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Opportunity   /ˌɑpərtˈunəti/   Listen
Opportunity

noun
(pl. opportunities)
1.
A possibility due to a favorable combination of circumstances.  Synonym: chance.  "Now is your chance"



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"Opportunity" Quotes from Famous Books



... Gospel of St. Luke, The Acts of the Apostles, with the Pauline Epistles introduced at the several points of the history to which they are usually referred. An opportunity will thus be afforded of studying, without the interruption of comment or discussion, the continuous History of the New Testament Church as presented ...
— Select Masterpieces of Biblical Literature • Various

... unjust what we have said above (Sec. 53) of a mischievous or maleficent nation. If there be any that makes an open profession of trampling justice under foot, of despising and violating the right of others,[39] whenever it finds an opportunity, the interest of human society will authorize all others to unite in order to humble and chastise it. We do not here forget the maxim established in our preliminaries, that it does not belong to nations to usurp the power of being judges of each ...
— The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. IV. (of 12) • Edmund Burke

... watched from the turf of the roadside a pageant which the accident of an ordered and servile life afforded us; for it is true of armies that the compensation of their drudgery and miserable subjection is the continual opportunity of these large emotions; and not only by their vastness and arrangement, but by the very fact that they merge us into themselves, do armies widen the spirit of a man and give it communion with the majesty of great numbers. One becomes ...
— Hills and the Sea • H. Belloc

... strange excitement seemed growing upon him. Evidently he was trying to make up his mind to say something that he found it difficult to say. And John Silence, as I rightly judged, was waiting patiently for him to choose his own opportunity and his own way of saying it. At last he turned and faced us, squaring his great ...
— Three John Silence Stories • Algernon Blackwood

... persecutions. The Emperor Charles IV. was also favourable to them, and sought to avert their destruction wherever he could; but he dared not draw the sword of justice, and even found himself obliged to yield to the selfishness of the Bohemian nobles, who were unwilling to forego so favourable an opportunity of releasing themselves from their Jewish creditors, under favour of an imperial mandate. Duke Albert of Austria burnt and pillaged those of his cities which had persecuted the Jews—a vain and inhuman proceeding, which, moreover, ...
— The Black Death, and The Dancing Mania • Justus Friedrich Karl Hecker

... advances from her which I would not take advantage of out of regard to you: but hang it, think no more about her. I dined at Franklin's to-day, and Julia bid me seek and bring you to tea: so come along, my lad, make good use of opportunity, and seize the gifts of fortune while they are within your reach." Montraville was too much agitated to pass a happy evening even in the company of Julia Franklin: he determined to visit Charlotte early the next morning, ...
— Charlotte Temple • Susanna Rowson

... aunt, it would be grand to be able to do as much for God's cause as some of those men did. I can't think that any one, to say nothing of a poor cripple lad, has an opportunity to do as much now as those ...
— The Orphans of Glen Elder • Margaret Murray Robertson

... is a question about which opinions might differ. The physiologists of the time of Moses—if there were vivisectors other than priests in those days—would probably have considered that other plague, of the frogs, as a fortunate opportunity for science, as this poor little beast has been the souffre-douleur of experimenters ...
— The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table • Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. (The Physician and Poet not the Jurist)

... which always endeared him to the students of all the schools under his jurisdiction. "The committee carried out their business in a commendable manner, and submitted a list of names of acceptable candidates that in my opinion could not be excelled. Let every one who is given the opportunity to contest for the prizes, do his level best; and when later on the nine has been selected we all hope and believe they will bring great honor to ...
— The Chums of Scranton High - Hugh Morgan's Uphill Fight • Donald Ferguson

... A long cherished opportunity had arrived at last, and he made straight for the book case. It was locked, but he knew where to find the key. Its hiding-place had constituted one of those little domestic problems that add zest to an uneventful existence. There was also an injunction of long standing ...
— The Soul of a Child • Edwin Bjorkman

... she spoke he was given the opportunity, for the door somewhat diffidently opened and an unhappy-looking young man came slowly into the room. He was clearly to be classified among the round-shouldered ineligibles; being otherwise a tall and slender youth, with an amiable expression and ...
— Count Bunker • J. Storer Clouston

... moraine are angular, and some are faceted and scored, the latter having come by the hard road of the ground moraine. The material of the dump is for the most part unsorted, though the water of the melting ice may find opportunity to leave patches of stratified sands and gravels in the midst of the unstratified mass of drift, and the finer material is in ...
— The Elements of Geology • William Harmon Norton

... from conscription, and if we had honest officers to conduct this important business, some four or five hundred thousand men could be kept in the field, and subjugation would be an impossibility. But exemptions and details afford a tempting opportunity to make money, as substitutes are selling for $6000 each; and the rage ...
— A Rebel War Clerk's Diary at the Confederate States Capital • John Beauchamp Jones

... what you have done in the world—sly boots! And your poor mother, who thought you would be a saint! God have mercy on us! Don't deny it; you have done no good and I hate lies. You did right to enjoy yourself and to take advantage of every opportunity, but the misfortune is that you should have returned as you are, for it is pitiful to see you, but I have known a great many like you. I don't know what evil spirit possesses people belonging to the church, but once they throw themselves into life, they don't ...
— The Shadow of the Cathedral • Vicente Blasco Ibanez

... remembering freedom, let alone desiring it. His fetters, therefore, were at times little more than nominal, and he was never very closely watched. Just on the edge of evening, when the dusk was creeping up the valley and honey-scents from the fields mixed with the tang of the dark spruce forests, his opportunity came. His trainer had unhitched the chain from his collar and stooped over it to examine ...
— The Watchers of the Trails - A Book of Animal Life • Charles G. D. Roberts

... his sister, she remembered what Ella has said, and her heart was full of pity for him. She had made up her mind to tell him all that Mrs. Haddon had said, for surely more sympathetic words had never been spoken; and her opportunity had come sooner than she expected. Their chat together had led naturally up to Mrs. Haddon, and she had been able to repeat to him almost word for word all that his ...
— Phyllis of Philistia • Frank Frankfort Moore

... suspicions that there might be others looking on who understood the game; and the only subterfuge left her, the only shadow of pretence of not having been outwitted, was to appear as if she were glad of the opportunity of talking with Sally. Sally's appealing affectionateness of manner went very far to make this easy. She had no resentment to conceal: all these years she had never blamed Jim's mother; she had only yearned to win her love, to be permitted to love her. She looked up in her face now, and said, ...
— Hetty's Strange History • Anonymous

... the Rite in the United States and Canada will be afforded the opportunity to purchase it, nor is it forbidden that other Masons shall; but they will not ...
— Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry • Albert Pike

... rank of a divinity, dedicated a temple to him, and instituted a series of new festivals in his honor; partly no doubt to win his partiality for their city and to express their pride and satisfaction in his long stay there, but also because the pleasure-loving community was glad to seize this opportunity as a favorable one for gratifying their own inclinations and revelling in mere unusual enjoyment. Thus the Imperial visit swallowed up millions, and Hadrian, who enquired into every detail and contrived to obtain information as to the sums expended by the city, ...
— Uarda • Georg Ebers

... as he found an opportunity, danced over to Chetwood Park and told his Princess all about it, and called her a tutelary goddess and an angel and all manner of pretty names. And the Princess, who was alone, poured for him her priceless Russian tea into egg-shell China tea-cups and fed him on ...
— The Fortunate Youth • William J. Locke

... LEONARDS, with the consent of the Governor, takes this opportunity of thanking the friends who have so kindly condoled with him on the unavoidable interruption to his long and arduous work in the service of his country. He hopes that nothing will prevent him from displaying equal zeal in the still more arduous labour, which, also ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 102, April 16, 1892 • Various

... the seats, and the second class having wooden seats without cushions. The natives save the extra penny of fare by crowding into the second class, thus giving to the first class passengers the advantage of always having enough room. In the second class, however, the tourists had a more favorable opportunity to study the people. Opposite us in one of the second class compartments which we entered sat two veiled women in their voluminous white bloomers and wrappings. We could see that one was old by the fact that she leaned upon a staff, and we decided that the other was young because she showed some ...
— A Trip to the Orient - The Story of a Mediterranean Cruise • Robert Urie Jacob

... Harwich to dinner; and my passage in the packet-boat to Helvoetsluys being secured, and my baggage put on board, we dined at our inn by ourselves. I happened to say it would be terrible if he should not find a speedy opportunity of returning to London, and be confined to so dull a place. JOHNSON. 'Don't, Sir, accustom yourself to use big words for little matters[1384]. It would not be terrible, though I were to be detained some time here.' The practice of using words of disproportionate magnitude, is, no doubt, too ...
— Life Of Johnson, Vol. 1 • Boswell, Edited by Birkbeck Hill

... Zouch himself knew this, although he would not own it, and it made him cautious. For a long time he stood carefully upon his guard, but at last, espying a favourable opportunity, he darted a fierce blow at the vizor of his opponent, hoping it would pierce the bars and transfix itself there. It was a well-aimed thrust, and almost proved successful, but, unfortunately for De la Zouch, Manners unwittingly foiled him by rising in ...
— Heiress of Haddon • William E. Doubleday

... dish affords an opportunity for a decorative scheme by the arrangement of the various vegetables and meats in a pleasing and artistic manner, utilizing the various colors and shapes of the bits of food as one would use pieces of stone in a mosaic. ...
— Cooking and Dining in Imperial Rome • Apicius

... of days that's gone I don't now remember but one individyooal openin' for blood that ever presents itse'f. An' after considerin' the case in all its b'arin's, I refooses the opportunity an' the chance goes glidin' by. As a result thar's probably one more Yank than otherwise; an' now that peace is yere an' we-all is earnestly settlin' to be brothers No'th and South, I regyards that extra Yank as a advantage. Shore, he's ...
— Wolfville Nights • Alfred Lewis

... of this opportunity of assuring you of the deep interest with which your WACOUSTA has been read by the ...
— The Canadian Brothers - or The Prophecy Fulfilled • John Richardson

... downward. The rubbing and the broth had put new life into Rhoda, and for a little while she kept a clear brain. For the first time it occurred to her that instead of following the Indians so stupidly she ought to watch her chance and at the first opportunity make a wild dash off into the darkness. Kut-le was so sure of her weakness and cowardice that she felt that he would be taken completely by surprise and she might elude him. With a definite purpose in her mind she was able to fight ...
— The Heart of the Desert - Kut-Le of the Desert • Honore Willsie Morrow

... not see who could have done so," returned David Owen with a troubled look. "There is not one of the household who is not a consistent Whig, and there hath been no opportunity for anything of the sort. When we have not been together in the sitting-room we have been at the table. The girls washed the dishes in the dining-room, but joined us immediately afterward. From the laughter that accompanied the act I would be ...
— Peggy Owen and Liberty • Lucy Foster Madison

... 30th. Though in my last, by the references there made, I have pointed out the general object of the war with the Porte, on the part of the Imperial Courts, yet there are some particulars relative to the Empress, of which you are not particularly informed, I will give them to you by the first safe opportunity. I shall have one in about a month by Mr Allen, a merchant of Boston, who arrived here last week, and proposes to return to America about that time. The journey of the Empress into Finland, as mentioned in my last, has been postponed on account of a hurt the King of Sweden ...
— The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. VIII • Various

... had haunted the telephone dump, taking a melancholy pleasure in watching real engineers come out with real coin-boxes for other people. No Peri at the golden gate ever looked more wistful. I know now that it is opportunity that makes the criminal, and one day the opportunity came. It came in the form of a young and evidently new hand, who emerged from the dump and pitched upon me—me of all people—to ask, "Can you tell me where this place is?" As he spoke he began to get out ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 158, April 21, 1920 • Various

... Agger Puteolanus. After having visited the Locrians, and the people of Rhegium, he crossed the sea to Sicily; which sea he swam over, holding by the horn of an ox. At his arrival some warm springs burst forth miraculously, to give him an opportunity of bathing. Here he boxed with Eryx; defeated the Sicani; and performed many other exploits. What is remarkable, having in Spain seized upon the cattle of Geryon, he is said to have made them travel over the Pyrenean mountains, and afterwards over the Alpes, into Italy; ...
— A New System; or, an Analysis of Antient Mythology. Volume II. (of VI.) • Jacob Bryant

... or L.Th. Dublin men must be B.A., and hold also the Divinity Testimonial. (3) College Testimonials. (4) The "Si quis," a notice read in the Church of the place where the candidate resides, to give opportunity for raising objections, something like the asking of Banns. (5) Letters Testimonial for three years, or for the time elapsed since the Candidate left College. This Testimonial must be subscribed by three beneficed clergymen. (6) A Title, or nomination to a Curacy. For Priest's ...
— The Church Handy Dictionary • Anonymous

... same play—at least, so it seemed to Matravers—not the same play, surely not the same woman! A situation improbable enough, but dramatic, had occurred at the very beginning of the second act. She had risen to the opportunity, triumphed over it, electrified her audience, delighted Ellison, moved Matravers to silent wonder. Her personality seemed to have dilated with the flash of genius which Matravers himself had been amongst the first to recognize. The strange pallor of her face seemed no longer the legacy of ...
— Berenice • E. Phillips Oppenheim

... State apartments at old Somerset Palace had been granted by the King to the Royal Academy. The chapel was included in the gift; and it was soon after suggested, at a general meeting of the society, 'that the place would afford a good opportunity of convincing the public of the advantages that would arise from ornamenting churches and cathedrals with works of art.'[932] This proposal was highly approved of by the society, and many of its members at once volunteered their services. Their president, however, Sir Joshua Reynolds, proposed ...
— The English Church in the Eighteenth Century • Charles J. Abbey and John H. Overton

... and of concord. And we should be very jealous of this distinction which we have sought to earn. Just now we should be particularly jealous of it, because it is our dearest present hope that this character and reputation may presently, in God's providence, bring us an opportunity such as has seldom been vouchsafed any nation, the opportunity to counsel and obtain peace in the world and reconciliation and a healing settlement of many a matter that has cooled and interrupted ...
— President Wilson's Addresses • Woodrow Wilson

... the side-door slam. He had never suspected before that Phyllis had a temper. And yet, what could he have said? But she gave him no opportunity to find out. In just about the time it might take to find gloves and a parasol, another door clanged in the distance. The street door. Phyllis had ...
— The Rose Garden Husband • Margaret Widdemer

... Jerome says in a sermon on the Assumption (Epist. ad Paul. et Eustoch.): "I should say rightly that the Mother of God was both virgin and martyr, although she ended her days in peace": and Gregory says (Hom. iii in Evang.): "Although persecution has ceased to offer the opportunity, yet the peace we enjoy is not without its martyrdom, since even if we no longer yield the life of the body to the sword, yet do we slay fleshly desires in the soul with the sword of the spirit." Therefore there can be ...
— Summa Theologica, Part II-II (Secunda Secundae) • Thomas Aquinas

... themselves to the belief that he would not repeat the attempt to reach Crete until the following spring. Careless, or deluded by false information, they returned to Hydra, and left the seas unwatched. Ibrahim saw his opportunity, and, setting sail for Crete at the beginning of December, he reached it without falling ...
— History of Modern Europe 1792-1878 • C. A. Fyffe

... but all the rest of us would be glad, Bob;' and when he had said this he ran home. His arrival with the thermometer caused great delight to all his brothers, and Dr. Campbell called Lackland down to hear the good news, saying kindly, 'You have had opportunity for a little thought, Johnnie, my man, and I hope will be more careful not to act contrary to my known wishes another time; so now come and help us to rejoice over the recovery of poor Mrs. Western's thermometer.' Johnnie came, nothing loth, pausing, however, to ask, 'May I speak to ...
— Holiday Tales • Florence Wilford

... him, and without delay started to discover who were the actual transgressors. They proved to belong to a band of twenty renegades from various tribes, outlaws even among Indians, and who had formed themselves into a maurauding crew. No opportunity for action being at the time presented, he dismissed his friends; told them to go on, thanking them, and saying he would ask their aid at some future day. For upwards of a year, alone in the wilds, he watched the crew. Once, what he thought a ...
— The Confidence-Man • Herman Melville

... friendship still lurked the faint hope of reconciliation. But she had made her last advance on that memorable Christmas day when Mary had shown her so plainly that she respected the flag of truce for the day only and had returned to her former state of antagonism at the first opportunity. In the beginning it had been hard to stifle her impulsive nature, and appear courteous yet wholly unconcerned regarding her chum's welfare, but in time she found it comparatively easy. Friendship was dying ...
— Marjorie Dean - High School Sophomore • Pauline Lester

... and, in the case of some individuals, there are signs of hearing. On or after the fifteenth day the eyes open and the efforts to escape from the nest box rapidly become more vigorous. About this time the mother resumes her dancing with customary vigor, and the young, when they have opportunity, begin to eat of the food which is given to her. They now dance essentially as do the adults. From the end of the third week growth continues without noteworthy external changes until sexual maturity is attained, between the fourth and the sixth week. ...
— The Dancing Mouse - A Study in Animal Behavior • Robert M. Yerkes

... all care for it in the period following upon his illness. He now foresaw, with something almost like pleasure, that he could easily obtain information about the Murrays if he went with the Herons to Strathleckie. And he should certainly take the first opportunity of making inquiries. Even if he himself were no Luttrell, there was no reason why he should not take the deepest interest in the Luttrells of Netherglen. He wanted particularly to know whether the Italian ...
— Under False Pretences - A Novel • Adeline Sergeant

... sure we will," he said cheerfully. "I shall be glad of the opportunity for a little conversation with you while Miss May is executing ...
— Lippincott's Magazine, December, 1885 • Various

... to continue its publication to meet the demand which is still active in this country, it has been necessary, inasmuch as the original electrotype plates have become worn and useless, to re-set the work throughout. This has afforded the Author an opportunity to carefully revise the book and re-write many portions, that it may embody the latest discoveries and improvements in medicine and surgery. In performing this labor he has been greatly assisted by contributions and valuable aid kindly supplied by his staff of associate specialists ...
— The People's Common Sense Medical Adviser in Plain English • R. V. Pierce

... where he died without issue; his father and grandfather being dead, the monarchical party resolved to attempt a restoration in his behalf in 1872, but he refused to adopt the tricolor flag of the Revolution, and the scheme was abandoned, a like opportunity offering itself twice before being ...
— The Nuttall Encyclopaedia - Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge • Edited by Rev. James Wood

... The only semblance to "influence" there is in business is found where, through a friendly word, a chance is opened to a young man. But the only thing that "influence" can do begins and ends with an opportunity. The strongest influence that can be exerted in a young man's behalf counts for very little if he is found to be incapable of embracing that chance. And so far as "luck" is concerned, there is no such thing in a young man's life or his business success. The only lucky young man ...
— The Young Man in Business • Edward W. Bok

... whether her husband stayed or went, seemed to be equally content or apathetic. "And is it not most kind and generous of dear Mr. and Mrs. Pendennis to propose to receive Mr. Newcome and the Colonel?" This opportunity for gratitude being pointed out to Rosey, she acquiesced in it straightway—it was very kind of me, Rosey was sure. "And don't you ask after dear Mrs. Pendennis and the dear children—you poor ...
— The Newcomes • William Makepeace Thackeray

... to the tent. Then he got them inside and astonished his auditors with such a liberal manifestation of music that those present could not well decide whether they had come to listen to a concert or have an opportunity to see the real "theayter" actors. Handy evidently was determined to furnish them with music sufficient to last them until the next Fair day. The band played so long that the town element among the audience became somewhat ...
— A Pirate of Parts • Richard Neville

... travelling companions; but their journey ended only half-way to the river I wished to reach; and they left me with some friendly savages living on the Chunapay, a tributary of the Cunucumana, which flows to the Orinoco. Here I had no choice but to wait until an opportunity of attaching myself to some party of travelling Indians going south-west should arrive; for by this time I had expended the whole of my small capital in ornaments and calico brought from Manapuri, so that I could no longer purchase any man's service. And perhaps ...
— Green Mansions - A Romance of the Tropical Forest • W. H. Hudson

... slightest appearance of embarrassment, Fanny Mere informed him that she had listened at the door, while her master and his friend were talking of their secrets. She had also taken an opportunity of looking through the keyhole. "I suppose, sir," said this curious woman, still speaking quite respectfully, "you have ...
— Blind Love • Wilkie Collins

... now picture a situation that would, at one and the same time, have so perfectly afforded a means of livelihood, leisure in which to indulge my longing to write the story of my experiences, and an opportunity to further my ...
— A Mind That Found Itself - An Autobiography • Clifford Whittingham Beers

... Counsel. Five hundred male men are a-goin' to git together to counsel together on the best ways of bein' equinomical. And here at last"—sez he proudly—"here at last is the chance I have always been a-lookin' out for. Here is the opportunity for me to show off, ...
— Samantha at the World's Fair • Marietta Holley

... time upon it and I'm afraid I can't undertake anything else. Of course, it's very inconvenient stopping in Oxford in August, and I shouldn't care to do it except for the sake of a part which I felt gave me a real opportunity—" ...
— The Invader - A Novel • Margaret L. Woods

... I until this warning came in and I had an opportunity to study it. Then I knew that we are opposed by a science immeasurably higher ...
— Skylark Three • Edward Elmer Smith

... danger in the meeting of a fine girl, full of eager interest in life, and the demoralised being her son so pathetically described. She was quite sincere in her desire to lift the gifted young man from his moral quagmire, but this new opportunity to exercise her power, almost moribund since her party was no longer in Opposition, was a stronger ...
— The Gorgeous Isle - A Romance; Scene: Nevis, B.W.I. 1842 • Gertrude Atherton

... explain at present, it has been thought best to send the approved diary of the Patenta to the government, and also learn in return, by word of mouth, what has transpired at our capital. It will afford you some opportunity to visit the Martian Mountains, and be more informed for the second message you are expected to transmit to the Earth when ...
— The Certainty of a Future Life in Mars • L. P. Gratacap

... they most carried their possessor's vision out or most opened themselves to your own. Whatever you might feel, they stamped the place with their importance, as the house-agents say; so that, on one side or the other, you were never out of their range, were moving about, for possible community, opportunity, the sight of you scarce knew what, either before them or behind them. If other importances, not to extend the question, kept themselves down, they were in no direction less obtruded than in that of our friend's dress, adopted once for all as with a sort of sumptuary scruple. He wore ...
— The Golden Bowl • Henry James

... boats, which he collected for the purpose, and, having reached Gloucester Point, escape to New York. On the night arranged for the flight, a violent storm arose, so that it was impossible for him to cross the river. That was his last, lost opportunity. Divine Providence thwarted his purpose, and gave victory to ...
— From Farm House to the White House • William M. Thayer

... the revival all along the line. It will be understood, however, from what was stated in the preceding chapter, that the Arabian influences in particular were to some extent making themselves felt along other lines. The opportunity afforded a portion of the Western world—notably Spain and Sicily—to gain access to the scientific ideas of antiquity through Arabic translations could not fail of influence. Of like character, and perhaps even more pronounced in degree, ...
— A History of Science, Volume 2(of 5) • Henry Smith Williams

... who was snugly tucked into the trundle-bed. "Yes," said their mother, kissing them both, "it always makes us glad when we have made another happy; and I am glad you have had an opportunity of learning early how pleasant it is to make sacrifices ...
— Arthur Hamilton, and His Dog • Anonymous

... unlike the eggs of Criniger ictericus. I have never had an opportunity of verifying the eggs myself, but as three different nests have now been taken, all containing precisely similar eggs, I believe there can be ...
— The Nests and Eggs of Indian Birds, Volume 1 • Allan O. Hume

... macroeconomic program developed in 2005 with the help of the International Monetary Fund helped the economy grow 3.5% in 2007, the highest growth rate since 1999. US economic engagement under the Haitian Hemispheric Opportunity through Partnership Encouragement (HOPE) Act, passed in December 2006, has boosted the garment and automotive parts exports and investment by providing tariff-free access to the US. Haiti suffers from high inflation, a lack of investment ...
— The 2008 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... tax us for this I can't have any underwear at all! Lemme outer this. I'm goin'!" said the veteran and Jimmy was compelled to stand up to let him pass, and then, thinking this an excellent opportunity to escape, himself fled. The Judge was still uttering profound nothings when his last words were audible, and that proved that he was a great and blossoming statesman for whom no ...
— Mixed Faces • Roy Norton

... astute Captain Walker determined to take advantage of it for the purpose of increasing his "connection." He had Lumley Limpiter at his house before long, which was, indeed, no great matter, for honest Lum would go anywhere for a good dinner—and an opportunity to show off his voice afterwards, and Lumley was begged to bring any more clerks in the Treasury of his acquaintance; Captain Guzzard was invited, and any officers of the Guards whom he might choose to bring; Bulger received occasional ...
— Men's Wives • William Makepeace Thackeray

... clock, in they went, and sat down in the same seats which they had occupied at the commencement of the adventure in the main lounge. Priam discovered a bell-push, and commanded China tea and muffins. He felt that he now, as it were, had an opportunity of making a fresh start in life. He grew almost gay. He could be gay without sinning against decorum, for Mrs. Challice's singular tact had avoided all reference ...
— Buried Alive: A Tale of These Days • Arnold Bennett

... these bright young people between himself and the calm beauty of his wife. He spoke first to one and then another upon the things that interested them. It rejoiced his heart to be able to give them education and opportunity, it pleased him to see them in clothes that he knew were none the less expensive because of their complete simplicity. Miriam and Mr. Blent wrangled pleasantly about Debussy, and old Dunk waited as though in orders of some ...
— Soul of a Bishop • H. G. Wells

... opening, in his presence, the body of a patient of his own, where the stomach was in part dissolved, which appeared to him very unaccountable, as there had been no previous symptom that could have led him to suspect any disease in the stomach. I took that opportunity of giving him my ideas respecting it, and told him that I had long been making experiments on digestion, and considered this as one of the facts which proved a converting power in the gastric juice.... ...
— A History of Science, Volume 4(of 5) • Henry Smith Williams

... to fly clear to the west coast on what might be a wild-goose chase, but I did. I couldn't afford to run the risk of losing an opportunity to turn that old ...
— The Report on Unidentified Flying Objects • Edward Ruppelt

... opportunity when Sandy Grahame could spare time from his multifarious work, Archie practised with him, with sword and pike. At first he had but a wooden sword. Then, as his limbs grew stronger, he practised with a blunted sword; and now at the age of fifteen Sandy Grahame had as much as he could do to hold ...
— In Freedom's Cause • G. A. Henty

... at this work of ours. I feel for that man and all like him as if they were my brothers. And I take you all to witness, all you present and all you repeat my words to, that I'll work on as long as I have life in me, that I'll use every opportunity that's given me to uphold the cause of the poor and down-trodden against the rich and selfish and luxurious, that if I live another fifty years I shall still be of the people and with the people, that no man shall ever have it in his power to say that Richard Mutimer misused his chances ...
— Demos • George Gissing

... in "apple-pie order" when the party returned, apparently in fine spirits. Tom thought it mighty queer that nothing was said about his escapade, and dying to tell it, he felt his way cautiously for an opportunity, and it came. In the evening, when the family were discussing nuts and cider around the glowing fire, he related the morning's adventure with such gay good humor that Pa and Ma Chandler and Augustus and Almira made the walls ring again with their laughter, ...
— Harper's Young People, February 10, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various

... surer means than by repairs and preparations to have foreseen the danger and extremity to which we might come, before such danger comes to let fall its blow—since, if we await it until that time, the enemy will give us no opportunity to take counsel or protect ourselves, much less to make and prepare things, that, necessarily, to be of use, should have been made and prepared much beforehand; for the sword is worn many days in the belt, to but one that it proves its worth by its aid. It would not suffice for me then, when the ...
— The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume VIII (of 55), 1591-1593 • Emma Helen Blair

... the treatment of simple surgical cases. If when with W—— I had studied the practical—bled, drawn teeth, mixed medicines, rolled legs perpetually, it would have been worth something. Surely I might have foreseen all this! I really don't know how to find the time or the opportunity for learning. How true it is that men require to be trained for their particular work! I am now just in a position to know what to learn were I once more in England. Spend one day with old Fry (mason), another with John Venn (carpenter), ...
— Life of John Coleridge Patteson • Charlotte M. Yonge

... a long and wearisome journey. That tyrannical monopoly, the Paris-Lyon-Mditerrane Railway Company, gives only slow trains, except to travellers provided with through tickets; and these so inconveniently arranged, that travellers unprovided with refreshments, have no opportunity of procuring any on the way. Whenever we travel by railway in France we are reminded of the crying need for competition. The all-omnipotent P.-L.-M. does as it pleases, and it is quite useless for travellers to complain. ...
— In the Heart of the Vosges - And Other Sketches by a "Devious Traveller" • Matilda Betham-Edwards

... some time afterward. But it so happened that the first lieutenant was asked on shore to dine with the port-admiral; and, although he seldom left the ship, he could not refuse such a compliment, and so he went. As soon as it was dark, Jack thought his absence too good an opportunity not to have a fish; so he goes into the mizzen-chains and drops his line. Well, he fished (but I don't know whether he caught any) till the boat was hailed in which the first lieutenant was coming on board, and then Jack thought it ...
— Poor Jack • Frederick Marryat

... opportunity to have a little gossip with the cook and coachman, in the kitchen, and it was a good deal more than an hour, I believe, though she declared it was not half that time, before she went to look after her ...
— Stories of Many Lands • Grace Greenwood

... when he came down from his room, Mr. Beckard was there, and there was no opportunity that night. On the Sunday, in conformity with a previous engagement, he went to hear Mr. Beckard preach, and walked to and from meeting with the family. This pleased Mrs. Bell, and they were all very gracious that afternoon. But Sunday was no day ...
— The Courtship of Susan Bell • Anthony Trollope

... traveling in foreign countries many years ago. Some of the countries described in the book have been visited many times and often with unusual opportunity to see places and people as ...
— Birdseye Views of Far Lands • James T. Nichols

... Janet Leighton, keenly alive all the time to that vivid and flower-like vision of Miss Henderson at the farther end of the table. But some instinct warned him that beside the splendid fellow in khaki his own claim on her could be but a modest one. He must watch his opportunity. It was natural that certain misgivings had already begun to rise in the mind of his elder sister, Eleanor, who was his permanent companion and housekeeper at the vicarage. For why should her brother be so specially assiduous in the harvest operations ...
— Harvest • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... incarnated; the Shakers receiving the Bible. But when, some year or two afterwards, Moby Dick was fairly sighted from the mast-heads, Macey, the chief mate, burned with ardour to encounter him; and the captain himself being not unwilling to let him have the opportunity, despite all the archangel's denunciations and forewarnings, Macey succeeded in persuading five men to man his boat. With them he pushed off; and, after much weary pulling, and many perilous, unsuccessful onsets, he at last succeeded in ...
— Moby Dick; or The Whale • Herman Melville

... comfort my brother under the rigour of his slavery: she gave him tokens enough that she loved him; but he durst not yield to her passion, for fear he should repent it, and therefore he shunned to be alone with her, as much as she sought the opportunity to be alone with him. She had so great a custom of toying and jesting with the miserable Schacabac, whenever she saw him, that one day she happened to do it in presence of her husband. My brother, without taking notice ...
— The Arabian Nights Entertainments Volume 1 • Anonymous

... be kindled thoroughly, and pouring light and blazes round, would not all the valley be like a white room full of candles? Thinking thus, I was half inclined to abide my time for another night: and then my second thoughts convinced me that I would be a fool in this. For lo, what an opportunity! All the Doones would be drunk, of course, in about three hours' time, and getting more and more in drink as the night went on. As for the fire, it must sink in about three hours or more, and only cast uncertain shadows friendly to my purpose. And then the outlaws must cower ...
— Lorna Doone - A Romance of Exmoor • R. D. Blackmore

... plumed hat. "Monsieur," he said, "the friends of Renaud L'Estang would laugh on being told he was at a loss for words; yet it is true. I cannot express my gratitude; I can but pray that I may have an opportunity of proving ...
— For The Admiral • W.J. Marx

... Saint Simonism is a warning example of this tendency. Saint Simon never lost an opportunity to give vent to his utter contempt for the liberals, and for constitutional government—ce batard du regime feodal et du regime industriel; and to counsel the crown, after the example of Louis XI. to place itself at the head of the working class, and in opposition ...
— Principles Of Political Economy • William Roscher

... physical conditions in the earth which determine the progressive changes in coals, above outlined, cannot be fully specified. Time is one of the factors—the longer the time, the greater the opportunity for accomplishing these results. Another factor is undoubtedly pressure, due to the weight of overlying sediments, or to earth movements. In peat condensational changes of this nature are accomplished artificially by the pressure of briquetting ...
— The Economic Aspect of Geology • C. K. Leith

... charge of making an unlawful convocation (they might want to make one, any day, themselves), and he was supported by the General Assembly. Similar conduct of the preachers thirty years later gave James VI. the opportunity to triumph over ...
— A Short History of Scotland • Andrew Lang

... real opportunity. Here human authority and government could be and was substituted for that spiritual dominion of Christ which gave life, form, and character to his church in primitive days. Here grew up that conception of the church as identical with the hierarchy whose power and authority was handed ...
— The Last Reformation • F. G. [Frederick George] Smith

... opportunity of seeing them in procession when a consignment of these world-revolutionaries drove off in state from Berne about the time of the Armistice. I told you, last week, that we had a Legation of them, ...
— Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 159, October 6, 1920 • Various

... sending him like thought forces, I will send him only thoughts of love, of sympathy, of brotherly kindness, and magnanimity. But a short time it will be until he feels these, and is influenced by them. Then in addition I will watch my opportunity, and whenever I can, I will even go out of my way to do him some little kindnesses. Before these forces he cannot stand, and by and by I shall find that he who to-day is my bitterest enemy is my warmest friend and it may be my staunchest ...
— What All The World's A-Seeking • Ralph Waldo Trine

... intervene; elapse &c. 109; hold out. take time, take up time, fill time, occupy time. pass time, pass away time, spend time, while away time, consume time, talk against time; tide over; use time, employ time; seize an opportunity &c. 134; waste time &c. (be inactive) 683. Adj. continuing &c. v.; on foot; permanent &c. (durable) 110. Adv. while, whilst, during, pending; during the time, during the interval; in the course of, ...
— Roget's Thesaurus • Peter Mark Roget

... "every organ sound, every function perfect; fine, large frame; well-shaped muscles, strong and sinewy; capable of wonderful development—if given opportunity.... I have no doubt it can be done. Already I have succeeded with a dog,—a task less difficult than this, for in a man the cerebrum overlaps the cerebellum, which is not the case with a dog. This gives a wide range for accident, with but one opportunity in a lifetime! In the cerebrum, the intellect ...
— The Ape, the Idiot & Other People • W. C. Morrow

... or whatever else it might be called, advanced with great rapidity. In a few moments it had reached them, and with a sharp grating sound as of iron cutting into ice, came suddenly to a stop, and the persons gathering round had an opportunity to examine it. It was the work of a village genius, and consisted of some boards, cut in an elliptical form (as, perhaps, the most convenient), supported by two pieces of iron, parallel to each other, to which the ...
— The Lost Hunter - A Tale of Early Times • John Turvill Adams

... to-night on a false pretence. I cannot call myself a desperate sinner. I have wronged no man. I have lived honestly and uprightly before you all. I owe no man anything. I have depended on my daily labor for my daily bread. Out of it I have provided as I had opportunity for the poor around me. No one ever went hungry from my door away. My creed has been a short and simple one, 'Do unto others as you would have others do unto you.' I have tried to ...
— Laicus - The experiences of a Layman in a Country Parish • Lyman Abbott

... the steps, evidently seeing her opportunity to escape while we were in the back of the house. She had reached the street door, which now was open, and the flaming arc light in front of the house shone brightly ...
— The Ear in the Wall • Arthur B. Reeve

... may admit) the ancestral or intermediate forms of our own horse, have been found. I therefore would not press the difficulty, great as it is, because of the escape which the hope of future discovery always affords. I will take this opportunity to repeat that in this chapter I say nothing about the difficulty which arises from the introduction of elementary reason or instinct, and of consciousness, into the scale of organic being; that ...
— Creation and Its Records • B.H. Baden-Powell

... wore a very different character. The religious oligarchies of Asia, either for their own guidance, or for the relief of their memory, or for the instruction of their disciples, seem in all cases to have ultimately embodied their legal learning in a code; but the opportunity of increasing and consolidating their influence was probably too tempting to be resisted. Their complete monopoly of legal knowledge appears to have enabled them to put off on the world collections, not so much of the ...
— Ancient Law - Its Connection to the History of Early Society • Sir Henry James Sumner Maine

... and kept closer watch of the constant strain on his line. The boatman, seizing every opportunity, ever and again thrust the boat forward, giving the lad a chance to take in more slack, so that the tuna swam in ever lessening circles. Suddenly he made a sharp flurry and tried to dive. But the line was tight and the brake held him closely, the lifting ...
— The Boy With the U. S. Fisheries • Francis Rolt-Wheeler

... never had an erotic dream; this he explains by saying (earlier than Freud) that all dreams not caused by physical conditions are wish-dreams, and as he always satisfies his sexual needs at once, with a friend or by masturbation, his sexual needs have no opportunity of ...
— Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 2 (of 6) • Havelock Ellis

... around our homes could be consigned to the bosom of mother earth the moment they seem to us worthless, they would be at once changed to life-giving forces, out of which forms of freshness and beauty would arise to fill us with delight. They are willing to serve us whenever we give them an opportunity. The one direct and infallible mode of doing that is to put them in the ground before they have a chance to work us injury. If we bury them, or, rather, plant them, they will bring forth, some thirty, some ...
— The House that Jill Built - after Jack's had proved a failure • E. C. Gardner

... sophistry in that argument," replied I; "but we had better wait till we find whether we shall have the opportunity afforded us of trying our powers of fascination before we quarrel about the effects to be produced by them. I cannot say I feel over sanguine as to the success of your somewhat original negotiation with that raw-boned giant in the ...
— Frank Fairlegh - Scenes From The Life Of A Private Pupil • Frank E. Smedley

... that they should have the opportunity of doing so. In our country these things are arranged chiefly by the lady's friends. With your people I know it is different. Perhaps it is much better that it should be so in a matter in which the heart has ...
— Mr. Scarborough's Family • Anthony Trollope

... seemed as if it were I who was the jealous monitor, and my Father the deprecating penitent. I sat up in the coverlid, and I shook a finger at him. 'Papa,' I said, 'don't tell me that she's a pedobaptist?' I had lately acquired that valuable word, and I seized this remarkable opportunity of using it. It affected my Father painfully, but he repeated his assurance that if we united our prayers, and set the Scripture plan plainly before Miss Brightwen, there could be no doubt that she would see her way to accepting the doctrine of adult baptism. And he said we must judge ...
— Father and Son • Edmund Gosse

... to sound Mr. Dynevor, and found an early opportunity of asking whether he had heard of poor James's misfortune. Yes, he had known it long ago. No wonder, with such a temper. Kept it from the child, though. Would not have her always hankering ...
— Dynevor Terrace (Vol. II) • Charlotte M. Yonge

... standstill, was taking the opportunity of lighting his pipe. This done, he looked up at the house and ...
— Tristram of Blent - An Episode in the Story of an Ancient House • Anthony Hope

... up and began impatiently seeking some one to sacrifice himself for, to do good to and to love. 'Since one wants nothing for oneself,' he kept thinking, 'why not live for others?' He took up his gun with the intention of returning home quickly to think this out and to find an opportunity of doing good. He made his way out of the thicket. When he had come out into the glade he looked around him; the sun was no longer visible above the tree-tops. It had grown cooler and the place seemed to him quite strange and not ...
— The Cossacks • Leo Tolstoy

... rejoice," he continued, with a completely unconcealed resignation, "that you have been the chosen instrument to afford him an opportunity to repent." ...
— Romance • Joseph Conrad and F.M. Hueffer

... against the Saxons' arrows, they pressed forward in spite of the shower of missiles with which the Saxons on the walls assailed them. Arrows, darts, and great stones were showered down upon them, the latter breaking down the shields, and affording the archers an opportunity of pouring ...
— The Dragon and the Raven - or, The Days of King Alfred • G. A. Henty

... had been devised for accomplishing his wish. He secretly despatched two clerks of his chapel to Italy, hoping, so at least Anselm's biographer believed, to obtain, as the price of his recognition of Urban, the deposition of Anselm by the authority of the pope for whom he was contending. The opportunity was eagerly embraced at Rome. A skilful and not over-scrupulous diplomatist, Walter, Cardinal-Bishop of Albano, was immediately sent back to England with the messengers of Rufus, doubtless with instructions to get as much as possible from the king without yielding ...
— The History of England From the Norman Conquest - to the Death of John (1066-1216) • George Burton Adams

... Beloochees; they were not only independent of each other, but for the most part acknowledged no allegiance to the Ameer of Cabul. Border disputes therefore had to be settled with individual chiefs; and no opportunity was offered for our mediation in internal feuds, or for joint agreement on external policy, as was so successfully accomplished by Sandeman in Beloochistan. There was no general federation with which we could ...
— Indian Frontier Policy • General Sir John Ayde

... almost universally adopted until lately figure prominently those of mechanics—such as the principle of relativity, and the principle of the equality of action and reaction. We will not detail nor discuss them here, but later on we shall have an opportunity of pointing out how recent theories on the phenomena of electricity have shaken the confidence of physicists in them and have led certain scholars ...
— The New Physics and Its Evolution • Lucien Poincare

... have only to dismiss me, to permit me to thank you for paying my fine and to reimburse you at the earliest opportunity." ...
— The Man on the Box • Harold MacGrath

... smallest opportunity of being stupid. We should have in Paris ten Venices if our retired merchants had had the instinct for fine things characteristic of the Italians. Even in our own day a Milanese merchant could leave five hundred thousand ...
— Cousin Betty • Honore de Balzac

... is no hope. But no one M.D., however learned, knows all about the ills of flesh. In this, as in the legal and other learned professions, a man may practice a score of years, and still know little or nothing about various peculiar cases, because they don't come under his notice; he has no opportunity to study them practically, and little inducement to theorize. And the class of cases we are now considering, it may surprise the sufferer to know, are deemed by many "regular" physicians beneath their attention. The physician's calling is a noble one, ...
— Manhood Perfectly Restored • Unknown

... two thousand Pounds, which was no Way answerable to the Expectations he had after his Father's Death; but it was impossible he should not love her, she was so prodigiously charming both in her inward and outward Excellencies; especially since he had the Opportunity of conversing with her at his Father's for above a Month. 'Tis true, he had seen her before, but it was then five Years since. Love her he did then, and that most passionately; nor was she insensible or ungrateful. But our young Lovers had not Discretion enough to conceal the Symptoms of ...
— The Works of Aphra Behn - Volume V • Aphra Behn

... much better, but the thought of food in that crowded tent was nauseating, and, watching my opportunity, I slipped away, seeing Tom Mercer looking about as if in search of me ...
— Burr Junior • G. Manville Fenn

... insects, who is so familiar with this very form of protective resemblance in larvae, and even perfect insects, will not be inclined to consider the suggestion far-fetched.) The observation is recorded in one of the manuscript journals kept by the great explorer during his journey. I owe the opportunity of studying it to the kindness of Mr Francis A. Burchell of the Rhodes University College, Grahamstown. The following account is given under the date July 5, 1812, when Burchell was at the Makkwarin River, about half-way between the Kuruman River and Litakun the old ...
— Darwin and Modern Science • A.C. Seward and Others



Words linked to "Opportunity" :   tabula rasa, fresh start, brass ring, street, chance, shot, opportune, equal opportunity, photo opportunity, clean slate, room, day, possibleness, say, throw, hearing, possibility, crack, occasion, hunting ground, opportunity cost, opening, audience



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