"Critical point" Quotes from Famous Books
 ... 24th Regiment. Dressed in full uniform, General Fraser was conspicuously mounted on an iron grey horse. He was all activity and vigilance, riding from one part of the division to another, and animated the troops by his example. At a critical point, Colonel Morgan, who, with his riflemen was immediately opposite to General Fraser's corps, perceiving that the fate of the day rested upon that officer, called a few of his sharpshooters aside, among whom was the famous marksman, Timothy Murphy, men on whose precision of aim he ...
— An Historical Account of the Settlements of Scotch Highlanders in America • J. P. MacLean
... his definiteness of aim. He always hit the bull's-eye. He was like a great burning-glass, concentrating the rays of the sun upon a single spot; he burned a hole wherever he went. After finding the weak place in the enemy's ranks, he would mass his men and hurl them like an avalanche upon the critical point, crowding volley upon volley, charge upon charge, till he made a breach. What a lesson of the power concentration there is in this ...
— Pushing to the Front • Orison Swett Marden
... unable to walk thither, were brought up on the shoulders of the young men that their presence might be propitious to the chances of the game. [Footnote: Ibid p. 202.] The excitement which attended one of these games of chance was intense, especially when the game reached a critical point and some particular throw was likely to terminate it. Charlevoix says the games often lasted for five or six days [Footnote: Loskiel (p. 106) saw a game between two Iroquois towns which lasted eight days. Sacrifices for ...
— Indian Games • Andrew McFarland Davis
... temptation only, and common sense seconded honour. For he was persuaded that whatever likelihood there was of leading Irons to the critical point, there was none of driving him thither; and that Irons, once restive and impracticable, all his hopes ...
— The House by the Church-Yard • J. Sheridan Le Fanu
... been, hasn't it?" Honora queried, pausing in her play. "I've so longed to be in the country, but matters had reached such a critical point at the laboratory that I couldn't get away. Do you know, Kate, the great experiment that David and I are making is much further along than he surmises! I'm going to have a glorious surprise for him one of these days. ...
— The Precipice • Elia Wilkinson Peattie
... one occasion Flamby had found herself in that part of Chelsea where Paul's house was situated, and from a discreet distance she had looked at his lighted windows, and then had gone home to consider her own folly from a critical point of view. Flamby, the human Eve, mercilessly taxed by Flamby the philosopher, pleaded guilty to a charge of personal vanity. Yes, she had dared to think herself pretty—until she had seen Yvonne Mario. Flamby, the daughter of Michael Duveen, had defined Yvonne's appearance as "a slap ...
— The Orchard of Tears • Sax Rohmer
... "Don't interrupt at a critical point in the story," said Clovis. "As soon as he had been carefully adjusted in the prescribed position over the hives, and almost before the gaolers had time to retire to a safe distance, Vespaluus gave ...
— The Chronicles of Clovis • Saki
... rested on the turning away of the battleships at the critical point of the torpedo attack at 7.20, under cover of which the German battleships wheeled to westward and disappeared. Jellicoe's reply is that if he had swung to starboard, turning toward the enemy, he would have headed into streams of approaching torpedoes under conditions ...
— A History of Sea Power • William Oliver Stevens and Allan Westcott
... courage and generosity he has fairly earned the happiness which he enjoys. Nor has he forgotten Nancy and the Indian maiden who rendered him so essential a service at a critical point in his fortunes. Every year he sends them a handsome present, choosing the articles which are best ...
— Frank and Fearless - or The Fortunes of Jasper Kent • Horatio Alger Jr.
... though at a slower rate—that is, it now takes about double the quantity of heat to raise the pound one degree that it did before—until it reaches a temperature of 212 degrees Fahrenheit, or 672 degrees absolute (assuming that we are at the level of the sea). Here we find another critical point. However much more heat we may apply, the water, as water, at that pressure, cannot be heated any hotter, but changes on the addition of heat to steam; and it is not until we have added heat enough to have raised the temperature of the water 966 degrees, or to 1,178 ...
— Steam, Its Generation and Use • Babcock & Wilcox Co.
... whom I had to deal, at a critical point in my progress as an actress, was Charles Reade, and he helped me enormously. He might, and often did, make twelve suggestions that were wrong; but against them he would make one that was so right that its ...
— The Story of My Life - Recollections and Reflections • Ellen Terry
... Quixote with drawn swords uplifted, ready to deliver two such furious slashing blows that if they had fallen full and fair they would at least have split and cleft them asunder from top to toe and laid them open like a pomegranate; and at this so critical point the delightful history came to a stop and stood cut short without any intimation from the author where what was missing was to ...
— Don Quixote • Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
... but is chiefly remembered by his Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, which he did not live to complete beyond the Acts. The comment on the Epistles was, however, furnished after his death by 13 Nonconformist divines. Though long superseded from a critical point of view, the work still maintains its place as a book of practical religion, being distinguished by great freshness and ingenuity of thought, and pointed ...
— A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature • John W. Cousin
... Was snatched from her Empire by Death's cruel clutches; When to Heaven she came (for thither she went) Each Angel received her with Joy and Content. On her knees she fell down, Before the bright Throne, And begged that God's Mother would grant her one Boon: Give England a Son (at this Critical Point) To put little Orange's Nose ...
— Quaint Gleanings from Ancient Poetry • Edmund Goldsmid
... the Ethiopians, and the victory of Hydaspes over Oroondates, which occupies the whole of the ninth book; and though in itself not ill told, is misplaced, as interrupting the narrative at the most critical point of the story. Peace is at last concluded between the belligerents; and Hydaspes, returning in triumph to his capital of Meroe, holds a grand national festival of thanksgiving, at which the victims are to be sacrificed. The secret ...
— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine—Vol. 54, No. 333, July 1843 • Various
... life-reaction in plant and animal, as seen in a similar periodic insensibility in both, corresponding to what we call sleep. He also showed that the passage of life in the plant, as in the animal, is marked by an unmistakable spasm. He invented, an instrument (Morograph) with which he recorded the critical point of death of a plant with great exactness. He demonstrated, in the most conclusive manner, that there is an essential unity of physiological effects of drugs on plant and animal tissues and showed the modifications which are introduced into these effects by the factor of individual ...
— Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose - His Life and Speeches • Sir Jagadis Chunder Bose
... withstanding all the barbarisms thus introduced, the Jews highly valued it, calling it the Hebrew verity. All that remains of it to us is contained in the fragments of Origen's Hexapla. See below, No. 12. Had we the whole work, its extremely literal character would give it great value in a critical point of view, as it would shed much light on the state of the Hebrew ...
— Companion to the Bible • E. P. Barrows
... reached a critical point in his enterprise. All that was wanted now was ten thousand dollars in cash to enable him to close the great bargain and make his hundred and fifty thousand. But to want ten thousand dollars and to get it in a given space of time, ...
— The Judgment House • Gilbert Parker
... From a critical point of view, the works of Fielding have received abundant examination at the hands of a long line of distinguished writers. Of these, the latest is by no means the least; and as Mr. Leslie Stephen's brilliant studies, in the recent edition de luxe and the Cornhill Magazine, ...
— Fielding - (English Men of Letters Series) • Austin Dobson
... superstitions, and still concealed in the secret chambers of his palace. He was a burden to his party, and was regarded by them with contempt. Matthias was watching him, as the tiger watches its prey. To human eyes it would appear that the destiny of the house of Austria was sealed. Just at that critical point, one of those unexpected events occurred, which so often rise to thwart the deepest ...
— The Empire of Austria; Its Rise and Present Power • John S. C. Abbott
... critical point, when Philip must array himself in determined opposition to Squire Pope. He felt that he was entirely in the right; still he regretted the necessity ...
— The Young Musician - or, Fighting His Way • Horatio Alger
... being handicapped by his absence at the most critical point in his love affair, took advantage of it to exhibit one of his most brilliant accomplishments. He sent Eleanor a handsome tooled-leather portfolio to hold his letters, which he wrote on loose-leaf sheets and mailed unfolded. They were letters that deserved preservation, prose ...
— Quin • Alice Hegan Rice
... there seemed good ground for hope of an early agreement. European politics were at a critical point, and England naturally wished to husband her resources for a sudden emergency. The mediation of Russia Mr. Gallatin considered a salve to the pride of England. This reasoning seemed sound enough, but it had not taken account of one important ...
— Albert Gallatin - American Statesmen Series, Vol. XIII • John Austin Stevens
... had otherwise been overlooked. In listening to the shouter, they may perceive how very entirely he is wrong; and, none the less, make the useful discovery that he is a good shouter. This then becomes the critical point. Having gained his hearing, will he condescend to moderate his views and listen to a little wisdom from older and more experienced men; or will he be obtuse enough to continue to stamp and shout on his tub, for fear people will call him a ...
— The Rhodesian • Gertrude Page
... crushed at Pultowa, his mighty schemes would have been buried with him; and (to use the words of Voltaire) "the most extensive empire in the world would have relapsed into the chaos from which it had been so lately taken." It is this fact that makes the repulse of Charles XII. the critical point in the fortunes of Russia. The danger which she incurred a century afterwards from her invasion by Napoleon was in reality far less than her peril when Charles attacked her; though the French Emperor, as a military genius, was ...
— The Fifteen Decisive Battles of The World From Marathon to Waterloo • Sir Edward Creasy, M.A.
... there was a personal intimacy behind it. She heard Dr. Portman's statement in horrified silence, and before she slept that night had despatched letters to Major Pendennis demanding his immediate return from London to help her in the management of her son at this critical point in ...
— Boys and girls from Thackeray • Kate Dickinson Sweetser
... At this critical point the Provisional Government again decided to make a change in the command of the Russian armies fighting in Galicia. Early in June, 1917, General Gouter had been placed in supreme command in this section. Lieutenant General L. G, ...
— The Story of the Great War, Volume VI (of VIII) - History of the European War from Official Sources • Various
... to surrender myself to the influence of the summer air. Two good horn-players gave me great pleasure by providing a performance of simple folk-songs almost regularly in a skiff on the lake. In my work, too, I had now luckily passed the critical point, and in spite of its sorrowful character, the more subdued mood of that part of my poem which I had still to master, threw me into a sincere spiritual ecstasy, during which I completed the composition of the whole work by the beginning of August, fragments only remaining ...
— My Life, Volume II • Richard Wagner
... that we would be compelled to pass around it in deep water, but Toyatte, usually so cautious, determined to cross it, and after giving particular directions, with an encouraging shout every oar and paddle was strained to shoot through a narrow gap. Just at the most critical point a big wave heaved us aloft and dropped us between two huge rounded boulders, where, had the canoe been a foot or two closer to either of them, it must have been smashed. Though I had offered no objection to our experienced pilot's plan, it looked dangerous, and I took the precaution ...
— Travels in Alaska • John Muir |
