"Procrastinate" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... arrived—she devoured it with her eyes. The post mark denoting from whence it came, the name of "Milner Lodge" written on the top, were all sources of pleasure—and she read slowly every line it contained, to procrastinate the pleasing expectation she enjoyed, till she should arrive at the name of Dorriforth. At last, her impatient eye caught the word, three lines beyond the place she was reading—irresistibly, she skipped ...
— A Simple Story • Mrs. Inchbald
... funds; the men were getting uneasy because pay was two weeks overdue. The syndicate told me to apply the working margin of three hundred thousand at once for this purpose. Of course there was a shortage; it was bound to be discovered. I tried to procrastinate—tried to put off the payment of the men; then came the threatened strike on account of non-payment of wages. I knew it was all up with me. When I saw I must be ...
— Flamsted quarries • Mary E. Waller
... postpone, defer, procrastinate, suspend, reprieve, retard, impede, hinder, obstruct; linger, tarry, dawdle, dally. ...
— Putnam's Word Book • Louis A. Flemming
... and he entered a dignified protest against the orders he received from Rome to give sentence, if it came to that point, against Henry.[626] He would pronounce what judgment seemed to him just, but he shrank from the ordeal, and he did his best to follow out Clement's injunctions to procrastinate.[627] In this he succeeded completely. It seemed that judgment could no longer be deferred; it was to be delivered on the 23rd of July.[628] On that day the King himself, and the chief men of his Court, were present; his proctor demanded sentence. Campeggio stood ...
— Henry VIII. • A. F. Pollard
... recall. He obtained his pardon from the emperor by promising to offend no more; and from that moment never again entertained any real thought of concession. Acting under explicit directions, he made it his object thenceforward to delay and to procrastinate. Charles had no desire to press matters to extremities. War had not yet been declared[144] against him by Henry; nor was he anxious himself to precipitate a quarrel from which, if possible, he would ...
— The Reign of Henry the Eighth, Volume 1 (of 3) • James Anthony Froude
... France; but as respects the specific matters of negotiation in his charge, he was answered every way indefinitely, with reasons more specious than sound which appeared to be given not so much to conclude the affaire upon which he treated as to procrastinate and consume time. ...
— The Voyage of Verrazzano • Henry C. Murphy
... Billy Garrison had followed the ponies since boyhood. Waterbury would know his ancestry, if any one would. It was only a matter of time until exposure came, but still Garrison determined to procrastinate as long as possible. He clung fiercely, with the fierce tenacity of despair, to his present life. He could not renounce it ...
— Garrison's Finish - A Romance of the Race-Course • W. B. M. Ferguson
... for to him Hamlet is always great. Horatio never questions, presumes not to give advice, echoes the scorn or laughter of his friend, is equally contemptuous of the king, and, as he never urges to action, is, if his friend is supposed to procrastinate, accomplice in his delay. Hamlet detaches himself from the world and follows his own bent; he will admit no guidance, and be subject to no dictation. He is not the man to be hag-ridden like Macbeth, or humoured into remorseful deeds like Brutus. The strong dramatic ...
— The Contemporary Review, January 1883 - Vol 43, No. 1 • Various
... wee doe procrastinate the plantinge (and where our men have nowe presently discovered, and founde it to be the best parte of America that is lefte, and in truthe more agreable to our natures, and more nere unto us, than ...
— The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of - the English Nation. Vol. XIII. America. Part II. • Richard Hakluyt
... the fresh flowers? If any one now would deliver up to me in my anger this infamous bull, I would do my utmost to tear him to pieces with steel, and break off the horns of the monster, lately so much beloved. Abandoned I have left my father's house, abandoned I procrastinate my doom. O if any of the gods hear this, I wish I may wander naked among lions: before foul decay seizes my comely cheeks, and moisture leaves this tender prey, I desire, in all my beauty, to be the food of tigers." "Base Europa," thy absent father urges, ...
— The Works of Horace • Horace
... saw nothing to change my opinions of her in any particular. She was the same, and so was I. I now spent my time in planning how I might get along through life after my contemplated change of circumstances should have taken place, and how I might procrastinate the evil day for a time, which I really dreaded as much, perhaps more, than an Irishman does ...
— The Papers And Writings Of Abraham Lincoln, Complete - Constitutional Edition • Abraham Lincoln
... believed to be a measure which would facilitate the settlement of accounts between the states. Its advocates declared that they did not entertain, and never had entertained any wish to procrastinate a settlement. On the contrary, it was greatly desired by them. They had themselves brought forward propositions for that purpose; and they invited their adversaries to assist in improving the ...
— The Life of George Washington, Vol. 4 (of 5) • John Marshall
... predestinating servants of Allah, at the palace of his majesty the commander of the faithful. Even Fate, the universal Kismet, procrastinates in Turkey, and Lord Mavourneen's special mission is to out-procrastinate the procrastinator. For the present the little yawl is an important factor in his operations, and as he stands in his rough blue clothes, looking up through his single eyeglass at the bellying canvas, a gentle smile upon his strongly marked face betrays considerable ...
— Paul Patoff • F. Marion Crawford
... he does not even give you a choice between action and inaction, but threatens you, and utters (as we are told) haughty language: for he is not the man to rest content in possession of his conquests: he is always casting his net wider; and while we procrastinate and sit idle, he is setting his toils around us on every side. {10} When, then, men of Athens, when, I say, will you take the action that is required? What are you waiting for? 'We are waiting,' ...
— The Public Orations of Demosthenes, volume 1 • Demosthenes
... I confided greatly in the salutary influence of rural airs. I believed that debility constituted the whole of his complaint; that continuance in the city might occasion his relapse, or, at least, procrastinate his restoration. ...
— Arthur Mervyn - Or, Memoirs of the Year 1793 • Charles Brockden Brown
... rest, Mr. Dacre, while he agreed that it was on the whole advisable that the buildings should be completed, determined that none of the estates should be sold, or even mortgaged. His plan was to procrastinate the termination of these undertakings, and to allow each year itself to afford the necessary supplies. By annually setting aside one hundred thousand pounds, in seven or eight years he hoped to find everything ...
— The Young Duke • Benjamin Disraeli
... allowed to procrastinate. They must not be allowed to put off until tomorrow anything which can be done today. They must be taught how to keep the working decks of life clear—caught right up to the minute. They should be taught proper ...
— The Mother and Her Child • William S. Sadler
... 13th in the evening, Sir ROBERT CALDER, in his Majesty's ship the Prince of Wales, parted company with the Fleet, on his return to England. His departure Lord NELSON had some days before evinced an anxious wish to procrastinate, and was heard that very day to declare his firm belief that the Combined Fleets would be at sea in the course of ten ...
— The Death of Lord Nelson • William Beatty
... One arm, which the lady most closely embraced, Of her lily-white fingers the other made capture, And he press'd his adored to his bosom with rapture, "And, oh!" he exclaim'd, "let them go catch my skiff, I'll be home in a twinkling and back in a jiffy, Nor one moment procrastinate longer my journey Than to put up the bans ...
— The Humourous Poetry of the English Language • James Parton
... tell you, Rodion Romanovitch. But I have no right to procrastinate. I am going to have you arrested! Judge, therefore: whatever you purpose doing is not of much importance to me just now; all I say and have said has been solely done for your interest. The best alternative is the one I suggest, ...
— The Most Interesting Stories of All Nations • Julian Hawthorne
... rest—he knew that the letter from Paris had aroused them. His answer was written, his hand was on the post-bag, and at that moment the whole struggle had to be risked over again—risked when he was most unfit for it! He was not a man under any ordinary circumstances to procrastinate, but he ...
— After Dark • Wilkie Collins
... in MS.] procrastinate here, and indicate that we are bound to have contests and wrangling with our fathers, wherefore there is much to fear lest they delay me, and frustrate my plans to go with a few [religious]. Now, too, with what has befallen the fleet, I think that these lords must perforce ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898 • Emma Helen Blair
... trusted with large amounts, for several months together, and not unfrequently give their principal great trouble in collecting his dues. Their families, to be sure, are held responsible, and the King is bound to enforce payment. Nevertheless, if so disposed, they can procrastinate, and finally cheat their creditor out of his debt; especially as the vessel cannot remain long upon the coast, awaiting the King's ...
— Journal of an African Cruiser • Horatio Bridge
... I do. I have to crawl while others walk. I have to wait and procrastinate, where another might rush in ...
— The Penalty • Gouverneur Morris
... no thought but to procrastinate and obstruct business, and our excellent Colonel indulges them far too tenderly. Every form of ceremony must be observed, and all the long-drawn compliments duly inserted, until a whole morning is wasted over ...
— The Path to Honour • Sydney C. Grier
... me out, right thar! I sees the symptoms of my onpop'larity in advance, an' don't procrastinate none. I goes sailin' over the divide to the Tennessee, down the Tennessee to the Ohio, down the Ohio to the Mississippi, down the Mississippi to the Arkansaw, up the Arkansaw to Little Rock; an' thar I pauses, exhausted shore, but safe as a murderer in ...
— Wolfville Days • Alfred Henry Lewis
... regarded his situation as hopeless, he did not neglect any effort becoming a general, to lengthen the siege, and procrastinate the necessity of a surrender, if it was impossible finally to prevent it. The number of his troops seemed scarcely sufficient to countenance a considerable sally, but the emergency was so critical, that he ordered ...
— Four Early Pamphlets • William Godwin
... inactive) 683; linger, loiter; bide one's time, take one's time; gain time; hang fire; stand over, lie over. put off, defer, delay, lay over, suspend; table [parliamentary]; shift off, stave off; waive, retard, remand, postpone, adjourn; procrastinate; dally; prolong, protract; spin out, draw out, lengthen out, stretch out; prorogue; keep back; tide over; push to the last, drive to the last; let the matter stand over; reserve &c. (store) 636; temporize; consult one's pillow, sleep on it. lose an opportunity &c. 135; be kept waiting, dance attendance; ...
— Roget's Thesaurus
... what better efforts we can make then," cried Wolfe, with eager eyes. "Best! why, man, we have done nothing but procrastinate and blunder, till my ears tingle with shame as I read the story! But we are awakening at last, and we have a man to look to who is no blunderer. The tide will turn ere long, you will see; and when it does, may I be there to see and to bear ...
— French and English - A Story of the Struggle in America • Evelyn Everett-Green
... next—no blunders to be corrected after long delays and longer correspondence. I know you lawyers and your ways right well; and if I find that for the sake of swelling a bill to the bursting, you attempt to procrastinate, the cause will be taken at once from your hands and placed in those who will do their work more speedily. You can practise those tricks upon those who are more or less in your power; but you shall ...
— The International Monthly, Volume 2, No. 4, March, 1851 • Various |
