for Independence and Fort Leavenworth, that its steamers might ... — Vanguards of the Plains • Margaret McCarter
... and by that means removing a source of weakness in the tube. In precisely the same way in the shrinkage of gun hoops attention must be paid to the character and value of the stresses which arise in the course of their manufacture; otherwise it will be impossible to hoop the barrel throughout in a proper manner. If prejudicial stresses exist in the metal of a hoop before it is put in its place, then, when the gun is fired, if it had been shrunk on with the ... — Scientific American Supplement, No. 633, February 18, 1888 • Various
... supporting a large parasitic colony of the persons described as financiers; and such a nation would have as a corollary to be blessed with a class of workers disproportionately large and disproportionately poor. For if industrial conditions are fair over-production is impossible. ... — The World in Chains - Some Aspects of War and Trade • John Mavrogordato
... But just at the moment? You argued, Mr. Thresk, that it is impossible to foresee what people will do under the immediate knowledge that they have committed a capital crime. I agree. But I go a little further. I say that they will also exhibit a physical strength with which ... — Witness For The Defense • A.E.W. Mason
... boat builder generally has some trouble in producing the necessary fittings for his boats. It is practically impossible to buy such things in this country, and so it ... — Boys' Book of Model Boats • Raymond Francis Yates
... oxen when half-way across the river by rocking the pont, and, nearly drowning the poor oxen, swam ashore themselves and left them to their fate. It was now 5 p.m. and as there were no men to do anything it was an impossible position, with the pont sunk in the middle of the flooded river; so that at dusk, after telling some soldiers who had come up from General Coke's Brigade in response to my request what to do to right the pont, I drew up my remaining gun and wagons on the south bank, and ... — With the Naval Brigade in Natal (1899-1900) - Journal of Active Service • Charles Richard Newdigate Burne
... I tackled the harbor. By day it was quite impossible, all toots and blares, the most frightful discords—but at night its vulgar loudness was toned down sufficiently so that a fellow with artist's ears could really stand listening to its life, especially if I did not go too close but listened from my window. Here with uglier sounds subdued ... — The Harbor • Ernest Poole
... religion have become so closely interwoven in this society that it is well-nigh impossible to separate them. The building of a house, the planting, harvesting and care of the rice, the procedure at a birth, wedding, or funeral, in short, all the events of the social and economic life, are so governed by custom and ... — The Tinguian - Social, Religious, and Economic Life of a Philippine Tribe • Fay-Cooper Cole
... impossible to make bread, from the kind of flour usually employed by the London bakers, so white, as that which is commonly sold ... — A Treatise on Adulterations of Food, and Culinary Poisons • Fredrick Accum
... Burrows' position by moving along the northern road to Maiwand and thence pressing on through the Maiwand pass, until at Singiri Ayoub's army should have interposed itself between the brigade and Candahar. There was certainly nothing impossible in such an endeavour, since Maiwand is nearer Candahar than is Khushk-i-Nakhud. Why, in the face of the information at his disposal and of the precautions enjoined on him to hinder Ayoub from slipping ... — The Afghan Wars 1839-42 and 1878-80 • Archibald Forbes
... maximum economic rate of 85 lb. per square foot of grate per hour would require a grate area of 41 square feet, and about 2,800 square feet of heating surface. Unless a most exceptional construction combined with small wheels is adopted, it appears almost impossible to get this amount on the ordinary gauge. It is true the Wootten locomotives on the Philadelphia and Reading Railway have fire-boxes with a grate area of as much as 76 square feet, but these boxes extend clean over the wheels, and the heating surface in the tubes is only 982 square feet; but ... — Scientific American Supplement, No. 458, October 11, 1884 • Various
... truth. But he began to wonder if she had heard something, for he found her eyes on him more than once, and when Margaret had gone up to bed she came over and sat on the arm of his chair. She said an odd thing then, and one that made it impossible to lie to ... — The Breaking Point • Mary Roberts Rinehart
... line of the railroad leaves the banks of the Truckee River, is only 4077 feet above the sea-level. So that these numbers would make Pyramid Lake 813 feet above the level of its affluent at Wadsworth; which, of course, is impossible. Under this state of facts, I have assumed the elevation of this lake to ... — The Lake of the Sky • George Wharton James
... serious intra-abdominal disease it is impossible for the surgeon to say exactly what is wrong without making an incision and introducing his finger, or, if need be, his hand among the intestines. With due care this is not a perilous or serious procedure, and the great advantage appertaining ... — Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia
... of impossible things; one after another, he thought of things merely inane and futile, for he was trying to do something beyond his power. Penrod was never brilliant, or even successful, save ... — Penrod and Sam • Booth Tarkington
... It seemed to him impossible that a man who had been so terror-stricken as he had fancied Andre-Louis, could have recovered his wits so quickly and completely. Yet ... — Scaramouche - A Romance of the French Revolution • Rafael Sabatini
... to his hotel and have a wash and return later," and leaves the store not only undetected but entirely unsuspected. Very probably the theft remains undiscovered until the next taking of stock, when it is impossible to tell how the goods were lost, and in many cases some attache of the store is discharged, never knowing for what sin of omission or commission he was suspected. The success of this mode of theft is best shown by the infrequency ... — Danger! A True History of a Great City's Wiles and Temptations • William Howe
... may be still alive; and those who are not accustomed to find themselves in print have a sort of horror of publicity. I have, therefore, altered several proper names. In other cases, by means of a slight transposition of date and place, I have rendered identification impossible. The story of "the Flax-crusher" is absolutely true, with the exception that the name of the manor-house is a fictitious one. With regard to "Good Master Systeme," I have been furnished by M. Duportal du Godasmeur ... — Recollections of My Youth • Ernest Renan
... by one of the forts with 15 guns, which were returned; nothing of moment occurred during our passage, except being once overtaken with a tornado: this is a hurricane which prevails upon the windward coast of Africa about this season of the year, preceding the rainy season; and it is impossible to convey by description an adequate idea of this explosion of the elements. It announces its approach by a small white cloud scarcely discernible, which with incredible velocity overspreads the atmosphere, and envelopes the affrighted mariner in a vortex ... — Observations Upon The Windward Coast Of Africa • Joseph Corry
... with—that the British envoy, the British officers employed in the districts and provinces, and the British army, stood too much between the Shah and his subjects—that we were forming a government which it would be impossible to work in our absence, and creating a state of things which, the longer it might endure, would have made more remote the time at which our interference could ... — Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXVIII. February, 1843. Vol. LIII. • Various
... is impossible not to see in this description, a spring-tide thunderstorm. But to make it more evident that the untaught mind did regard such a storm as a dragon, I think the following quotation from John of Brompton's Chronicle will convince the most sceptical: "Another remarkable thing is this, that took ... — The Book of Were-Wolves • Sabine Baring-Gould
... how long they had to prepare, the captain replied, "She may, or may not, last half an hour; over that, impossible; she leaks like a ... — The Cloister and the Hearth • Charles Reade
... caused by the keen commercial rivalry of the two maritime states. The Dutch were unprepared, and suffered severely through the loss of their carrying trade, and De Witt resolved to bring about peace as soon as possible. The first demands of Cromwell were impossible, for they aimed at the absorption of the two republics into a single state, but at last in the autumn of 1654 peace was concluded, by which the Dutch made large concessions and agreed to the striking of the flag to ... — Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 8, Slice 3 - "Destructors" to "Diameter" • Various
... shown themselves, the Irishman knew it was about impossible for him to harm them at such a distance, while their dexterity in the use of the gun made it too dangerous for him to expose himself to their fire. He watched them until he had floated quite a way below, when he began to hope that they had given up their designs upon ... — Adrift in the Wilds - or, The Adventures of Two Shipwrecked Boys • Edward S. Ellis
... accused himself of being a double fool, first, for not holding her when he had her; and secondly, having allowed her to depart, he bemoaned the fact that he had acted rudely to her, and thus had probably made her return impossible. His prison seemed inexpressibly dreary lacking her presence. Once or twice he called out her name, but the echoing ... — The Strong Arm • Robert Barr
... Kasim. He needed help at once, if his life was to be saved. Dipping my waterproof boots in the pool I filled them to the top, passed the straps over the ends of the spade shaft, and with this over my shoulder retraced my steps. It was pitch-dark in the wood and it was impossible to see the track. I called out "Kasim" with all the force of my lungs, but heard no answer. Then I sought out a dense clump of dried branches and brushwood and set it on fire. The flame shot up immediately, the pile of dry twigs crackled, burst and frizzled, the ... — From Pole to Pole - A Book for Young People • Sven Anders Hedin
... information, the Ambassador exclaimed—'If it had been six hundred leagues, I would go to see him; and I am determined to set out in the course of three or four days.' The King, who now perceived that he had committed himself, endeavoured to divert him from his purpose; but, finding this impossible, he immediately caused letters to be written to the college, stating the case as it really stood, and desired the Professors to get rid of the Ambassador in the best manner they were able, without exposing their Sovereign. ... — Real Life In London, Volumes I. and II. • Pierce Egan
... as feudal nobles, though the duty of personal service was in many cases commuted for an equivalent. Below the gentle class were freemen, and the remainder of the population were serfs or villeins. It was not impossible for villeins to purchase freedom. In France the privileges possessed by the vassals of the Crown were scarcely consistent with the sovereignty. Such were the rights of coining money, of private war, ... — The World's Greatest Books, Vol XI. • Edited by Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton
... chaos. She could not in any way read the riddle of his manner of last night. Had the sudden resumption of his old friendship with her mother absorbed his mind to the exclusion of everything else? Impossible, if he loved her. Had purely physical weariness or mental worry blotted her out completely for the time being? Impossible, if he loved her. ... — Up the Hill and Over • Isabel Ecclestone Mackay
... caught in the crowd that filled the lobby of the theatre, and conversation became impossible as they hurried through it ... — Betty Wales Freshman • Edith K. Dunton
... "like a horse," as her husband frequently complimented her, walking as fast as she was talking and, with Bonny Angel in her arms, Goober Glory did her best to keep a similar pace. But this was impossible. Not only were her feet heavy beneath the burden she bore, but her heart ached with foreboding. With Bonny Angel ill, how was the search for grandpa to go on? How to look for the little one's own people? Yet how terrible that they must be left in their grief while she could do nothing ... — A Sunny Little Lass • Evelyn Raymond
... referred to are his comedy The Jealous Lovers, his pastoral Amyntas; or, The Impossible Dowry, and the following verses On ... — Poems of Henry Vaughan, Silurist, Volume II • Henry Vaughan
... "That is impossible, sir!" he exclaimed. "I have had my orders, which are that his Royal Highness is not at home to-night, and until I know whether or not these orders are to stand, nobody, not if it were the Emperor, ... — The Princess Virginia • C. N. Williamson
... Sainte-Croix to be quite broken off, joyfully accepted. Offemont was exactly the place for a crime of this nature. In the middle of the forest of Aigue, three or four miles from Compiegne, it would be impossible to get efficient help before the rapid action of the poison had ... — CELEBRATED CRIMES, COMPLETE - THE MARQUISE DE BRINVILLIERS • ALEXANDRE DUMAS, PERE
... breadth, was an abattis constructed of pine trees, the needles stripped, the limbs cut and pointed five to ten feet from the trunks. These were packed and stacked side by side and on top of each other, being almost impossible for a single man even to pick his way through, and next to impossible for a line of battle to cross over. All along the entire length of the fortifications were built great redoubts of earthwork in the form of squares, the earth being of sufficient thickness to ... — History of Kershaw's Brigade • D. Augustus Dickert
... from Granard to Longford, for the Reay Fencibles, and all the troops; that there was another rising and an attack upon Granard: four thousand men the first report said, seven hundred the second. What the truth may be it is impossible to tell, it is certain that the troops are gone to Granard, and it is yet more certain that all the windows in this house are built halfway up, guns and bayonets dispersed by Captain Lovell in every room. The yeomanry corps paraded to-day, all steady: guard sitting up in house ... — The Life And Letters Of Maria Edgeworth, Vol. 1 • Maria Edgeworth
... It is impossible in cold print to indicate the mournful and long-drawn-out accent on the word "dead," to rhyme ... — The Boy Ranchers Among the Indians - or, Trailing the Yaquis • Willard F. Baker
... with his yeoman, overtakes the pilgrims, is the rich canon, the alchemist who could pave with gold "all the road to Canterbury town." He is said to have already ridden three miles, but whence he had come it is impossible to say. That the pilgrims who had ridden not quite five miles had come from Ospringe might seem certain, and since they were overtaken by the Canon it is possible that he was coming from Faversham. It is, however, more important to explain, if we can, what the pilgrims were doing more ... — England of My Heart—Spring • Edward Hutton
... Serena was quite an exceptional person and an advanced thinker, considering her opportunities. "The club people were going to take them up, and so I felt that we should get in first," she explained. "If they should prove to be impossible we can drop them at any time, ... — Cap'n Dan's Daughter • Joseph C. Lincoln
... appreciate a present joy. Had Jerome and Elmira been older at the time of their father's disappearance, it would have been otherwise, but as it was, their old love for him had been obliterated, not merely by time and absence, but growth. It was practically impossible, though they would not have owned it to themselves, for them to love their father, when he first returned, as they had used. They were painfully anxious to be utterly faithful, and had an odd sort of tender but imaginative pity towards him, but they could grasp ... — Jerome, A Poor Man - A Novel • Mary E. Wilkins Freeman
... future gain from continents and islands. You will say that some one else will arise to do it for us on easier terms. Perhaps—and perhaps not for a century, and another Crown may thrust in to-morrow! France, probably. It is not impossible that England might do it. As for what is named overweening pride and presumption, at least it shows at once and for altogether. We are not left painfully to find it out. It goes with his character. Take it or leave it together with his patience, courage and long head. Leave ... — 1492 • Mary Johnston
... should it be impossible to refloat the brig? If she has only a leak, that may be stopped up; a vessel from three to four hundred tons, why she is a regular ship compared to our 'Bonadventure'! And we could go a long distance in her! ... — The Mysterious Island • Jules Verne
... be impossible for him to turn away unaided an applicant for assistance, especially if a soldier, or belonging to a soldier's family. The presence of his two brothers in the army; their active work and death, naturally attracted and ... — Fifty years with the Revere Copper Co. - A Paper Read at the Stockholders' Meeting held on Monday 24 March 1890 • S. T. Snow
... near. The three men, by a sudden effort, burst open the door, rushed upon Bettys, and seized him in such a manner that he could make no resistance. He was then pinioned so firmly that to escape was impossible; and so the desperado, in spite of all his threats, was a tame and quiet prisoner, and no one hurt in taking him. Bettys then asked leave to smoke, which was granted; and he took out his tobacco, with something else which he threw into the fire. Cory saw this movement, and snatched ... — The Yankee Tea-party - Or, Boston in 1773 • Henry C. Watson
... the three wire mains, especially in the larger sizes, the neutral wire is made of much smaller section than that of a lateral conductor, because in extensive districts it is practically impossible that the current should be ... — The Standard Electrical Dictionary - A Popular Dictionary of Words and Terms Used in the Practice - of Electrical Engineering • T. O'Conor Slone
... one man killed and one wounded. A number of brave and dashing acts were performed by naval men during the operations of the fleet in the Baltic, to which it is impossible to refer in detail. Amongst the many gallant acts performed by seamen on this occasion one may specially be mentioned. During the first attack upon the batteries at Bomarsund, a live shell fell on the deck of the Hecla with its fuse still burning. Had it remained there and been permitted to ... — Our Sailors - Gallant Deeds of the British Navy during Victoria's Reign • W.H.G. Kingston
... dying to come and speak to you, Miss Effingham," commenced Miss Ring, "but these five giants (she emphasized the word we have put in italics) so beset me, that escape was quite impossible. There ought to be a law that but one gentleman should speak to a lady ... — Home as Found • James Fenimore Cooper
... followed. Instead of the ten-line paragraph with which patent churns and washing machines are ordinarily turned loose on society, the "Cosmopolitan Window Fastener" received notices so long and ornate, that it was quite impossible to derive from them a correct idea of the ... — Round the Block • John Bell Bouton
... of England set invention working on a definite, continuous {8} object. As the shafts were sunk to lower and lower levels, it became impossible to pump the water out of the mines by horse power, and the aid of steam was sought. Just at the close of the seventeenth century Savery devised the first commercial steam-engine, or rather steam fountain, which applied cold water to the outside of the cylinder to condense the steam inside ... — The Railway Builders - A Chronicle of Overland Highways • Oscar D. Skelton
... impossible," replied mystified Phil. "To whom in the world would your father pass his authority over you? He is hale and hearty; there's not the ... — Philip Winwood • Robert Neilson Stephens
... That would have been impossible in a channel so narrow. They were pushing the boat through the water by means of a long pole, but it was not very easily managed, because of the shallowness of the water and the bushes ... — The Inglises - How the Way Opened • Margaret Murray Robertson
... nothing. Erasmus Archer asked him if he could get his boy Pete into one of the departments at Ottawa, and made a strong case of it by explaining that he had tried his cussedest to get Pete a job anywhere else and it was simply impossible. Not that Pete wasn't a willing boy, but he was slow,—even his father admitted it,—slow as the devil, blast him, and with no head for figures and unfortunately he'd never had the schooling to bring him on. But if Drone could get him in at Ottawa, his father truly ... — Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town • Stephen Leacock
... much to do with shaping subsequent legislation upon the same prohibitory lines. In America disappointment was bitter. Little concern was felt in England. Concerted action by several states was thought most unlikely, and a more perfect union impossible. While Massachusetts, for example, in 1785 forbade import or export in any vessel belonging in whole or in part to British subjects, the state then next to her in maritime importance, Pennsylvania, ... — Sea Power in its Relations to the War of 1812 - Volume 1 • Alfred Thayer Mahan
... to explain the matter? Is it not too deep for mortal man? Is it not one of the deep things of God, and of God alone, before which we must worship and believe? As for explaining or understanding it, must not that be impossible, from its ... — Discipline and Other Sermons • Charles Kingsley
... the formal ceremony of a fashionable introduction, such as—"Mr. Sparkle, my friend Mr. Robert Tallyho, of Belville Hall; Mr. Tallyho, Mr. Charles Sparkle," was altogether omitted; indeed, the abrupt entrance of the latter rendered it utterly impossible, for although Sparkle was really a well-bred man, he had heard from Lady Jane of Tom's arrival with his young friend from the country. Etiquette between themselves, was at all times completely unnecessary, an air of gaiety and freedom, as the friend of Dashall, was introduction enough to Bob, ... — Real Life In London, Volumes I. and II. • Pierce Egan
... that, however innocent his own intent, there was a sickening resemblance to the situation on the boat in the base advantage he had taken of her friendlessness. He had never told her that he was a gambler like Stratton, and that his peculiarly infelix reputation among women made it impossible for him to assist her, except by a stealth or the deception he had practiced, without compromising her. He who had for years faced the sneers and half-frightened opposition of the world dared not ... — A Protegee of Jack Hamlin's and Other Stories • Bret Harte
... generally, we may first observe that it is impossible to place any one of them as late as A.D. 100, {11} and that the first three Gospels must have been written long before that date. This is shown by the internal evidence, of which proof will be given in detail in the chapters dealing with the separate Gospels. The external evidence of the use ... — The Books of the New Testament • Leighton Pullan
... within two miles of Jerusalem before his purpose failed him. Three times he tried to get out of that neighborhood, but in vain: travelling by day was of course out of the question, and by night he found it impossible to elude the patrol. Again and again, therefore, he returned to his hiding-place; and, during his whole two months' liberty, never went five miles from the Cross Keys. On the 25th of October, he was at last discovered by Mr. Francis as he was emerging from a stack. A ... — Black Rebellion - Five Slave Revolts • Thomas Wentworth Higginson
... It is now perhaps impossible to ascertain whether the cause of this strange adventure of Coleridge's was, "chagrin at his disappointment in a love affair" or "a fit of dejection and despondency caused by some debts not amounting to a hundred pounds;" but, actuated by some impulse or other ... — English Men of Letters: Coleridge • H. D. Traill
... speculate upon possible and impossible things, and to grow very anxious regarding her safety upon her arrival ... — The Masked Bridal • Mrs. Georgie Sheldon
... sensible dangers or calamities to enter into themselves, on whom the terrors of the divine judgment make very little impression. The reason can only be a supine neglect of serious reflection, and a habit of considering them only transiently, and as at a distance; for it is impossible for any one who believes these great truths, if he takes a serious review of them, and has them present to his mind, to remain insensible: transient glances effect not a change of heart. Among the pretended conversions which sickness ... — The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints - January, February, March • Alban Butler
... abolitionists. The author does not seem to realize or at least fails to admit that the abolitionists were radical reformers seeking to eradicate the cause of social disease whereas the colonizationists were merely treating the symptoms of the malady in undertaking the impossible task of ... — The Journal of Negro History, Volume 6, 1921 • Various
... you. No one can spare you. That cannot be. It is amongst the things that are impossible. But they will have pity upon—your father, and they will let ... — Charlotte's Inheritance • M. E. Braddon
... four kinds of matter-of-fact or assertion, must be added a fifth, Resemblance. This was a species of attribute which we found it impossible to analyze; for which no fundamentum, distinct from the objects themselves, could be assigned. Besides propositions which assert a sequence or co-existence between two phenomena, there are therefore also propositions which assert resemblance ... — A System Of Logic, Ratiocinative And Inductive • John Stuart Mill
... lodges, perhaps, close to the skin on the other side. Nothing was visible but a small, ragged puncture, bluish about the edges, as if the rough point of a tenpenny nail had been forced into the flesh, and withdrawn. It seemed almost impossible, that through so small an aperture, a musket-bullet could ... — White Jacket - or, the World on a Man-of-War • Herman Melville
... to young Rhodes on their drive to the train. She was profoundly discouraged by Emma's disapproval of her work. It wanted but that one drop to make a recurrence to the work impossible. There it must lie! And what of the aspects of her household?—Perhaps, after all, the Redworths of the world are right, and Literature as a profession is a delusive pursuit. She did not assent to it without hostility to the world's Redworths.—'They have no sensitiveness, we ... — The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith
... matter it is impossible for me to answer that question," replied I; "and although I have traveled through nearly every country on earth still no such people as you or the magnificent objects represented in that picture have ... — Born Again • Alfred Lawson
... Staring very hard at Hugh he met his appeal, but in a silence clearly calculated; against which, however, the young man, bearing up, made such head as he could. He offered his next word, that is, equally to the two companions. "It's not at all impossible—for such curious effects have been!—that the Dedborough picture seen after the Verona will point a different moral from the Verona seen ... — The Outcry • Henry James
... carrying; but I took good care not to ask any questions about them, as I knew well enough both that I should never be able to understand how they were worked, and that in attempting to do so I should betray myself, or get into some complication impossible to explain; so I merely said, ... — News from Nowhere - or An Epoch of Rest, being some chapters from A Utopian Romance • William Morris
... calfs'-foot jelly, like a setting of crystals. The bread revealed new qualities in the wheat, it was so sweet and nutty; and the fried potatoes, with which your beefsteak comes snowed under, are the very flower of the culinary art, and I believe impossible ... — Winter Sunshine • John Burroughs
... friend, listen to the talk that sudden conversion is impossible or unlikely. It is the only kind of conversion that some of you are capable of. I remember a man, one of the best Christian men in a humble station in life that I ever knew—he did not live in Manchester—he had been a drunkard up to his fortieth or fiftieth year. One ... — Expositions Of Holy Scripture - Volume I: St. Luke, Chaps. I to XII • Alexander Maclaren
... Pardon me, sir. You will be convinced it is impossible I can allude to your review, when I assure you that I have never read a ... — Headlong Hall • Thomas Love Peacock
... the land Willoughby saw was Gooseland. or Novaya Zemlya. Nordenskiold supposes it to be Kolgujev Island. This, he says, would make its latitude two degrees less than stated, but such errors are not impossible in the determination ... — The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques, • Richard Hakluyt
... heavy afternoon, across the fell, with these thoughts struggling together in his heart. The valley was breathlessly still, and the flies buzzed round him as he disturbed them from the bracken. The whole world looked so sweet and noble, that it was impossible not to think that it was moulded and designed by a Will of unutterable graciousness and beauty. From the top, beside a little crag full of clinging trees, that held on tenaciously to the crevices and ledges, with so perfect an accommodation to their precarious situation, ... — Beside Still Waters • Arthur Christopher Benson
... to make them part with their little store of hard-earned savings, by offering them these gaudy articles of apparel, to cover or replace their own poor warm clothing. The long sea-voyage from the Brazils must have been very trying to these forlorn creatures, whose hopeless condition it was impossible to avoid sympathizing with and pitying. They appeared most eager to reach the shores of their own dear Italy once more—a fond hope and dream in foreign lands, ... — Fair Italy, the Riviera and Monte Carlo • W. Cope Devereux
... alone, its effects have been revolutionary. Applied to common life in its minute ramifications these effects could not have been believed or foretold, and are incredible. The thought might be followed indefinitely, and it is almost impossible to compare the world as we know it with the world of our immediate ancestors. Only by means of contrasts, startling in their details, can we arrive at an adequate estimate, even as a moral farce, of the power of steam as embodied in the modern ... — Steam Steel and Electricity • James W. Steele
... in which she said those words made it impossible, even for old Mr. Ablewhite, to mistake her any longer. His thermometer went up another degree, and his voice when he next spoke, ceased to be the voice which is appropriate to a ... — The Moonstone • Wilkie Collins
... quietly at the hotel with me. Not that I should trouble you now, only I have to lunch at the Oriental Club, and I've an appointment afterwards to examine and report on a recently-discovered inscribed cylinder for the Museum, which will fully occupy the rest of the afternoon, so that it's physically impossible for me to go to Hammond's myself, and I strongly object to employing a broker when I can avoid it. Where did I put that catalogue?... Ah, here it is. This was sent to me by the executors of my old friend, General Collingham, who died the other day. I ... — The Brass Bottle • F. Anstey
... in his own house. His death was much resented by the citizens. Nevertheless, when Dion made him a splendid funeral, followed the dead body with all his soldiers, and then addressed them, they understood that it would have been impossible to have kept the city quiet, as long as Dion and Heraclides ... — Plutarch's Lives • A.H. Clough
... whatever to discriminate whether that which he calls a sweet taste sensation is not just what I call headache. Where no such direct relation for a physical thing is known, description of the mental element would remain impossible. Of course, every perception of the outer world, all our seeing and hearing, and touching and tasting, offers us at once such definite connection between the inner experience and a piece of the physical universe. Our own organism is also such a piece of physical nature: ... — Psychotherapy • Hugo Muensterberg
... is impossible," replied the old grandfather; "but I have seen it, and I have tried to carve it in wood, as I have retained it in my memory. It was a long time ago, while the English fleet lay in the roads, on the second of ... — Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen • Hans Christian Andersen
... It is impossible within the limits of a short article to discuss Nietzsche's view of Christianity. We are concerned here not with discussion, but with exposition. At an early opportunity we hope to deal at some length in the columns of Everyman with Nietzsche's criticism ... — German Problems and Personalities • Charles Sarolea
... themselves to the study of the Sanskrit literature. Though inferior to the Vedas in antiquity, it is held to be equally sacred; and being more closely connected with the business of life, it has done so much towards moulding the opinions of the Hindus that it would be impossible to comprehend the literature or local usages of India without being master of ... — Handbook of Universal Literature - From The Best and Latest Authorities • Anne C. Lynch Botta
... is my letter!" absolutely frozen on her lips. He had been reading it! It seemed impossible for her to claim it, and so for a moment's silence she stood, with the green ... — Quaint Courtships • Howells & Alden, Editors
... shape, many things that were said about lines apply equally to the spaces enclosed by them. It is impossible to write of the rhythmic possibilities that the infinite variety of shapes possessed by natural objects contain, except to point out how necessary the study of nature is for this. Variety of shape is one of the most difficult things to invent, and one of ... — The Practice and Science Of Drawing • Harold Speed
... to the edge of a lake [Footnote: It is impossible to distinguish in any Indian story between lake and sea.] and lay down to sleep. As she awoke, she saw a great serpent, with glittering eyes, crawl from the water, and stealthily approach her. She had no power to resist his embrace. After her return to her people her ... — The Algonquin Legends of New England • Charles Godfrey Leland
... "It's impossible to fight here in the dark. Don't flatter yourself for a moment that I am afraid. You just spar with yourself and get limbered up, while I put some wood on the ... — In the Midst of Alarms • Robert Barr
... is right," came the prompt though unexpected reply; "and if you really think you want to play Good Samaritan for a couple weeks, you have my hearty sanction. The fact of the matter is, I find it impossible to be here at home much for the next fortnight, myself; possibly not at all after tonight. So you might just as well be mothering the McKittricks as left alone in this end of the town, so far ... — Tabitha's Vacation • Ruth Alberta Brown
... (the Swilly, of Furneaux) like the Pedra Branca, near the coast of China; the other, the eastern cliff, resembling a high misshapen tower (the Eddystone, of Cook). Between the cliff and the main land they passed, until they came almost to Storm Bay, where they found it impossible to anchor, and were driven by the wind to sea—so far, that land could scarcely be sighted in the morning. In the afternoon of the 1st December, they anchored in a good port (marked Frederick Hendrik Bay in ... — The History of Tasmania, Volume I (of 2) • John West |