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Desist   Listen
verb
Desist  v. i.  (past & past part. desisted; pres. part. desisting)  To cease to proceed or act; to stop; to forbear; often with from. "Never desisting to do evil." "To desist from his bad practice." "Desist (thou art discern'd, And toil'st in vain)."






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Desist" Quotes from Famous Books



... chance in the world if it happens that his parents are sufficiently well-to-do to hold the purse strings on his training. Not until he has failed at the work they choose for him will such parents desist. When they finally allow him to take to the work he prefers they are usually surprised to see how ...
— How to Analyze People on Sight - Through the Science of Human Analysis: The Five Human Types • Elsie Lincoln Benedict and Ralph Paine Benedict

... murderer had not made preparations for a feast on the following day. He tried to induce his children, born in the mission and become Christians, to go with him for some parts of the dead body. They had much difficulty in persuading him to desist from his purpose; and the soldier who was posted at Esmeralda, learned from the domestic squabble caused by this event, what the Indians would have ...
— Equinoctial Regions of America V2 • Alexander von Humboldt

... wide construction which has been given to the law against conspiracy, persons who were to combine to force such a change by abstaining from all exciseable articles might not be indicted for it as a conspiracy. It may, for aught that I know, be even indictable to unite and desist from using tea, tobacco and snuff to coerce the government into reform by a reduction of the revenue raised from those articles; but you are not sitting there to try an indictment for a conspiracy; and, therefore, though this passage may not be pleasing, ...
— A Sketch of the Life of the late Henry Cooper - Barrister-at-Law, of the Norfolk Circuit; as also, of his Father • William Cooper

... Court of Russia." The vote was seventeen to fifteen, and among the seventeen was Mr. Adams's old colleague, Timothy Pickering, who probably never in his life cast a vote which gave him so much (p. 070) pleasure. Mr. Madison, however, did not readily desist from his purpose, and a few months later, June 26, he sent a message to the Senate, stating that the considerations previously leading him to nominate a minister to Russia had since been strengthened, and again naming Mr. Adams for the post. This ...
— John Quincy Adams - American Statesmen Series • John. T. Morse

... he said, looking at Hutchins's back. "The fishing isn't what I expected but if the young lady with the hatchet will desist, so I can make myself heard, I've found a place where there are fish! This biggest fellow is three and ...
— Tish, The Chronicle of Her Escapades and Excursions • Mary Roberts Rinehart

... this volume, it will be necessary to revert once more to the tyrant whose misrule of Virginia had brought about Bacon's Rebellion. At last, the assembly had to beg Berkeley to desist, which he did with reluctance. A writer of the period said, "I believe the governor would have hanged half the country if they had let him alone." He was finally induced to consent that all the rebels should be pardoned except about fifty leaders—Bacon at the head of them; but these ...
— The Real America in Romance, Volume 6; A Century Too Soon (A Story - of Bacon's Rebellion) • John R. Musick

... hand on the mirror for many hours in succession. When such labours were in progress, Caroline used to sit by her brother, and enliven the time by reading stories aloud, sometimes pausing to feed him with a spoon while his hands were engaged on the task from which he could not desist for ...
— Great Astronomers • R. S. Ball

... and our triumph will be complete. Never, never, will we desist, till we have wiped away this scandal from the Christian name; till we have released ourselves from the load of guilt under which we at present labour; and till we have extinguished every trace of this bloody traffic, which our posterity, looking ...
— The History of the Rise, Progress and Accomplishment of the Abolition of the African Slave Trade by the British Parliament (1808) • Thomas Clarkson

... bad taste that is a law unto itself and takes no thought of the opinion of others. Although Africa had spoiled Saltire's complexion, it was evident that she had never bowed his neck or put humility into his eye or made him desist from looking over his boldly cut nose as though he had bought the world ...
— Blue Aloes - Stories of South Africa • Cynthia Stockley

... the same shrill quavering notes, again and again, until a violent fit of coughing obliged him to desist, and to pursue in silence, the occupation upon which he ...
— The Life And Adventures Of Nicholas Nickleby • Charles Dickens

... kindness are gradually forcing their way to her heart. Routledge, in his own passion, forgets himself, and she now repels him. She even threatens to strike the bell, when the Count de Carojac appears, and warns his rival to desist. This is now the end of the second act, a very different end, you see, from the other version, where the little girl runs in, and, in her innocence, saves the mother ...
— The Autobiography of a Play - Papers on Play-Making, II • Bronson Howard

... German frigate which had dropped into the harbor of Port-au-Prince, run out its guns, and demanded redress of injuries and payment of debts to Germany and German subjects; and the charge, after dwelling upon the enormity of such a demand, pointed out the duty of the United States to oblige Germany to desist,—in short, to assert the Monroe Doctrine as he ...
— Autobiography of Andrew Dickson White Volume II • Andrew Dickson White

... a spirit of extravagance so irreclaimable, were hopeless prognostics; yet Cecilia would not desist from her design. She therefore took the earliest opportunity of speaking with Mr Arnott upon the subject, when she openly expressed her uneasiness at the state of his brother's affairs, and warmly acknowledged her displeasure at his dissipated ...
— Cecilia Volume 1 • Frances Burney

... now wrote to Washington, offering pardon to all persons who should desist from rebellion; he addressed the letter to "George Washington, Esq.," and sent it under flag of truce. The messenger was told there was no one in the army with that title. A week later another messenger came with a paper addressed "George Washington, Esq. etc. etc." This time he ...
— A Brief History of the United States • John Bach McMaster

... singularly inappropriate name of Georgina. In this river two fine sheets of water were found, and called Lake Frances and Lake Mary. An ineffectual attempt was then made to go westward, but lack of water compelled them to desist. ...
— The Explorers of Australia and their Life-work • Ernest Favenc

... us fish him out!" And they were proceeding to put this idea into execution, when Roblado, who had now got to his feet, finding that a wounded arm was all he had suffered, ordered them to desist. ...
— The White Chief - A Legend of Northern Mexico • Mayne Reid

... miserable vulgarian," said Denis, "I scorn you from the head to the heel. Desist, I say," for the father was about to lay in another swinger upon his kidney—"desist, I say, and don't approximate, or I will entangle the ...
— Going To Maynooth - Traits And Stories Of The Irish Peasantry, The Works of - William Carleton, Volume Three • William Carleton

... was spoken. I heard the Count close the library door. I heard Sir Percival barring up the window-shutters. It had been raining, raining all the time. I was cramped by my position and chilled to the bones. When I first tried to move, the effort was so painful to me that I was obliged to desist. I tried a second time, and succeeded in rising to my knees on the ...
— The Woman in White • Wilkie Collins

... encouraged by Jebb and Pepys, who had charged me to do so, I checked him rather severely, and Mr. Johnson added these remarkable words: "Sir, after the denunciation of your physicians this morning, such eating is little better than suicide." He did not, however, desist, and Sir Philip said, he eat apparently in defiance of control, and that it was better for us to say nothing to him. Johnson observed that he thought so too; and that he spoke more from a sense of duty than a hope of success. Baretti and these ...
— Autobiography, Letters and Literary Remains of Mrs. Piozzi (Thrale) (2nd ed.) (2 vols.) • Mrs. Hester Lynch Piozzi

... counsel given by the Journal of Health, is, therefore, in perfect accordance with the principles of medical philosophy. "Our advice is, to desist, immediately and entirely, from the use of tobacco in every form, and in any quantity, however small."—"A reform of this, like of all evil habits, whether of smoking, chewing, drinking, and other vicious indulgences, to be efficacious, must be entire, ...
— A Dissertation on the Medical Properties and Injurious Effects of the Habitual Use of Tobacco • A. McAllister

... material phenomena resulted. But he asserted the Moving Force to be Mind; and yet, though he clearly saw the impossibility of advancing by illustration or definition beyond a reasonable faith, or a simple negation of materiality, yet he could not wholly desist from the endeavor to illustrate the nature of this non-matter or mind, by symbols drawn from those physical considerations which decided him in placing it in a separate category. Whether as human reason, or as the regulating Principle in nature, he held it different from ...
— Morals and Dogma of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Freemasonry • Albert Pike

... lay for near 2 Hours, having little or no wind. During this time several Canoes came off to the Ship, and 2 or 3 of them sold us some fish—Cavallys as they are called—which occasioned my giving the Islands the same name. After this some others began to Pelt us with Stones, and would not desist at the firing of 2 Musquet Balls thro' one of their Boats; at last I was obliged to pepper 2 or 3 fellows with small Shott, after which they retir'd, and the wind coming at North-West we stood off to Sea. At Noon, Cavally ...
— Captain Cook's Journal During the First Voyage Round the World • James Cook

... up the quarrel, and another and another joining, in a short time the greater portion were engaged in a deadly hand-to-hand struggle. The officers contented themselves with merely shouting and ordering them to desist, and of course their commands received no attention. In a few minutes several of the combatants lay weltering in their blood, and two of them, locked in a deadly embrace in each other's arms, fell off the rock ...
— The Three Midshipmen • W.H.G. Kingston

... to bury it among others who at all events had called themselves Christians. Our intentions must have been suspected, for in a few minutes a guard of soldiers made their appearance, and, threatening us with their pikes or halberds, made us desist. We then determined to go at once to the commandant. He received us with a look of haughty contempt. He remarked that our countryman was a heretic—that the priests considered that he had died out of the pale of their true Church like a dog, and that like a dog ...
— Hurricane Hurry • W.H.G. Kingston

... idea that in punishing Ralph by making public the whole transaction, he would be injuring his daughter as much as he injured Ralph. But the inkling did not sufficiently establish itself in his mind to cause him to desist. Ralph Newton ought to be made to repeat his offer before all the world; even though he should only repeat it to be again refused. The whole of that evening he sat brooding over it, so that he might come to some ...
— Ralph the Heir • Anthony Trollope

... to each other's ports and countries, the Deputies of the Archduke declared, that they did not mean to comprehend in that free trade, the navigation to the Indies and all the fortresses there, but, on the contrary, that all the subjects of these countries should forthwith desist therefrom. The Dutch Deputies opposed this strongly and firmly, saying, that it would prejudice the liberty of the Provinces and the free use of the sea, and, therefore, that they were not authorised to relinquish it. The others continued ...
— The Diplomatic Correspondence of the American Revolution, Vol. VIII • Various

... moments the clanging of the bell ceased, for the marquis had discovered the old sextoness in her cell, and compelled her to desist. ...
— Wagner, the Wehr-Wolf • George W. M. Reynolds

... sire Her sister's fault. At length her seat she takes Across the threshold, and th' approaching god Repuls'd; and to his blandishments, and words Beseeching fair, and soft-alluring prayers, She cry'd,—"Desist,—from hence I ne'er will move "Till thou art driven away." Swift Hermes said.— "Keep firmly that resolve." And with his wand The sculptur'd portals touching, wide they flew. But when her limbs to raise, the virgin strove, A weighty numbness o'er the members crept Which ...
— The Metamorphoses of Publius Ovidus Naso in English blank verse Vols. I & II • Ovid

... began to censure him, bidding him desist from such treasonable talk, but he boldly stood his ground, and said, as if quoting the words of Daniel: "'Are ye such fools, ye sons of Israel, that without examination or knowledge of the truth ye have condemned a daughter of Israel? Return ...
— Historia Calamitatum • Peter Abelard

... overhead, and the train was just about to start, when a lady mounted to the doorway, with a little girl in one hand, and a bag, basket, and umbrella in the other. With a great volume of French she endeavored to thrust the child into the compartment, but was forced to desist from the attempt in deference to the remonstrances of the majority of those who already ...
— Harper's Young People, March 9, 1880 - An Illustrated Weekly • Various

... anywhere except in church. In sh' Allah, we will have a ceremony such as has not been seen in this place for many a year. I have spoken to the caimmacam and to the learned at the Mosque about it; and they say we may do what we like among ourselves, but must desist if any Muslim passing by should make objection. To-morrow is high ...
— The Valley of the Kings • Marmaduke Pickthall

... sixteen pretty good horses, when a window on the other side opened, and the minister's head was put out, and he said, "In the name of the church I command you to desist." He looked so fierce that Jim, who was on guard on that side, and who had objected to the scheme on account of its being a church, cocked his carbine and pointed it at the minister and said, "gol darn you, dry up!" He dried up, the window closed and except for the heads at the windows, and faces ...
— How Private George W. Peck Put Down The Rebellion - or, The Funny Experiences of a Raw Recruit - 1887 • George W. Peck

... conquest, and the attacks were repeated in 981, 982 and 988. In 991 the Danes burned Ipswich, and defeated and slew the East Saxon ealdorman Brihtnoth at Maldon. After this, peace was purchased by a payment of L. 10,000-a disastrous expedient. The Danes were to desist from their ravages, but were allowed to stay in England. Next year AEthelred himself broke the peace by an attack on the Danish ships. Despite the treachery of AElfric, the English were victorious; and the Danes sailed off to ravage Lindsey ...
— Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia

... vainly tried to seize and crush Hereward in his enormous arms. Hereward, bleeding, but still active and upright, broke away, and sprang round him, watching for an opportunity to strike a deadly blow. The housecarles rushed forward with yells. Alef shouted to the combatants to desist; but ere the party could reach them, Hereward's opportunity had come. Ironhook, after a fruitless lunge, stumbled forward. Hereward leapt aside, and spying an unguarded spot below the corslet, drove his sword deep into the giant's body, and rolled him over upon the ...
— Hereward, The Last of the English • Charles Kingsley

... mature station as a marksman, Garzia, over-heated by the chase, and aggravated by his brother's raillery, hastily drew his heavy hunting-knife and brandished it before Giovanni's face, threatening to do for him if he did not desist, and withdraw his ...
— The Tragedies of the Medici • Edgcumbe Staley

... of God has sent me to stop the carnage! My brother, the empress earnestly entreats you, by the tears she has shed for your sake, to desist from fighting! As your empress she commands you to sheathe your sword until you hear the result of the negotiations now pending between herself ...
— Joseph II. and His Court • L. Muhlbach

... who had come over from Leipzig for one of the performances of Rienzi, gave me a still more naive testimony as to the real point of interest in the opera. I was sitting with him in an open box, in full sight of the audience, and had therefore begged him to desist from giving any applause, even if directed only to the efforts of the singers; he restrained himself all through the evening, but his enthusiasm at a certain figure of the ballet was too much for him, and he clapped loudly, to the great amusement of the audience, telling me ...
— My Life, Volume I • Richard Wagner

... the fact that the breeze had fallen and there was scarcely a breath of wind, the tree swayed violently to and fro, whilst there proceeded from it the most dreadful moanings and groanings. I was so terrified that I caught hold of my bicycle and tried to mount, but I was obliged to desist as I had not a particle of strength in my limbs. Then to assure myself the moving of the tree was not an illusion, I rubbed my eyes, pinched myself, called aloud; but it made no difference—the rustling, bending, and tossing ...
— Scottish Ghost Stories • Elliott O'Donnell

... belief that the doubles of the dead may be induced to yield benefits or desist from inflicting evil by bribing or cajoling or else by threatening or coercing, we see that the modes of dealing with ghosts broadly contrasted as antagonistic and sympathetic, initiate the distinction ...
— The World's Greatest Books—Volume 14—Philosophy and Economics • Various

... build no Hope that I, forgiving you, will once more regard you as my Suitor. For that cannot ever be. I decided you should show yourself a Fool before many people. But such Folly does not commend your hand to mine. Therefore desist your irksome attention &, if need be, begone from Bath. I have punished you, & would save my eyes the trouble to turn away from your person. I pray that you regard this epistle as ...
— The Works of Max Beerbohm • Max Beerbohm

... late at night Hans worked, without rest or quiet. Neither pleadings nor threats moved him to desist from his labors. He lived like a hermit in his workshop. Two long years had passed; and at last Hans appeared at the Council Chamber and made known the fact that he had accomplished the ...
— After Long Years and Other Stories • Translated from the German by Sophie A. Miller and Agnes M. Dunne

... his very prestige demanded at least a demonstration of some kind on his part. Leonetta, too, was beginning to look at him with a suggestion of enquiry in her eyes, and then ultimately Agatha made it impossible for him to desist any longer. ...
— Too Old for Dolls - A Novel • Anthony Mario Ludovici

... desist. What care I to hear of the love you bear the woman Cecil? She is the betrothed of another man; and were she not, think you I could wish her wedded to one holding principles such as yours? Have not her gallant brothers, boys fostered, ...
— The Buccaneer - A Tale • Mrs. S. C. Hall

... Voelzke, solemnly. "Did you not obey when your fever and inflamed eyes commanded you to remain idle at Laon for ten days, although you were in a towering passion, and were bent on advancing with the army? Well, your excellency, I tell you, if you do not now obey me. and consent to desist from taking an airing—if you are determined to ride out in the cold night-air, one more powerful than I am will compel you to obey; and that one is your disease. You may ride out today, but to-morrow it will command you to keep your bed, the inflammation ...
— NAPOLEON AND BLUCHER • L. Muhlbach

... to him for ever having extorted such a promise from me! Oh, I warned him again, and again, and again. I told him how it would be—I begged him to desist; but no, he was blind, he was mad; he would rush on his own doom! I fulfilled my promise, ...
— The Midnight Queen • May Agnes Fleming

... Washington, who was at Mount Vernon, was unwilling to go to extremes, but consented to issue a proclamation, which, drafted by Hamilton, and countersigned by Jefferson, was published September 15, 1792. It earnestly admonished all persons to desist from unlawful combinations to obstruct the operations of the laws, and charged all courts, magistrates, and officers with their enforcement. There was no mistaking Hamilton's intention to enforce the law. Prosecutions ...
— Albert Gallatin - American Statesmen Series, Vol. XIII • John Austin Stevens

... Master's Knowledge extends no farther than the foregoing Rules, then ought he in conscience to desist, and to recommend the Scholar to better Instructions. However, before the Scholar arrives at this, it will not be quite unnecessary to discourse with him in the following Chapters, and if his Age permits him not to understand me, those, who have the ...
— Observations on the Florid Song - or Sentiments on the Ancient and Modern Singers • Pier Francesco Tosi

... morning dawn and Lucifer withdraw His beamy chariot, let not the loud bell Call forth thy negroes from their rushy couch: And ere the sun with mid-day fervor glow, When every broom-bush opes her yellow flower, Let thy black laborers from their toil desist: Nor till the broom her every petal lock, Let the loud bell recal them to the hoe, But when the jalap her bright tint displays, When the solanum fills her cup with dew, And crickets, snakes and lizards gin their coil, Let them find ...
— Flowers and Flower-Gardens • David Lester Richardson

... Whether this arises from the latterly diminished slaughter among them, owing to the decrease of the blacks who formerly fed upon them, or from the effects of the Dog Act, which induced many to destroy their dogs and to desist from the chase, or from the relish which the animal itself has acquired for the corn and other artificial food it finds upon the cultivated farms, we cannot say, but certain it is, that not only patches, but whole acres of corn in many situations are this year destroyed by their nightly ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Vol. XX. No. 556., Saturday, July 7, 1832 • Various

... levelling of the ground. Suppose again just one basketful is left, when the work has so progressed. There I desist! ...
— Chinese Literature • Anonymous

... their counsel beneath a sacred oak or in the circle of the magic stones. When great events were impending, or when tribes took up arms against each other, the Druids would leave their forest abodes, and, interposing between the combatants, authoritatively bid them desist. They acted as mediators between great chiefs, and were judges upon all matters in dispute. He was sure, therefore, that the Druid was the bearer of news of importance. He stood waiting in the centre of the hall until his mother's eye fell ...
— Beric the Briton - A Story of the Roman Invasion • G. A. Henty

... Helen, "let me intreat you, Mrs. Falkner, to desist these cruel taunts. God has been pleased to place me in my present position; and it is, with thankfulness, nay, with pride, I exert the talents he has given me for the support of myself and the dear children, he has committed ...
— A Book For The Young • Sarah French

... in my perfect senses, and you alone are mad. If your art can bring him I love to me, I shall be obliged to you; otherwise you may go about your business, for I have nothing to do with you." "Madam," said the astrologer, "if your case be so, I shall desist from all endeavours, believing the king your father only can remove your disorder:" so putting up his trinkets again, he marched away, much concerned that he had so easily undertaken to cure an ...
— The Arabian Nights Entertainments Complete • Anonymous

... upon the ground, but was still living, and his eye bright with its wonted fire. I raised him in my arms, and lifting him upon my horse, moved toward the gate, intending to bring him within the walls. But he presently entreated me to desist.' ...
— Zenobia - or, The Fall of Palmyra • William Ware

... their parents, died, and the rest remained affected to the end of their lives with the permanent tremor. Another occurrence was related to have taken place on the Mosel bridge at Utrecht, on June 17, 1278, when two hundred fanatics began to dance, and would not desist until a priest passed who was carrying the host to a person that was sick, upon which, as if in punishment of their crime, the bridge gave way, and they were all drowned. A similar event also occurred, so early as the year 1027, near the convent church of Kolbig, not far ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 07 • Various

... flame of theological discord that had been slumbering for a year broke out afresh. Brask, as an offset to the new translation, interpreted into Swedish some tracts composed in Germany against the Lutherans; and the monarch, hearing of this move, sent off a letter commanding the aged bishop to desist. "Report has reached us, venerable father," he began, "that you have translated into Swedish certain proclamations of the emperor against the doctrines now current, ... and that you have circulated them among the common people. We are well aware that these proclamations are ...
— The Swedish Revolution Under Gustavus Vasa • Paul Barron Watson

... of ours. I have told the shocking particulars of his death, in my description of some of the neighboring slaveholders. My grandmother, always nervously sensitive about runaways, was terribly frightened. She felt sure that a similar fate awaited me, if I did not desist from my enterprise. She sobbed, and groaned, and entreated me not to go. Her excessive fear was somewhat contagious, and my heart was not proof against her extreme agony. I was grievously disappointed, but I ...
— Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl - Written by Herself • Harriet Jacobs (AKA Linda Brent)

... out to him to desist; but he never deigned to take the slightest notice of me. I repeated my order in a louder and more angry tone; whereupon he turned his eyes upon me, and said, in a most contemptuous tone, "Chut, ti beque: quitte moue tranquille, ou ...
— At Last • Charles Kingsley

... impossibility of persevering in the attempted taxes, which were incompatible with every principle of commercial liberty. But Alva would not abandon his design till he had forced every province into resistance, and the king himself commanded him to desist. The events of this and the following year, 1570, may be shortly summed up; none of any striking interest or eventual importance having occurred. The sufferings of the country were increasing from day to day under the intolerable tyranny which bore it down. ...
— Holland - The History of the Netherlands • Thomas Colley Grattan

... Town for wine; drinking, and afterwards howling (ululantes);—totally depriving the Abbot and Convent of their afternoon's nap; doing all this in derision of the Lord Abbot, and spending in such fashion the whole day till evening, nor would they desist at the Lord Abbot's order! Night coming on, they broke the bolts of the Town-Gates, and went off by violence!'[21] Was the like ever heard of? The roysterous young dogs; carolling, howling, breaking the Lord Abbot's sleep,—after that sinful chivalry ...
— Past and Present - Thomas Carlyle's Collected Works, Vol. XIII. • Thomas Carlyle

... formidable of whom were the Danes, who spread desolation and misery along the banks of the Thames, the Medway, the Severn, the Tamar, and the Avon, for more than a century, though repeatedly tempted to desist by weighty bribes, raised by an oppressive and humiliating tax called Danegelt, from its object; and which, like most others, were continued long after it had answered ...
— The Pirates Own Book • Charles Ellms

... ambulance car is to go to Alost at once. The Commandant is arrested in the act of cutting bread. Dr. Bird is arrested in the act of eating it. We are all arrested in our several acts. As if they had been criminal acts, we desist suddenly. The men get up and look at each other. It is clear that they cannot all go. Mr. Grierson looks at the Commandant. His face is a little white and strained, as it was this morning when he announced Matins for ...
— A Journal of Impressions in Belgium • May Sinclair

... other, and agreed to come to terms, to avoid further injury. The Ayamarcas, who were the most powerful, requested those of Huayllacan to deliver the child Titu Cusi Hualpa into their hands, to do what they liked with him. On this condition they would desist from further hostilities, but if it was not complied with, they announced that they would continue a mortal war to the end. The Huayllacans, fearing this, and knowing their inability for further resistance, accepted the condition, although they were uncles and relations of the child. In order to ...
— History of the Incas • Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa

... why I occasionally enter a place like this is to implore those who deal in this deadly poison to desist, to stop a business that spreads desolation, ruin, poverty, and starvation. Think one moment of your own loved ones, and then imagine them in the situation I am in. I appeal to your better nature, I appeal to your heart, ...
— Choice Readings for the Home Circle • Anonymous

... I turn the corner of the barn and come upon a great devil of a Wurtemberger, who was tugging at the beam with a certain enthusiasm. 'Aho! aho!' I shouted, trying to make him understand that he must desist from his toil. 'Gehe mir aus dem Gesicht, oder ich schlag dich todt!—Get out of my sight, or I will kill you,' he cried. 'Ah! yes, just so, Que mire aous dem guesit,' I answered; 'but that is not the point.' I picked up his gun that he ...
— The Country Doctor • Honore de Balzac

... [Sidenote: May 11] From Perth Knox wrote: "The places of idolatry were made equal with the ground; all monuments of idolatry that could be apprehended, consumed with fire; and priests commanded, under pain of death, to desist from their blasphemous mass." Similar outbursts occurred at St. Andrews, and when Knox returned to Edinburgh, civil war seemed imminent. Pamphlets of the time, like The Beggars' Warning, [Sidenote: 1559] distinctly made the threat of ...
— The Age of the Reformation • Preserved Smith

... England did not desist. The very next year Raleigh, who had played on the sands with Humphrey Gilbert, sends out his colonists to the Roanoke, and lays the foundations for the beginning of empire in the Southern States. English sailors explore Cape Cod. Ten years after Frobisher had ...
— Canada: the Empire of the North - Being the Romantic Story of the New Dominion's Growth from Colony to Kingdom • Agnes C. Laut

... care, and making a strict inquiry into the condition of the religious houses. They, however, appealed to Rome; and Innocent, who had at first sanctioned his proceedings, was afraid of losing their support, and ordered Grosteste to desist. The resolute Bishop set off to Rome, and laid the Pope's ...
— Cameos from English History, from Rollo to Edward II • Charlotte Mary Yonge

... or four days' fishing together, your game will be very shy and wary, and you shall hardly get above a bite or two at a baiting: then your only way is to desist from your sport, about two or three days: and in the meantime, on the place you late baited, and again intend to bait, you shall take a turf of green but short grass, as big or bigger than a round trencher; to the top of this turf, on the green side, you shall, with a needle and ...
— The Complete Angler • Izaak Walton

... carried off by the Romans, flew in between the combatants, with their hair loose, and their ornaments neglected, regardless of their own danger; and, with loud outcries, implored their husbands and their fathers to desist. Upon this the combatants, as if by natural impulse, let fall their weapons. 16. An accommodation ensued, by which it was agreed, that Rom'ulus and Ta'tius should reign jointly in Rome, with equal power and ...
— Pinnock's Improved Edition of Dr. Goldsmith's History of Rome • Oliver Goldsmith

... well-nigh impossible to credit that such rubbish as this could be implicitly believed by any considerable number of people, yet such was the case, and the fact that the Chinese government eventually bribed Yue Man-tze with official rank and a large sum of money to desist from his evil ways by no means tended ...
— Life and sport in China - Second Edition • Oliver G. Ready

... the lower jaw, while a man, evidently the owner of the half-vanquished brute, was trying to separate them. Outside this ring about twenty other brutes—men, women, and children—were cheering the combatants, and calling on the meddler to desist. It was strange how the peacemaker managed to stand up against the volleys of oaths they showered on him; he did, however, and persisted in his laudable efforts, till a tall, rawboned, heavy-jawed fellow stepped into the ring, and, taking him by the collar, pulled him ...
— The Continental Monthly , Vol. 2 No. 5, November 1862 - Devoted to Literature and National Policy • Various

... grief should express itself by hours of drooping silence was a thing they accepted without striving to understand. Once or twice David tried to speak to her of her father, but it seemed to rouse in her an irritated and despairing pain. She begged him to desist and got away from him as quickly as she could, climbing into the wagon and lying on the sacks, with bright, unwinking eyes fastened on Daddy John's back. But she did not rest stunned under an unexpected blow as ...
— The Emigrant Trail • Geraldine Bonner

... him there without the use of more strength than he cared to put forth. Julius was like an eel in his grasp. As fast as he raised him from the floor he would somehow manage to slip back again; and all the while he begged and pleaded so loudly that Jack was forced to desist for fear that his mother would hear the uproar, and come to the door to ask what was ...
— Marcy The Blockade Runner • Harry Castlemon

... swearing, and debauchery L100 worth of plate for my Lord to give Secretary Nicholas Most of my time in looking upon Mrs. Butler My new silk suit, the first that ever I wore in my life Offer me L500 if I would desist from the Clerk of the Acts place Sceptic in all things of religion She had six children by the King Strange how civil and tractable he was to me The ceremonies did not please me, they do so overdo them This afternoon I showed my Lord my accounts, which ...
— Widger's Quotations from The Diary of Samuel Pepys • David Widger

... the effect intended, or seems to have. With exclamations of astonishment at hearing an akifka akinish address them in their own tongue, the expression of their faces becomes less fierce, and they desist from menacing gestures. One of the men, the oldest, and for this reason having chief authority, draws near and commences patting Seagriff on the chest and back alternately, all the while giving utterance to a gurgling, "chucking" noise that sounds somewhat like the cluck of a hen ...
— The Land of Fire - A Tale of Adventure • Mayne Reid

... wrapped in their love. Nearest of all to the table was a gray-haired woman in black, evidently the mother of a consumptive young man in a rubber jacket, who stood before her. Her eyes were fixed on him, and her tears prevented her speaking, which she several times attempted to do, but was forced to desist. The young man held a piece of paper in his hand, and, evidently not knowing what to do, with an angry expression on his face was folding and crumpling it. Sitting beside the weeping mother, and patting her on the shoulder, ...
— The Awakening - The Resurrection • Leo Nikoleyevich Tolstoy

... Lord Zouche was actually engaged in canvassing the king for the release of Northampton and his allies. The Council thereupon unanimously resolved to send a letter to Lord Zouche, on behalf of the entire commonalty of the City, praying him to desist from his suit, and assuring him of their loyalty to the king even unto death.(676) It also resolved to send a deputation on horseback to the king, who was at "Esthamstede," to ask his favour for the City, and to beg of ...
— London and the Kingdom - Volume I • Reginald R. Sharpe

... would take a firm and unalterable possession of his mind. He is therefore determined to try the public opinion; that he may be enabled either to pursue his poetical studies under their encouragement, or to desist in time from an useless employment. This volume is not intended to challenge approbation, but to be the precursor of something which may challenge it in future: it is not an attempt to gain the prize, but a specimen of his powers, which may ...
— Gustavus Vasa - and other poems • W. S. Walker

... hypocrites! are these your pranks? To murder men and give God thanks! Desist, for shame!—proceed no further; God won't ...
— Poems And Songs Of Robert Burns • Robert Burns

... to Drumanno to please, and to himself only to stand aside and envy. He seemed excluded, as of right, from the favour of such society - seemed to extinguish mirth wherever he came, and was quick to feel the wound, and desist, and retire into solitude. If he had but understood the figure he presented, and the impression he made on these bright eyes and tender hearts; if he had but guessed that the Recluse of Hermiston, young, graceful, well spoken, but always cold, stirred the maidens of the county ...
— Weir of Hermiston • Robert Louis Stevenson

... favour his wishes. Plunged, however, too deep in his passion to emerge from it in haste, he meant still to visit, and wait for a change to happier circumstances, when he was peremptorily desired by Mr. Sandford to desist from ever coming again. ...
— A Simple Story • Mrs. Inchbald

... the world, although I know not its end, because to judge of this order I only need mutually to compare the parts, to study their functions, their relations, and to remark their concert. I know not why the universe exists, but I do not desist from seeing how it is modified; I do not cease to see the intimate agreement by which the beings that compose it render a mutual help. I am like a man who should see for the first time an open watch, who should not cease to admire the workmanship of ...
— Natural Law in the Spiritual World • Henry Drummond

... for ought we know this world was made So soon as such a Nature could exist; And though that it continue, never fade, Yet never will it be that that long twist Of time prove infinite, though ner'e desist From running still. But we may safely say Time past compar'd with this long future list Doth show as if the world but yesterday Were made, and in due time ...
— Democritus Platonissans • Henry More

... his face, and he cries in a voice of thunder, "Blasphemer!" And all the Bootstrap-lifters desist from their lifting, and menace me with furious looks. There is a general call for a policeman of the Wholesale Pickpockets' Association; and so I fall silent, and slink away in the throng, and thereafter keep my ...
— The Profits of Religion, Fifth Edition • Upton Sinclair

... attacked by the disease, a boy of about eight, and another of five years, the younger one two days after the older one. I ordered them to be packed, and all seemed to go well, when, during my absence from the city (of Freiberg) a medical friend, who called, persuaded my wife to desist from continuing the hydriatic treatment, and use some remedies of his instead. On my return, I found the elder boy (the other began only to show some slight symptoms) in a very bad state: the cerebellum and ...
— Hydriatic treatment of Scarlet Fever in its Different Forms • Charles Munde

... who liked to express himself to young people with a sort of paternal geniality, rallied her one day on her excessive study, and bade her be warned by a notorious example. This had the effect of making her desist from reading in ...
— A Life's Morning • George Gissing

... power to coerce them, and showing that they themselves are endowed with similar art, but which they refrain from exercising because it is derived from the agency of evil spirits, shall compel them to desist from practices of such a nature in their presence. When I am witness of this I shall place them and their religion under an interdict, and shall allow myself to be baptized. Following my example, all my ...
— The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume VI. • Various

... fifty-pounder fired nineteen shots in three days, but only five struck the fortress: the Turks fired too high, and many of their missiles fell harmlessly into the sea beyond. In spite of storm and rain the Grand Vez[i]r would not desist from making the round of the trenches by night. Suleym[a]n offered liberal terms of capitulation, but the besieged sent back his messenger with never an answer. Alexandro Tron worked the big guns of the castle with terrible precision. Two galleys were quickly ...
— The Story of the Barbary Corsairs • Stanley Lane-Poole

... was afterward barefaced enough to boast of this work in his Autobiography, published in 1833. Napoleon dictated the fundamental ideas of this work to him from his headquarters. His object was to pacify the Germans. He promised them henceforward to desist from enforcing his continental system, to restore liberty to commerce, no longer to force the laws and language of France upon Germany. L'empereur se fera aimer des Allemands. The Germans were, on the other hand, warned ...
— Germany from the Earliest Period Vol. 4 • Wolfgang Menzel, Trans. Mrs. George Horrocks

... of no avail, and only tended to anger Black Michael, so he was forced to desist and make the best he could ...
— Tarzan of the Apes • Edgar Rice Burroughs

... been trying all my life to like Scotchmen, and am obliged to desist from the experiment in despair. They cannot like me—and in truth, I never knew one of that nation who attempted to do it. There is something more plain and ingenuous in their mode of proceeding. We know one another at ...
— The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb, Volume 2 • Charles Lamb

... them. When we meane to build, We first suruey the Plot, then draw the Modell, And when we see the figure of the house, Then must we rate the cost of the Erection, Which if we finde out-weighes Ability, What do we then, but draw a-new the Modell In fewer offices? Or at least, desist To builde at all? Much more, in this great worke, (Which is (almost) to plucke a Kingdome downe, And set another vp) should we suruey The plot of Situation, and the Modell; Consent vpon a sure Foundation: Question ...
— The First Folio [35 Plays] • William Shakespeare

... and finding no others bound unto them, they only require at their own flock, that they will sustain them according to their bounden duty, and what it shall please them to give for their sustentation, if it were but bread and water, neither will they refuse it, nor desist from the vocation. But to take from others contrary to their will, whom they serve not, they judge it not their duty, ...
— John Knox • A. Taylor Innes

... when they abandoned their battery, heard a feeble voice exclaim 'Protect me, sir, against that boy.' He turned and saw a lad with a musket taking deliberate aim at a wounded British officer, lying in a corner of a low fence. Wilkinson ordered the boy to desist, and discovered the wounded man to be Major Ackland. He had him conveyed to the quarters of General Poor (now the residence of Mr. Neilson) on the heights, where every attention was paid ...
— The Fifteen Decisive Battles of The World From Marathon to Waterloo • Sir Edward Creasy, M.A.

... the citadel, and others who were dispersed through the country. This circumstance, prejudicial to the state, added force to the project of the tribunes. For, assailed by every argument to no purpose that they would then at length desist from obstructing the war, when they yielded neither to the public storm, nor to the odium themselves, they succeed so far as to have a decree of the senate passed for the election of military tribunes; with an express stipulation, however, that no candidate should be considered, ...
— The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 • Titus Livius

... fainted in the arms of her supporters: at the same moment I was forcibly held back by some of the attendants, and a number of the bystanders rushed in between us, and intercepted my view. I heard my name now repeated in every direction by the multitude—some calling out to the priests to desist, and others to proceed. I struggled to extricate myself, and passion lent me momentary strength; but it was insufficient. After a short interval, I distinctly heard Veenah imploring them to spare her. I called to the Brahmins who held her, to leave her to herself. I endeavoured to ...
— A Voyage to the Moon • George Tucker

... was promptly done, and so enraged him that the following week he published a tirade of abuse consisting of brazen falsehoods, whereupon a gentleman called a halt, by faithfully promising to chastise him if he did not desist, which had the desired effect so far as his paper ...
— History of Woman Suffrage, Volume III (of III) • Various

... to be Mafiosi. It caused a commotion, I can tell you, and no little uneasiness among the country people, who love me even if, to them, I have been a more or less imaginary person since my father's death. Naturally they warned me to desist in this mad policy of independence. A week ago one of my campieri, Paolo—he who is now in prison—surprised a fellow hacking down my orange-trees and shot him. The miscreant proved to be a certain Galli, whom I had discharged. He left a family, I regret ...
— The Net • Rex Beach

... illustration of the excellent individual to whom it refers, I may be pardoned for introducing it here. It was the custom of Sir John Franklin never to kill a fly, and though teased with them beyond expression, especially when taking observations, he would gently desist from his work, and patiently blow the half gorged intruders from his hands, saying, 'The world is wide enough for both.' Manfelly (an Indian chief) could not refrain from expressing his surprise that I should be so unlike the 'old chief' who would ...
— The History of Tasmania, Volume I (of 2) • John West

... warm expostulation and intreaty, that I would not go; but I begged him to desist, and told him, very honestly, that, if my compliance were not indispensably necessary I should require no persuasion to stay. He then took my hand, to lead me down stairs; but the Captain desired him to be quiet, saying he would 'squire me himself, "because" he added, (exultingly rubbing his ...
— Evelina • Fanny Burney

... the crowd pranced gayly about the burning ell, looking for a chance to make them fast. Captain Eri found a party with axes endeavoring to cut a hole through the side of the saloon in order to get out the pool table. After some endeavor he persuaded them to desist and they came around to the rear and, taking turns, ran in close to the shed and chopped at it until the fire drove them away. At last they made a hole close to where it joined the main building, large enough to attach the grapnel. Then, with a "Yo heave ho!" ...
— Cap'n Eri • Joseph Crosby Lincoln

... confirms the Father; for it is not in my palace and garden, nor in my gold, but in the power I derive from them to give respite from the grind of poverty to so many less fortunate than myself. 'The divine order was not to desist from getting wealth'—thus the Father continued—'for Christ knew there were who, labor as they might, could not accumulate or retain; circumstances would be against them, or the genius might be wanting. Poor without fault, were they to suffer, and curse God with ...
— The Prince of India - Or - Why Constantinople Fell - Volume 2 • Lew. Wallace

... thought of the lady left with no protector at the mercy of such a man held him to his post. All he could do was once or twice to urge the colonel to raise the siege, or come to terms with its master. But Frank was bent on vengeance, and at last poor Morgan had to desist for ...
— Boycotted - And Other Stories • Talbot Baines Reed

... Europe, and was heard by every statesman and ruler throughout the world, and aroused the people everywhere. It was a mighty voice lifted for right and against oppression. The Sultan was afraid and was compelled to desist; not that he feared the protests and the warnings of the Christian Nations of Europe, but because that one voice was the expression of the popular feeling of all Christians throughout the world, and to defy such sentiment would be to ...
— The Grand Old Man • Richard B. Cook

... believes to be unjust; that if he has done so he is himself bound in conscience to make restitution to the party that has been injured by his advocacy; that if in the course of a trial he discovers that a cause which he had believed to be just is unjust he must try to persuade his client to desist, and if he fails in this must himself abandon the cause, though without informing the opposite party of the conclusion at which he had arrived; that in conducting his case he must abstain from wounding the reputation of his neighbour ...
— The Map of Life - Conduct and Character • William Edward Hartpole Lecky

... "Nay, PHAETHON, don't— I beg you won't— Just stop a moment and think upon't! You're quite too young," continued the sage, "To tend a coach at your tender age! Besides, you see, 'T will really be Your first appearance on any stage! Desist, my child, The cattle are wild, And when their mettle is thoroughly 'riled,' Depend upon't, the coach'll be 'spiled'— They're not the fellows to draw it mild! Desist, I say, You'll rue the day— So mind, and don't be foolish, PHA!" But the youth was proud, And swore aloud, 'T was ...
— The Humourous Poetry of the English Language • James Parton

... lieutenant-general; but when I got to Washington and saw the situation it was plain that here was the point for the commanding general to be. No one else could, probably, resist the pressure that would be brought to bear upon him to desist from his own plans and pursue others. I determined, therefore, before I started back to have Sherman advanced to my late position, McPherson to Sherman's in command of the department, and Logan to the command of McPherson's corps. These changes were all made on my recommendation and without hesitation. ...
— Memoirs of Three Civil War Generals, Complete • U. S. Grant, W. T. Sherman, P. H. Sheridan

... I am sorry for you, for she is an admirable person, and I see you are very unhappy; but I will do all I can to help you, and you will get over it, if you are reasonable. Now understand me, I will and must protect Genevieve, and I shall appeal to your father unless you promise me to desist from this persecution.' ...
— The Young Step-Mother • Charlotte M. Yonge

... rejected the proposals of Pausanias, and wholly refused to be a party in the enterprise, though he never revealed his communications, nor disclosed the conspiracy to any man, either hoping that Pausanias would desist from his intentions, or expecting that so inconsiderate an attempt after such chimerical objects would be discovered by ...
— Plutarch's Lives • A.H. Clough

... protection,' then, if you have force enough, make your attack on the whole body, and take them all if you can; for I should consider such an answer as a perfect Declaration of War. If you are too weak for such an attack, you must desist; but you certainly are fully authorized to take the Ships of Spain whenever you meet them. Should the answer be ambiguous, you must then act as your judgment may direct you, and I am sure that will be very proper. Only ...
— The Life of Nelson, Vol. II. (of 2) - The Embodiment of the Sea Power of Great Britain • A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan

... go to her father. And the king was grieved to see her thus, and alarmed greatly, followed in her foot-steps, endeavouring to appease her wrath. But Devayani, with eyes red with anger, would not desist. Speaking not a word to the king, with eyes bathed in tears, she soon reached the side of her father Usanas, the son of Kavi. And beholding her father, she stood before him, after due salutations. And Yayati also, immediately ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa - Translated into English Prose - Adi Parva (First Parva, or First Book) • Kisari Mohan Ganguli (Translator)

... imprisonment," he said, "enemies within, and enemies without," Towards the last of March, twenty or more of his relations assembled, to take him to the Patriarch by force. He expostulated with Tannus, the eldest of the family except one, as the chief manager in the affair, and besought him to desist from a step so inconsistent with their fraternal relations. The unnatural brother turned from him in cold indifference, which so affected Asaad that he went aside, ...
— History Of The Missions Of The American Board Of Commissioners For Foreign Missions To The Oriental Churches, Volume I. • Rufus Anderson

... the black young page, Black because he was not white: “Straight desist from useless talk, Let, I rede, ...
— Niels Ebbesen and Germand Gladenswayne - two ballads - - - Translator: George Borrow • Thomas J. Wise

... were behind the village, and the Germans were giving the village and the guns a rather nasty time. Unhappily for us, the Boche artillery were dropping five-nine's on the road which led into the village, and as they seemed unlikely to desist, we decided to make a dash for it. The horses were a bit nervous, but behaving very well under the trying circumstances. (With us were some limbers bringing up ammunition.) Shells were exploding all around us. It would never do to ...
— Life in a Tank • Richard Haigh

... out to him, and they settle the affair of matrimony between them; if, after a certain number of these kind of visits, she does not appear, it is a denial; and the disappointed lover is obliged to desist. ...
— Sketches of the Fair Sex, in All Parts of the World • Anonymous

... sent his herald to Henry before Terouenne, calling upon him to desist from hostilities against Scotland's ally, the king of France, and sternly reminding him of the various insults to which Henry's supercilious policy had subjected him. Flodden had been fought before ...
— Marmion • Sir Walter Scott

... I was, whereupon he said he hoped to persuade me to desist from that intention. He had a situation to offer me, and if we could come to terms, why, good and well. "You see," he continued, "I'm running a theatre here, and we're a little short in the orchestra. You're a ...
— The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition - Vol. 2 (of 25) • Robert Louis Stevenson

... would do that if he knew enough. It is in precisely the same sense an admonition, a warning to abstain from crime. Society says by that law: "If you kill one of us you die," just as by display of the pistol the individual whose life is attacked says: "Desist or be shot." To be effective the warning in either case must be more than an idle threat. Even the most unearthly reasoner among the gallows-downing unfortunates would hardly expect to frighten away an assassin who knew the ...
— The Shadow On The Dial, and Other Essays - 1909 • Ambrose Bierce

... wrote to the governors of New York and Pennsylvania, informing them that the English traders had encroached on the French territory by trading with their Indians; and giving notice that, if they did not desist, he should be under the necessity of seizing them wherever they should be found. At the same time the jealousy of the Indians was excited by impressing them with fears that the English were about to deprive them of ...
— The Life of George Washington, Vol. 1 (of 5) • John Marshall

... the tariff laws. This he will be somewhat puzzled to say, by the way, with a grave countenance, considering what hand South Carolina herself had in that of 1816. But, sir, the collector would not, probably, desist at his bidding. He would show him the law of Congress, the treasury instruction, and his own oath of office. He would say, he should perform his ...
— American Eloquence, Volume I. (of 4) - Studies In American Political History (1896) • Various

... villages. But the natives were as friendly as brothers. Many of them had visited the station at St. Ignatius, and all of them had heard of Father Marquette and his labors of love. These children of the forest begged their revered friend to desist ...
— The Adventures of the Chevalier De La Salle and His Companions, in Their Explorations of the Prairies, Forests, Lakes, and Rivers, of the New World, and Their Interviews with the Savage Tribes, Two Hu • John S. C. Abbott

... mustered them, and let us know that he wished to join us, saying that by morning he would have a hundred men. He received for answer that we thanked for his friendly disposition; and, as we were sufficiently strong ourselves, we wished him to desist, and that we would counsel on the subject in the morning; and, as we knew that there were a number of Indians in and near the town that were our enemies, some confusion might happen if our men should mix in the dark, but hoped that we might be favored with his counsel and company during the ...
— Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 6 • Charles H. Sylvester

... cause of Religion. What was possible, however, to the full extent of our power, we have already studiously performed; and, whatever for the future in this direction shall seem to conduce to your Majesty's interests, we shall not desist not only to desire, but also to co-operate with you with all our strength in accomplishing where they may be opportunity. Meanwhile we congratulate, and heartily rejoice in, your Majesty's most prudent and most valiant actions, and desire with assiduous prayers that God may will, for the ...
— The Life of John Milton, Volume 5 (of 7), 1654-1660 • David Masson

... the house. His father was sitting up in bed. Mrs. Ginnell had been endeavouring during the past hour to make her patient clean and comfortable, and to tidy his room; but had been at last obliged to desist, owing to the mixture of ill-humour and bad language with which ...
— Lady Merton, Colonist • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... he said unto man, "Desist! Worry not about things too high for thee. Behold, fear of me, that is wisdom, And to depart from evil, that ...
— The Sceptics of the Old Testament: Job - Koheleth - Agur • Emile Joseph Dillon

... we all worked as we never had before. We saved a good deal, but not one half of what we brought from our house in the first place. We had thrown things out of the window, and C—— and J—— worked hard dragging them out of the yard, until, scorched and almost suffocated, they were compelled to desist. The flames were upon us so quickly, it seemed incredible that they could have seized the house so soon after we thought we ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 18, No. 107, September, 1866 • Various

... is usually of silver, but sometimes it looks like steel, and is made in the shape of a sword,—a long Spanish thrusting sword, for example. Dr. Franco told us a story of a woman of Trastevere, who was addressed rudely at the Carnival by a gentleman; she warned him to desist, but as he still persisted, she drew the bodkin from her hair, and stabbed him ...
— Passages From the French and Italian Notebooks, Complete • Nathaniel Hawthorne

... compelled, from sheer exhaustion, to desist for a time from their long-continued and fatiguing efforts, the fact—which had hitherto escaped their notice—became apparent that, happily, the gale had blown itself out; the wind had already dropped considerably, and the sea, ...
— The Voyage of the Aurora • Harry Collingwood

... to God: for either praying will make thee leave off sinning; or continuing in sin will make thee desist from praying. —FULLER. ...
— Many Thoughts of Many Minds - A Treasury of Quotations from the Literature of Every Land and Every Age • Various

... throwing her from her. "Come, Jacques," she said to her ruffian son, "we'll trying a means of making her mind!" Together they seized and started dragging her to the steps of a sub-cellar. Tremblingly Pierre urged them to desist, but they ...
— Orphans of the Storm • Henry MacMahon

... summit of lofty hills which were visible from a great distance. They rowed on all that day. The water was calm and glassy. The sun poured down its most fervid beams, the air was sultry and oppressive. Beatrice entreated Brandon now to desist from rowing and wait till the cool of the night, but he was afraid that a ...
— Cord and Creese • James de Mille

... moreover, as a slight palliation for the enormous crimes committed by these men, that, becoming at last weary of their business, they urged Noircarmes to desist from the work of proscription. Longehaye, one of the commissioners, even waited upon him personally, with a plea for mercy in favor of "the poor people, even beggars, who, although having borne arms ...
— The Rise of the Dutch Republic, 1555-1566 • John Lothrop Motley

... as soon as I had reason to know you had been the sufferer, I urged them with all my powers of persuasion to desist from prosecuting the feud; but the swaggering smith, and one or two other hot heads, cried out for vengeance. Your knighthood must know this fellow calls himself bachelor to the Fair Maiden of Perth, and stands upon his honour to follow ...
— The Fair Maid of Perth • Sir Walter Scott

... this manner the roy fled from place to place for six months, but never dared to appear without the woods. It was in vain that the favourites of the sultan represented the pursuit as fruitless and destructive to the troops. He would not desist. At last his good fortune prevailed. The health of Kishen Roy and his family became affected by the noxious air of the woods, and they were warned to quit them by the physicians.... Driven by necessity, he retired by secret paths to his capital ...
— A Forgotten Empire: Vijayanagar; A Contribution to the History of India • Robert Sewell

... I desist, twice baffled? Once by land, And once by sea, I fought and strove with storms, All shades of danger, tides, and weary calms; Head-currents, cold and famine, savage beasts, And men more savage; all the while my face ...
— Poems of Henry Timrod • Henry Timrod

... principal leader, and the Surenas himself. They were pursued to the gates of Ctesiphon; and the conquerors might have entered the dismayed city, if their general, Victor, who was dangerously wounded with an arrow, had not conjured them to desist from a rash attempt, which must be fatal, if it were not successful. On their side, the Romans acknowledged the loss of only seventy-five men; while they affirmed, that the Barbarians had left on the field of battle two thousand five hundred, or even six ...
— The History of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire - Volume 2 • Edward Gibbon

... desist from the request he urged with so much importunity, tried every means that did not appear like a total disinclination to accompany him, for any thing that bore the air of ingratitude could not be supported by her, whose heart was so void of it, and who thought she could never feel ...
— A Description of Millenium Hall • Sarah Scott

... immoderate? When it is more frequent or more severe than is required, "ad monendum et docendum," for reformation and instruction. No severity is cruel which obstinacy makes necessary; for the greatest cruelty would be to desist, and leave the scholar too careless for instruction, and too much hardened for reproof. Locke, in his Treatise of Education, mentions a mother, with applause, who whipped an infant eight times before she had subdued ...
— The Works of Samuel Johnson in Nine Volumes - Volume V: Miscellaneous Pieces • Samuel Johnson

... gave the sign—the ferashes appeared—the man was thrown, and received fifty blows of the bastinado. The pacha then commanded them to desist. "Now, by our beard, is it not a fact that you have received the bastinado? If you still doubt the fact, ...
— The Pacha of Many Tales • Captain Frederick Marryat

... caught him away, but Kaid commanded them to desist; and the man called a blessing on ...
— The Judgment House • Gilbert Parker

... request to his daughter, conjuring her not to abandon him, but seeing her ready to depart with Ulysses, for Ithaca, he redoubled his efforts to detain her, nor could he be prevailed on to desist from following the ...
— The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction - Volume 14, No. 385, Saturday, August 15, 1829. • Various

... Martin. You are doing your child harm, and you ought to desist. If you continue to agitate him in this way the ...
— The Faith Doctor - A Story of New York • Edward Eggleston

... screams of Natalie brought the concierge from below and the maids from above, and an attempt was made to raise the unfortunate man from the ground; but with cries of anguish he besought them to desist. ...
— Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 1, No. 3, August, 1850. • Various

... brain. After the judges had awarded the honors of the day to Bayard, the minstrels as usual began to pour forth triumphant strains in praise of the victor; but the good knight commanded them to desist, and, having first prostrated himself on his knees in gratitude for his victory, walked slowly out of the lists, expressing a wish that the combat had had a different termination, so that his honor ...
— The History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella The Catholic, V3 • William H. Prescott

... stationary, state, reinstate, station, forestall, instant, instance, distance, constant, withstand, understand, circumstance, estate, establish, substance, obstacle, obstinate, destiny, destination, destitute, substitute, superstition, desist, persist, resist, insist, assist, exist, consistent, stead, rest, restore, restaurant, contrast; (2) stature, statute, stadium, stability, instable, static, statistics, ecstasy, stamen, stamina, standard, stanza, stanchion, capstan, extant, constabulary, apostate, ...
— The Century Vocabulary Builder • Creever & Bachelor

... you torment me so?" Perhaps her tone of voice did not express all the annoyance she meant to show, for Alexander did not desist. He only changed his manner, growing suddenly as soft and yielding as ...
— Paul Patoff • F. Marion Crawford

... enjoyingly on, you descry in the perspective at the bottom of a steep hill up which your way lies, a figure that appears to be sitting airily on a gate, whistling in a cheerful and disengaged manner. As you approach nearer to it, you observe the figure to slide down from the gate, to desist from whistling, to uncock its hat, to become tender of foot, to depress its head and elevate its shoulders, and to present all the characteristics of profound despondency. Arriving at the bottom of the hill and coming close to the figure, you observe it to ...
— The Uncommercial Traveller • Charles Dickens

... against the prophets themselves and their churches, and insisting on the authority of the bishop's predecessors in the see, compelled him to recall the letter of peace which he had issued, as well as to desist from his purpose of acknowledging the said gifts. Thus Praxeas did two pieces of the devil's work in Rome: he drove out prophecy and he brought in heresy; he put to flight the Paraclete and ...
— A Source Book for Ancient Church History • Joseph Cullen Ayer, Jr., Ph.D.

... gentleman, who is nearly seventy-three years of age, ran back into the house, threatening to shoot them if they did not desist. They paid no attention to him, but the halliards being twisted they had some difficulty in getting it down. By this time he had reached his second story, where his guns were, and raising the window fired a ...
— Between the Lines - Secret Service Stories Told Fifty Years After • Henry Bascom Smith

... "Anti-Cow-Killing Society," which was intended and regarded as a direct provocation to the Mahomedans, who, like ourselves, think it no sacrilege to eat beef. In vain did liberal Hindus appeal to him to desist from these inflammatory methods. Their appeals had no effect upon him, and merely served his purpose by undermining the little authority they still possessed. Government had forbidden Hindu processions ...
— Indian Unrest • Valentine Chirol

... and piling it in front of the gates. In order to economize labor, and to make the sides of the mounds as steep as possible, Mr. Goodenough directed with brushwood, forming a sort of rough wattle work. Not even when night set in did the people desist from their labor, and by the following morning the gates were protected from the effect of cannon shot, by mounds of earth twenty feet high, which rose before them. The king had, when Mr. Goodenough first suggested these defenses, pointed out that ...
— By Sheer Pluck - A Tale of the Ashanti War • G. A. Henty



Words linked to "Desist" :   refrain, abstain, keep off, consume, avoid, cease and desist order, fast



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