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Practical   Listen
adjective
Practical  adj.  
1.
Of or pertaining to practice or action.
2.
Capable of being turned to use or account; useful, in distinction from ideal or theoretical; as, practical chemistry. "Man's practical understanding." "For all practical purposes."
3.
Evincing practice or skill; capable of applying knowledge to some useful end; as, a practical man; a practical mind.
4.
Derived from practice; as, practical skill.
Practical joke, a joke put in practice; a joke the fun of which consists in something done, in distinction from something said; esp., a trick played upon a person.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Practical" Quotes from Famous Books



... prepared mainly for those who have no practical acquaintance with the cultivation of the Peanut. Its directions, therefore, are intended for the beginner, and are such as will enable any intelligent person who has followed farming, to raise good crops of Peanuts, although he may have never before ...
— The Peanut Plant - Its Cultivation And Uses • B. W. Jones

... party. The dinner itself was excellent, although rather of the rough and round order; the wines and food intrinsically good; but my appetite was not increased by the exhibition of a deformed, bloated negro child, about ten years old, which Mr Fyall planted at his elbow, and, by way of practical joke, stuffed to repletion with all kinds of food and strong drink, until the little dingy brute was ...
— Tom Cringle's Log • Michael Scott

... responded most punctually. Frau Regine, who considered it her special prerogative, read all this correspondence, and declared herself satisfied with it. There was no sentiment, no declaration of affection, in these letters; they were quite practical epistles, telling of home matters in a homely fashion, but they evinced Will's intention to keep his word and marry his cousin on the day appointed, ...
— The Northern Light • E. Werner

... this time appeared the sheriff of Tullahoma County, who brought with him the most practical agencies of justice possible for that peculiar country, three dogs known widely as skilled followers of human trails. To the sheriff Eddring now offered the newly discovered handkerchief. The latter held it out to the dogs, which sniffed at it gravely, and sniffed also ...
— The Law of the Land • Emerson Hough

... acts of their ancestors, and the military precepts of the Greeks; persons who invert the order of things;[233] for though to discharge the duties of the office[234] is posterior, in point of time, to election, it is, in reality and practical importance, prior ...
— Conspiracy of Catiline and The Jurgurthine War • Sallust

... man is called to a life of self-denial for its own sake. It is in order to a compensation which, though sometimes difficult to see, is always real and always proportionate. No truth, perhaps, in practical religion is more lost sight of. We cherish somehow a lingering rebellion against the doctrine of self-denial—as if our nature, or our circumstances, or our conscience, dealt with us severely in loading us with the daily cross. But is it not ...
— Beautiful Thoughts • Henry Drummond

... though, in fact, there have been great disputes in respect to these occurrences, and it is now quite difficult to ascertain with certainty what the precise truth of the case really is. This, however, is, after all, of no great practical importance, for, in respect to remote transactions of this nature, the thing which is most necessary for the purposes of general education is to understand what the story is, in detail, which has been generally received among mankind, and to which the ...
— Richard III - Makers of History • Jacob Abbott

... by the frowning bend of his white fuzzy eyebrows over his flashing black eyes, had produced such a withering, blistering effect on the soul of the unfortunate Englishman, whose practical ideas of utility had exceeded his prudence, that he had scarcely ever dared to look the irate Italian noble in the ...
— The Master-Christian • Marie Corelli

... two in dishabille (morning-gown, loose round the neck, and slippers), seated at a rude wooden table in an open mud-floored verandah, at the back of the house. Commander Praia was a little curly-headed man (also somewhat of a mulatto), always merry and fond of practical jokes. His wife, Donna Anna, a dressy dame from Santarem, was the leader of fashion in the settlement. The Vicar, Father Luiz Gonsalvo Gomez, was a nearly pureblood Indian, a native of one of the neighbouring villages, but educated at ...
— The Naturalist on the River Amazons • Henry Walter Bates

... 'For a practical people, they are the greatest fools on the earth. Thoroughly convinced at heart that they have no esprit, they rush in to show the world that they have a superabundance of it.... It interferes with their principles, no matter; it touches their pockets, behold ...
— Continental Monthly, Vol. I, No. V, May, 1862 - Devoted To Literature And National Policy • Various

... true," said the practical girl, whose mind recognized at once the fact which she had never formulated to herself. But as she looked into his face, working with intense feeling and so lighted with the glory of a noble purpose as to make her forget the stricken frame to which it was chained, she ...
— Bricks Without Straw • Albion W. Tourgee

... their fists when they are hungry. Poor little things! they seemed to know that they had nobody else but me to look to as their friend. My friends, the Raggets and their companions, were very kind people, but they had a decidedly practical turn, and would have eaten my pets forthwith if I would have let them. I called one Gog and the other Magog, names about which the honest backwoodsmen, who had never heard even of ...
— Dick Onslow - Among the Redskins • W.H.G. Kingston

... returned to the New Testament and the sad and beautiful figure of Christ. While Christ spoke they made another effort to fit his interpretation of life upon the lives they lived, but as they were all very different, some practical, some ambitious, some stupid, some wild and experimental, some in love, and others long past any feeling except a feeling of comfort, they did very different things with the ...
— The Voyage Out • Virginia Woolf

... way towards the Central Sea, and I cannot now tell what wild thoughts passed through my mind, nor of what follies I might have been guilty, but for a very serious preoccupation which brought me back to practical life. ...
— A Journey to the Centre of the Earth • Jules Verne

... was no such thing as a steam locomotive in use in the United States. The first ever used here for practical purposes was built in England and brought to New York city in 1829, and in August of that year made a trial trip on the rails of the Delaware and Hudson Canal Company. The experiment was a failure; and for several years horses ...
— A School History of the United States • John Bach McMaster

... the fore the practical side of his nature. He knew he must do one of two things: stay, and take the whipping that Big Tom ...
— The Rich Little Poor Boy • Eleanor Gates

... carrying the luncheon basket and Anne's coat. He had changed, and appeared in the Norfolk jacket, knickerbockers, and cap he had worn at Scarby. The pang that struck her at the sight of them was softened by her practical perception of their fitness for the adventure. They became him, too, and she had memory of the charm he had once worn for ...
— The Helpmate • May Sinclair

... was found in my future brother-in-law, William Adolphus, of Alt-Gronenstahl. He was, in himself, a thoroughly heavy fellow, although admirably good-natured and, I believe, a practical and competent soldier. He was tall, dark, and even at this time inclining to stoutness; he became afterward exceedingly corpulent. He did not at first promise amusement, but a rather malicious humour found much in him, owing to the circumstance that the poor fellow was acquainted ...
— The King's Mirror • Anthony Hope

... Sucesos de las Islas Filipinas. Events here described cover the years 1493-1603, and the history proper of the islands from 1565. Morga's work is important, as being written by a royal official and a keen observer and participator in affairs. Consequently he touches more on the practical everyday affairs of the islands, and in his narrative shows forth the policies of the government, its ideals, and its strengths and weaknesses. His book is written in the true historic spirit, and the various threads of the history of the islands are ...
— History of the Philippine Islands Vols 1 and 2 • Antonio de Morga

... tedious and less satisfactory ways to a real comprehension, of this matter. This chapter directs the student's attention to the most important points in the study of the skeleton, but it is in no way intended to mitigate the necessity of practical work. It is a ...
— Text Book of Biology, Part 1: Vertebrata • H. G. Wells

... side of him. For the present, I shall not stop to particularize him more closely; but when I add that the person in question was a well-known member of the Irish House of Commons, whose acute understanding and practical good sense were veiled under an affected and well-dissembled habit of blundering that did far more for his party than the most violent and pointed attacks of his more accurate associates, some of my readers may anticipate me in pronouncing ...
— Charles O'Malley, The Irish Dragoon, Volume 1 (of 2) • Charles Lever

... impressed with respect for the family. This cool vaulted cellar, and the central square block, or enceinte, where the thick darkness was not penetrated by the intruding lamp, but rather took it as an eye, bore witness to forethoughtful practical solidity in the man who had built the house on such foundations. A house having a great wine stored below lives in our imaginations as a joyful house, fast and splendidly rooted in the soil. And imagination has a place for the heir of the house. His ...
— The Shaving of Shagpat • George Meredith

... six weeks. Occasionally Indians massacred a party of travelers; now and then renegade whites or Mexicans robbed the passengers of their belongings and looted the mail-sacks. But such things were no more than any one expected. James Birch had proved his point. The southern route was practical, and in 1858 the government let a six years' contract for carrying letters twice a week between St. Louis and San Francisco, to John Butterfield of ...
— When the West Was Young • Frederick R. Bechdolt

... the lean-to. I had had some fair ideas about building a lean-to, but Doloria was in possession of a practical knowledge gathered on camping trips that she and Echochee had made—for these, I judged, constituted one of her chief recreations since childhood. She knew how to twist ropes of bark for tying the poles, and how to interlay the palm fronds ...
— Wings of the Wind • Credo Harris

... ridiculous," he held on steadily. "Think of the situation. A man and a woman, both young, partners on an isolated plantation. Why, the only practical way out would be that I'd have ...
— Adventure • Jack London

... intelligence—avowedly copied from an English paper—was couched. The writer seemed to know rather more about my intentions—if not of my antecedents—than I knew myself; but I can honestly say that the halo of romance with which he was pleased to surround a very practical purpose, did not however compensate me for the inconvenient publicity. This paragraph soon found its way into other journals, and at last confronted me—to my infinite disgust—in the "Baltimore Clipper," ...
— Border and Bastille • George A. Lawrence

... the material universe seemed to penetrate so deeply into that 'nature of things' after which the early philosophers searched in vain ... that we hoped he would throw some light on that great problem of problems.... He was very pleasant, spoke appreciatively of what we had both done for the practical exposition of evolution, and hoped we would continue to work at the subject. But when we touched upon the great problem, and whether he had arrived at even one of the first steps towards its solution, our hopes were dashed at once. That, he said, was too fundamental ...
— Alfred Russel Wallace: Letters and Reminiscences, Vol. 1 (of 2) • James Marchant

... had seen his end approaching with swiftness, and the realization came that his pretty child was unprepared to meet the world, he had said a good word for his actor friend, as the most practical and substantial admirer on Sylvia's list; and this she remembered, too, with a great ...
— The Opened Shutters • Clara Louise Burnham

... he should get possession of the undivided power, would not consent to either plan of his, but divided the army in such a way that they each, like the consuls, had a separate force. And immediately Rufus encamped apart, in order that he might give a practical illustration of the fact that he held sway in his own right and not subject to the dictator. (Valesius, p. 597. Zonaras, ...
— Dio's Rome, Vol VI. • Cassius Dio

... intellect and a strong will. He was well-known in Grahamstown, having been in the habit of paying it frequent visits, on which occasions he evinced great curiosity on all subjects, speculative as well as practical. ...
— Six Months at the Cape • R.M. Ballantyne

... annoyed too. He thought too much sentiment was being squandered on a very practical and sportive thing. He disliked functions; speech-making was to him a matter for prayer and fasting. The Indian's address was therefore more or less gratuitous, and he hastened to remark: "Thank you, Shangi; ...
— The Judgment House • Gilbert Parker

... of the Treatise; the Third Part, which contains the practical application of the whole, follows entire, along with the remarkable "Prayer of Chaucer," as it stands in ...
— The Canterbury Tales and Other Poems • Geoffrey Chaucer

... good that you can't ever make another equal to it,' suggested I out of my practical ...
— Saxe Holm's Stories • Helen Hunt Jackson

... rice steamer one-half grated cocoanut and a chunk of hand-made cream the size of your fist; stir until mixed and you can spread it; do not melt it more than necessary. This cake will not dry out if made with factory cream. I gave this recipe to two London practical cake bakers; they said it beat any cake recipe they had ...
— One Thousand Secrets of Wise and Rich Men Revealed • C. A. Bogardus

... concernant les Impositions, that "he had frequent occasion to consult the book himself both in the course of his private studies and in the business of his present employment," and Sir John states that Smith used to admit "that he derived great advantage from the practical information he derived by means of his official situation, and that he would not have otherwise known or believed how essential practical knowledge was to the thorough understanding of political subjects."[288] This is confirmed by the fact that most of the additions and corrections ...
— Life of Adam Smith • John Rae

... figs eaten with the meals or a glass of water taken before breakfast and upon retiring often proves very beneficial in relieving a tendency to constipation. There is an old saying, "An apple or two before going to bed, and the doctor will go begging for his bread." This really is a practical idea and more nearly true than many ...
— Herself - Talks with Women Concerning Themselves • E. B. Lowry

... his mixture of keen remark, intelligent knowledge of his time, high-bred ease of language, and exquisite point and polish of anecdote; his followers, even in these few volumes, show that there were many men, even in the midst of all the practical business and nervous agitation of public life, not unworthy of their master. We have no doubt that there have been hundreds of persons, and thousands of letters, which might equally contribute to this most interesting, and sometimes most brilliant, portion of our literature. ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 55, No. 340, February, 1844 • Various

... him cordially. "I am about to ask you, Mr Gilbart, to accompany my son Frank on a tour of considerable extent, to visit some of the more important mines in Europe, and, if there is time, in other parts of the world, and he is anxious to have a practical man who will enable him to comprehend the different matters connected with them more clearly than he would be able to do by himself. I need not say that I am fully aware of the value of your time, and I therefore offer you such compensation as I ...
— The Mines and its Wonders • W.H.G. Kingston

... the ambassador. "It can't be too bad a mess while a woman is being really practical. I've checked your story. Allowing for differences of viewpoint, it agrees with the official version. I've ruled that you are a political refugee, and so entitled to sanctuary in the Embassy. ...
— The Pirates of Ersatz • Murray Leinster

... Van Cortlandt of Cortlandt), and the mansion was erected by Frederick Van Cortlandt in 1748. Northeast of it is situated Indian Field, memorable as the scene of an engagement between the British and the Stockbridge Indians, resulting in the practical ...
— The New York and Albany Post Road • Charles Gilbert Hine

... complex and irrational logic. Mischief is an integral part of it. Even the deadly blood-feud with Rakhal had begun with an overelaborate practical joke—which had lost the Service, incidentally, several thousand ...
— The Door Through Space • Marion Zimmer Bradley

... what has been already distinctly stated more than once, that Scott never considered any amount of literary distinction as entitled to be spoken of in the same breath with mastery in the higher departments of practical life—least of all, with the glory of a first-rate captain. To have done things worthy to be written was in his eyes a dignity to which no man made any approach, who had only written things worthy to be read. He on two occasions, which I can never forget, betrayed painful uneasiness ...
— Memoirs of the Life of Sir Walter Scott, Volume V (of 10) • John Gibson Lockhart

... "Always practical. Your charm—one of them," says Mr. Beauclerk. But he takes the hint, nevertheless, and presently they draw up before a small, ...
— April's Lady - A Novel • Margaret Wolfe Hungerford

... over and took her slim hands in his and glanced earnestly into her eyes, and saw there were fine wrinkles setting about them. What did it matter? She needed protection and care, and there was no woman here that he could love as the romances described. He was too busy a man, too practical. ...
— A Little Girl in Old Quebec • Amanda Millie Douglas

... to a collective work may bear its own notice of copyright, and in some cases, it may be advantageous to utilize the separate notice. As a practical matter, a separate notice will inform the public of the identity of the owner of the contribution. For works first published before March 1, 1989, there may be additional reasons to use a separate ...
— Supplementary Copyright Statutes • Library of Congress. Copyright Office.

... bring out the infinite contrast between heaven and hell, the elect and the reprobates, the saved and the damned. Mr. Mivart maintains, therefore, that the old representation of hell "has not caused the least practical error or misled anyone by one jot or tittle"—which is as bold, or, as some would say, as impudent a statement as could be ...
— Flowers of Freethought - (Second Series) • George W. Foote

... exclude the action of use and disuse—and this at once opens the door for cunning; nevertheless, according to Erasmus Darwin and Lamarck, the human eye and the long neck of the giraffe are alike due to the accumulation of variations that are mainly functional, and hence practical; according to Charles Darwin they are alike due to the accumulation of variations that are accidental, fortuitous, spontaneous, that is to say, mainly cannot be reduced to any known general principle. ...
— Luck or Cunning? • Samuel Butler

... danced with delight. The aeroplane appeared to be in perfect condition, but there was no one insight. Jimmie and Pedro must be about somewhere, the boy thought, as he considered the most practical way of reaching the valley, but ...
— Boy Scouts in an Airship • G. Harvey Ralphson

... the fancy; but has it a more serious side? When compared with the absorbing necessities of human existence, it might seem a luxury, a superfluity, calculated to enfeeble the heart by the assiduous worship of beauty, and thus to be actually prejudicial to the true interest of practical life. This view seems to be largely countenanced by a dominant party in modern times, and practical men, as they are styled, are only too ready to take this superficial view of ...
— The Works of Frederich Schiller in English • Frederich Schiller

... of organic chemistry from this time until almost the end of the 18th century was almost entirely confined to such compounds as had practical applications, especially in pharmacy and dyeing. A new and energetic spirit was introduced by Scheele; among other discoveries this gifted experimenter isolated and characterized many organic acids, and proved ...
— Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 6, Slice 1 - "Chtelet" to "Chicago" • Various

... have an original wife; and he retorted that the word original hardly described me, and that the word eccentric was the one required. Very well, I suppose I am eccentric, since even my husband says so; but if my eccentricities are of such a practical nature as to result later in the biggest cauliflowers and tenderest lettuce in Prussia, why then he ought to be the first to rise up and ...
— Elizabeth and her German Garden • "Elizabeth", AKA Marie Annette Beauchamp

... because he could not in that case place batteries in certain advantageous positions without the risk of drawing fire from Boer guns on Ladysmith and its civilian inhabitants. Whether this state of things has been mended much by Sir George White's acceptance of Boer conditions and Ladysmith's practical repudiation of them may well be doubted. As the matter is generally understood, General Joubert, while declining to grant Sir George's request, consented that a neutral camp for sick, wounded, and non-combatants should be formed at Intombi Spruit, ...
— Four Months Besieged - The Story of Ladysmith • H. H. S. Pearse

... of the church, with an old man who had himself been educated as a priest. He had a talent for drawing, and became a painter. As a practical painter, he was mediocre; but he was learned in everything relating to art. He gradually sank from history to portrait, from portrait to miniature, from miniature to restoration; and had the grim satisfaction, in his old age, of mending ...
— Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects and Curiosities of Art (Vol. 3 of 3) • S. Spooner

... things, but in the practical details of their son's life and comfort she was supreme. Her decision in such matters had never been questioned. Mr Swann had a profound belief in his wife as a uniquely capable and energetic woman. He was tremendously loyal to her, and he sternly inculcated the ...
— The Matador of the Five Towns and Other Stories • Arnold Bennett

... no doubt of Mr. Christopher Pett's abilities in a certain direction after he had exchanged a few questions and answers with that young gentleman. For Christopher was shrewd, sharp, practical and judicial. ...
— The Borough Treasurer • Joseph Smith Fletcher

... More particularly the practical question is, Have we disposed of earthly possessions and opportunities, so that they helped and did not hinder the ...
— The Parables of Our Lord • William Arnot

... for motivating the work in certain cases consists in first doing a dramatic experiment that will arouse the pupil's interest and curiosity. Still another consists in merely calling the child's attention to the practical value of ...
— Common Science • Carleton W. Washburne

... of the firmest of the inexpensive easels, and one which will fold up into as small a compass as any practical easel will. It will hold perfectly well a good-sized canvas, even with its frame, and will not tumble ...
— The Painter in Oil - A complete treatise on the principles and technique - necessary to the painting of pictures in oil colors • Daniel Burleigh Parkhurst

... a great sum in the host's hands, but just enough to tide over a day or two, and his wise hint that he would audit the accounts when he came back. This man's quick compassion was blended with plenty of shrewdness, and was as practical as the hardest, least compassionate man could have been. There is need for organisation, 'faculty,' and the like, in the work of loving our neighbour. A thousand pities that sometimes Christian charity and Christian common-sense dissolve partnership. ...
— Expositions Of Holy Scripture - Volume I: St. Luke, Chaps. I to XII • Alexander Maclaren

... in the same way owed royalty to the Spaniard, to Tasso, to Sannazar, and to the Greek romances, let alone Theocritus and Virgil. And, to confine ourselves henceforward to our own special subject, it is this double infusion of idealism—of spiritual and intellectual enthusiasm on the one hand and practical fire of life and act on the other—which makes the great difference, not merely between the Astree and its predecessors of the Amadis class, but between it and its successors the strictly "Heroic" romances, though ...
— A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 - From the Beginning to 1800 • George Saintsbury

... tolerated limited political activity by the Brotherhood for his first two terms, but moved more aggressively since then to block its influence; civic society groups are sanctioned, but constrained in practical terms; trade unions and professional associations ...
— The 2001 CIA World Factbook • United States. Central Intelligence Agency.

... of his youth had quite disappeared. The queer tendency to call on Heaven for practical aid in any practical difficulty—to make of prayer a system of 'begging-letters to the Almighty'—which had of ten quieted or distracted him in his early years of struggle, affected him no longer. His inner life seemed to himself shrouded in a ...
— Fenwick's Career • Mrs. Humphry Ward

... Society, [Footnote: I deeply regret that Wanderings in West Africa spoke far less fairly of this establishment than it deserves. My better judgment had been warped by the prejudiced accounts of a fellow-traveller.] which combines abstract teaching with practical instruction in useful handicraft, and which thus suggests the belief that work is dignified as it ...
— To The Gold Coast for Gold, Vol. II - A Personal Narrative • Richard Francis Burton and Verney Lovett Cameron

... of the Conference I was able to secure but little practical assistance from the members. Although many of them desired that my purpose should be accomplished, and some were taking brief and general notes, I soon discovered that an accurate report of a speech required an amount of labor ...
— A Report of the Debates and Proceedings in the Secret Sessions of the Conference Convention • Lucius Eugene Chittenden

... citizens of the North, known to be strong advocates of the suppression of the rebellion. But this organization in name and cardinal purpose was short-lived, its career having subserved but a meagre benefit to the South, in a practical point of view. The damage it did was principally confined to the burning of United States transports on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers, and the moulding of the crude opinions of its members, which served as a solid foundation for the establishment of the ...
— The Great North-Western Conspiracy In All Its Startling Details • I. Windslow Ayer

... said Terry. "No fellow would be ass enough to advertise himself like that in earnest. Probably the thing's been put in for a bet, or else it's a practical joke." ...
— My Friend the Chauffeur • C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson

... "In the mind of Mr. Burke political principles were not objects of barren speculation. Wisdom in him was always practical. Whatever his understanding adopted as truth, made its way to his heart, and sank deep into it; and his ardent and generous feelings seized with promptitude every occasion of applying it to mankind. Where shall we find recorded exertions of active benevolence at once ...
— Selections from the Speeches and Writings of Edmund Burke. • Edmund Burke

... a certain vagarious tendency in my father the probable hereditary basis of the inconstancy of purpose and pursuit, which may not have deprived my life of interest to others, but which has made it comparatively barren of practical result. As a study of a characteristic phase of New England life which has now entirely disappeared, I believe that a picture of her and her family will be of ...
— The Autobiography of a Journalist, Volume I • Stillman, William James

... she has not to do with the present unguarded looms. The arrangement appeared to ourselves to be a very efficient one, and it has the merit that the length of the guard can be made greater than the width of the cloth, a further advantage that will be recognized by practical weavers. ...
— Scientific American Supplement, No. 492, June 6, 1885 • Various

... insisted on their observance, superintended the provision-markets by means of paid overseers, and ordered that the tables of men of rank should be examined by his officers and the forbidden dishes on them should be confiscated. It is true that by such theoretical and practical instructions in moderation as the new monarchical police gave to the fashionable world, hardly more could be accomplished than the compelling luxury to retire somewhat more into concealment; but, if hypocrisy is the homage ...
— The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5) • Theodor Mommsen

... while he said that I had not contributed anything definite to a settlement of the question. I dare say I had not, but it is natural to me to speak even when I do not pretend to settle questions. He seems to think that speech is useless unless for a distinct, practical purpose. At Blackdeep almost everything that comes into my head finds its way to my tongue. ...
— More Pages from a Journal • Mark Rutherford

... "finding this vein of fancy, of tenderness in you. I always regarded you as such a practical, unsentimental young person." ...
— Malvina of Brittany • Jerome K. Jerome

... But, as a general rule, those have the most knowledge who give themselves up to it the most. Let us put out of the question philosophers (who are often but ingenious lunatics), and speak only of erudite scholars, men of letters and practical science, professors, tutors, and fellows of colleges. I fancy any member of Parliament would tell us that there is no class of men which has less actual influence on public affairs. They have more knowledge than manufacturers and ship-owners, squires and farmers; but, do you find that they ...
— Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Volume 2, No. 12, May, 1851. • Various

... particularly when they do fit homage to our "grand old woods," and to Niagara. Others regard with most respect a plain literal account of our branches of industry—our railroads, factories, and canals. They would have the country judged purely from a mechanical or practical point of view—contenting themselves as to other matters with the reflection. "Oh, sensible people care very little about any thing else. If they know what we produce, and what our resources are, they'll understand and respect ...
— The International Monthly Magazine - Volume V - No II • Various

... with the proposition that the dominant influence in the intellectual and practical activity of the modern age is man's scientific mastery over life. This present lecture considers one of the consequences of this primary fact: namely, the humanitarian desire to take advantage of this scientific control of life so to change social conditions that mankind may be relieved ...
— Christianity and Progress • Harry Emerson Fosdick

... examine the scene of contest. As a considerable number of helots had joined their Spartan lords and perished with them, the bodies of the slain amounted to four thousand [75], while those of the Persians were only one thousand. This was a practical ...
— Athens: Its Rise and Fall, Complete • Edward Bulwer-Lytton

... girls demands a special culture. Generally upon mothers the domestic instruction of the children, in their infancy, mainly depends. They ought, therefore, to be well instructed in the motives of religion, articles of faith, and all the practical duties and maxims of piety. Then history, geography, and some tincture of works of genius and spirit, may be joined with suitable arts and other accomplishments of their sex and condition, provided they be guided by and referred to religion, and provided books of piety and exercises ...
— Public School Education • Michael Mueller

... politics gained in this adventitious way. Of course, there sometimes come to high office men from military careers, or men, like the distinguished subject of this book, from fields apparently remote from practical politics, but such successes are due to an appealing personal force, or to exceptional genius which the young aspirant had better not assume that he possesses. The general rule holds good that a political apprenticeship is as necessary and valuable ...
— Woodrow Wilson as I Know Him • Joseph P. Tumulty

... are theories and philosophies of religion without practical application? Of what avail is belief as a mere mental assent or denial? Let it develop into virile faith; vitalize it; animate it; then it becomes a moving power. The Latter-day Saints point with some confidence to what they have attempted and ...
— The Story of "Mormonism" • James E. Talmage

... sleeping on the floor, till we can get emancipated anyhow. Then, through the last week's cold, I have not been well—only it will not, I think, be much, as I am better already, and there will be no practical end to the talk of Nice and Pau, which my husband had begun a little. All this has hindered me from following my first impulse of thanking ...
— The Letters of Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Volume II • Elizabeth Barrett Browning

... would be seen that she could do and endure, as well as love and please. Sweetness and strength, gentleness and firmness, were in her character most happily blended. Her mind was both poetical and practical. She had a refined taste, and a love for the beautiful as well as the excellent." But all these fine gifts and endowments were consecrated; the offering she had made on her Saviour's altar was unreserved; nor do we find that she ever cast back to the world ...
— Lives of the Three Mrs. Judsons • Arabella W. Stuart

... Training Schools and International and State Schools of Sunday School Methods. Margaret Slattery says: "Practical and adaptable to schools of various sizes in either city or country. Will meet a long-felt need. I endorse ...
— "Say Fellows—" - Fifty Practical Talks with Boys on Life's Big Issues • Wade C. Smith

... even if that is the reason," replied the practical Billy, "but so far they seem friendly enough. They have not even taken my ...
— The Boy Aviators in Africa • Captain Wilbur Lawton

... will bear in mind that whenever I speak of childhood without qualification, I allude only to the period of life before the beginning of the fifteenth year. For all these periods of childhood, first, second, and third, I shall for practical convenience when speaking of males use the word boy, and when speaking of females, ...
— The Sexual Life of the Child • Albert Moll

... fault already," replied Queeker, as the horse gave a practical illustration of it by tossing his enormous head back until it reached to within an inch of the point of his rider's nose. "Twice he has just touched my forehead. Had I been bending a little forward I suppose he would have given me ...
— The Floating Light of the Goodwin Sands • R.M. Ballantyne

... thinker and philosopher of rank, sat and toyed with his eye-glass and smiled superciliously. But when Coldevin added a few words and ended up with saying that he had the greatest hope and faith in the country's practical youth, in its young commercial talents, then a loud laugh greeted him, and both the Journalist and Paulsberg shouted simultaneously that this was great, by all the saints the best ever, so help me! Commercial talents— whatever could that be? ...
— Shallow Soil • Knut Hamsun

... under which provision was made for the teaching of new subjects, we shall find that it generally took place, not so much for the encouragement of any new branch of scientific research, however interesting to the philosopher and the historian, as in order to satisfy some practical wants that could no longer be ignored, whether in church or state, or ...
— Chips from a German Workshop - Volume IV - Essays chiefly on the Science of Language • Max Muller

... knowing beforehand that Utah was not distinguished for monogamy, might well be ashamed to be so taken off his feet as I was by my first view of Mormonism in its practical workings. I stared,—I believe I blushed a little,—I tried to stutter a reply; and the one dreadful thought which persistently kept uppermost, so that I felt they must read it in my face, was, "How can these young ...
— The Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 13, No. 78, April, 1864 • Various

... to the Ameer, and in a few minutes is answered in a most practical manner by the appearance of men carrying carpets, tent-poles, and a round tent of blue and white stripes. Winding its silvery course to the summer garden, from a range of hills several miles distant, is a clear, cold stream; although ...
— Around the World on a Bicycle Volume II. - From Teheran To Yokohama • Thomas Stevens

... a deal of money in order to live happily and comfortably. He tried a score of times to hit upon some scheme by which they could get away and live together like happy lovers, but he could devise nothing satisfactory. Now that he was no longer wild with passion, the practical side of the situation alarmed him. He found himself, in all his weakness, face to face with a complicated problem with which ...
— Abbe Mouret's Transgression - La Faute De L'abbe Mouret • Emile Zola

... with much success. All her tears and her wildness rose from terror and dismay rather than from grief. She managed to fend back a grief that would probably have broken her. Vera was too practical-minded, she had too severe a notion of what ought to be and what ought not, ever to put herself in her father's place and try to understand him. She concerned herself with judging him sorrowfully, exonerating him in part because Helena, that other, was so much ...
— The Trespasser • D.H. Lawrence

... week or more. At last old Roger declared I could sail "The Hope" as well as he could. Sometimes Mark came with me, but he didn't take as much interest in the amusement as I did, he being more accustomed to practical sailing; besides which he had other employments into which he didn't think fit to initiate me. As I before said, he frequently went fishing on the Squire's ponds, and from a light fowling-piece which I saw in his room, together with ...
— Dick Cheveley - His Adventures and Misadventures • W. H. G. Kingston

... figures delineated. The effect of this work has often been destroyed, as time has frayed and discoloured the parts that are raised, exhibiting the canvas ground, reversing the high lights, and causing dark spots in their stead. This reversal of the intended effect is an additional practical argument for the ...
— Needlework As Art • Marian Alford

... intentions, persuaded by Bingham and the rest that they were not yet "in shape" to talk about. So that his address on this memorable evening would have a different stamp from the one he designed in the early burning hours of his candidature. He had postponed those matters, under advice, to the hour of practical dealing, when a Government which it would be his privilege to support would consider and carry them. He put the notes of his original speech away in his office desk with solicitude—it was indeed very thorough, a grand marshalling ...
— The Imperialist • (a.k.a. Mrs. Everard Cotes) Sara Jeannette Duncan

... The first week is over, and the finances did n't come out right at all. I have a system of bookkeeping which is original, simple, practical, and absolutely reliable. The house-money I keep in a cigar-box with three partitions (formerly used for birds' eggs), and I divide the month's money in four parts, and ...
— Polly Oliver's Problem • Kate Douglas Smith Wiggin

... latter half of the century belongs the so-called Celtic revival, which connects itself with the Nationalist movement in politics and is partly literary and partly patriotic. It may be doubted whether, for practical purposes, the Gaelic will ever come again into general use. But the concerted endeavour by a whole nation to win back its ancient, wellnigh forgotten speech is a most interesting social phenomenon. At all events, both by direct ...
— A History of English Romanticism in the Nineteenth Century • Henry A. Beers

... celebrated with an old-fashioned barbecue by the cattlemen and sheepmen leasing on the reserve. While John Torrance had always dealt fairly with them, the natives felt that he was more or less of a theorist in the matter of grazing-leases. Shoop was a practical cowman; one of themselves. Naturally there was some dissatisfaction expressed by disgruntled individuals who envied Shoop's good fortune. But this was overwhelmed by the tide of popular acclaim with which Shoop was hailed as a just ...
— Jim Waring of Sonora-Town - Tang of Life • Knibbs, Henry Herbert

... with claiming to use the creature as an auxiliary instrument," mused Channeljumper, practical once more, "and eliminate any claim that he might have assisted you. But what about the Festival? This one looks as though he doesn't have another note ...
— I Like Martian Music • Charles E. Fritch

... opinion, would be the practical result? Do you think that Virginia would consent to ...
— A Life of Gen. Robert E. Lee • John Esten Cooke

... in practical jokes, the fact gauges them. They have lived narrow, obscure, and ignorant lives, and at full manhood they still retain and cherish a job-lot of left-over standards and ideals that would have been discarded with their boyhood if they had then moved out ...
— Chapters from My Autobiography • Mark Twain

... Reed, Murphy, and Burton joined, Chief Justice Stone rejected the criterion of discrimination. He repeated what he had said in an earlier case to the effect that "'* * * the limitation upon the taxing power of each, so far as it affects the other, must receive a practical construction which permits both to function with the minimum of interference each with the other; and that limitation cannot be so varied or extended as seriously to impair either the taxing power of the government imposing the tax * * * or the appropriate exercise of the functions ...
— The Constitution of the United States of America: Analysis and Interpretation • Edward Corwin



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