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Use motive in a sentence

Sentences starting with motive

Motive and all that kind of thing would come in there. [11]
Motive may stand; but you have allowed a snake to scream, and I will not concede that that was the best word. [5]

Sentences ending with motive

Did men act without motive? [7]
I cannot tell what power you hold over me, whether of life and death, or of wealth and poverty; but after talking to me of love, I should not have thought you would have wronged me by suggesting any meaner motive. [6]
It had burned up everything in her except one thought, one powerful motive. [11]
I shall not try to analyze my motive. [9]
Herr Casper had treated her kindly from a purely selfish motive. [10]
I honestly tried to pay my share of hotel bills, fees, etc., but I was not allowed--and I knew the reason why, and respected the motive. [5]
They confine this term to actions done deliberately, after a victory over opposing desires, or when prompted by some exalted motive. [1]
Or do you suppose that a knight changes his saints, as he does his doublet and coat of mail, without having any great and powerful motive? [10]
Men are cowards, sir, and are driven by fear as the sovereign motive. [6]
But this was not really his chief motive. [6]

Short sentences using motive

An unselfish motive. [9]
What motive? [11]

Sentences containing motive two or more times

His motive he did not attempt to fathom--in truth, he was not conscious at the time of any motive. [9]
The motive that compelled men to work for humanity in science, in medicine, in art--yes, and in business, if we took the right view of it, was the religious motive. [9]

More example sentences with the word motive in them

Its hidden motive will illustrate a but-little considered fact in human nature; that the religious folly you are born in you will die in, no matter what apparently reasonabler religious folly may seem to have taken its place meanwhile, and abolished and obliterated it. [5]
The facts reported were scrutinized, the standing of the parties was discussed, the dozen different theories of the motive, broached in the newspapers, were disputed over. [5]
Whatever the feeling was, it was an open thing, which had neither motive nor purpose behind it--just a thing almost feminine in its nature. [11]
A grave motive was the source of the mirth by which she affected to be moved at the sight of her enemy's cloak. [10]
This: that robbery was the motive, not revenge. [5]
The motive power was lacking, and no matter how hard I tried, I was only half-hearted, and he realized it instinctively--no amount of feigning could deceive him. [9]
And oh, I want so much to believe unreservedly what you expressed so finely, that religion is democracy, or the motive power behind democracy--the service of humanity by the reborn. [9]
The motive that urged you to bestow them is pleasing in the sight of the Lord, I acknowledge; but as I said before, your charity was too paltry for you to be released from your pains because of it. [10]
It brought back to her the real motive of her visit, which had in reality been inspired not only by the sermon of the day before, but by sheer curiosity. [9]
And then occurred to her his explanation of personality as the medium by which all truth is revealed, by which the current of religion, the motive power in all history, is transmitted. [9]
That motive had to do with Ditmar. [9]
Yet as she thought of her great motive, of Tull, and of that other whose name she had schooled herself never to think of in connection with Milly Erne's avenger, she suddenly found she had no choice. [13]
Whether or not this motive had drawn others,--for the millionaire's speech had not lacked advertisement,--it is impossible to say, but there was standing room only on the floor of the House that day. [9]
She had attributed this latter partly to jealousy of her, for no one is willing to acknowledge a fault in himself when a more agreeable motive can be found for the estrangement of his acquaintances. [5]
Each of you--bear this in mind--is a main-wheel in the great machine of the state, and can serve an end only by acting unresistingly in obedience to the motive power. [10]
Maybe something of this element entered into the heroism which had been displayed; but whatever the impulse or the motive, the act and the end were the same--men's lives were in peril, and they were risking their own to rescue them. [11]
He had done things which one might laugh at, but the privilege of laughing was limited always to the thing itself; you could not laugh at the motive back of it--that was high, that was noble. [5]
One motive only they all had in common: a desire to get to the place that had been called Moscow, to apply their activities there. [2]
Every possible motive, then,--his interest, his jealousy, his longing for revenge, and now his fears for his own safety,--urged him to regard the happening of a certain casualty as a matter of simple necessity. [6]
If they stake their lives for us they must be prompted by the strongest motive, even the promise of freedom. [7]
The water from the tunnel will furnish the motive power for the mills. [5]
The motive to the rash act can only be conjectured, but is supposed to be disappointed affection. [6]
She pointed out the little faults of construction and of language, and then minimized them in comparison with the noble motive and the unity and beauty of the whole. [4]
With respect to the latter theory the standard and the motive of conduct have no doubt often been confused, but they are really in some degree blended. [1]
Here indeed was the germ of a new sanction, of a new motive, of a new religion that strangely harmonized with the concepts of the old--once the dynamic power of these was revealed. [9]
There was also the fact that no motive for the crime had been shown. [11]
I presume if the Bank does require any such oath of secrecy, it is done through a motive of delicacy to those individuals who deal with it. [7]
Adams again adduces the argument, that he could not have forged the assignment, for the reason that he could have had no motive for it. [7]
Could it be that there was a motive under all this plotting? [9]
Still, we believe that the main motive that dictated this epistle was kindness to Pocahontas. [4]
I think, myself, that if there is any ungracious motive back of it it will be hard to find. [5]
He was better than she, and who could tell what important motive kept him away? [10]
What motive would tempt any set of men to go into an extensive survey of a railroad which they did not intend to make? [7]
That was his strongest motive, I believe. [9]
But he was singularly unsuspicious, and his natural kindness was an additional motive to the wish for introducing some variety into the routine of Elsie's life. [6]
It is not simply that we do not go away, but we have lost the motive for those long excursions which we made at first, and which more adventurous travelers indulge in. [4]
Paula, however, as she had not perjured herself, but had merely invented an impossible tale with a good motive, was dismissed, and her chest was to be replaced in her room. [10]
This time, however, she gazed into her glass with more than the usual happy motive, without the usual slight conscious smile. [13]
He could not see what motive of advantage to the new States could be subserved by merely keeping the public lands out of market, and preventing their settlement. [7]
Nor could I see how I was to live without her, life lacking a motive being incomprehensible: yet the fire of optimism in me, though died down to ashes, would not be extinguished. [9]
You now can see another motive for the duel which was brought about between your brother and myself. [11]
But she had scarcely heard the motive of his presence ere, pressing her hand upon her bosom with a sigh of relief, she eagerly exclaimed: "Oh, do what you can to avert this terrible deed! [10]
He thought he saw in Gabrielle a woman who for a personal motive was trying to learn the trick of the lock in Noumea, France's farthest prison. [11]
The motive wasn't robbery; it was revenge. [5]
I can only restate the motive idea of the tale in a little different language. [6]
It was managed quietly enough, in such a plausible sort of way that its motive was not thought of. [6]
Religion the motive power of art, and art, too, service. [9]
The superior knew Pentaur, and saw that no mere whimsical fancy, but some serious motive had given rise to this refusal. [10]
Meanwhile, as they passed up the street, the droning, vibrating voice of the bear-leader came floating along the air and through the voices of the crowd like the thread of motive in the movement of an opera. [11]
I believe my only motive for this omittance was a reluctance to dwell upon Dorothy, and a desire to shield her father for her sake. [9]
But for it, one would linger upon the Pope and the Doge, thinking them to be the motive and supreme feature of the picture; whereas one is drawn along, almost unconsciously, to see what the trouble is about. [5]
Bess was only one of millions at the mercy of unknown motive in nature and life. [13]
He guessed at once the motive, the madness, of this marriage. [11]
First, the object of Lee's recent movement against Meade; his destruction of the Alexandria and Orange Railroad, and subsequent withdrawal without more motive, not otherwise apparent, would be explained by this hypothesis. [7]
The widow's fear of having her real motive detected spared the necessity of using force. [10]
In the absence of a more adequate motive than the evidence discloses, I am wholly unable to believe in the existence of criminal or fraudulent intent on the part of men of such well established good character. [7]
The motive and object that lie at the bottom of them are worthy of the most that we can do for the soldier who goes to fight the battles of his country. [7]
These articles can now be read uninfluenced by personal or party feeling, and with the sole motive of learning the truth. [7]
Then robbery was not the motive, and revenge was. [5]
This motive is not lower than that which leads people into any other occupation or profession. [4]
But motive might not be so far to seek. [11]
Then he bid Nilus recapitulate the results of the proceedings up to the present stage, and what he and his colleagues supposed to be her motive for asserting that the stolen emerald was her property. [10]
Sublimity of character must come from sublimity of motive. [6]
I suppose your Mr. March has some disinterested motive in paying court to Miss Mela--Pamela, I suppose, is her name. [8]
He attacked no motive which had a good aim, except in view of some larger and loftier principle. [6]
From this low motive he might acquire the habit of aiding his fellows; and the habit of performing benevolent actions certainly strengthens the feeling of sympathy which gives the first impulse to benevolent actions. [1]
True, still another motive had urged her to this mad act. [10]
It is, however, more correct to speak of the latter principle as the standard, and not as the motive of conduct. [1]
He saw the meaning of the whole situation from Detricand's stand-point, but he was wise enough from his own stand-point to keep it to himself; and so both of them reserved something, she from no motive that she knew, he from an ulterior one. [11]
The speaker's figures may have been inexact, but the motive of persecution stands out as clear as day. [5]
A tall, stern-looking man walked near her in the procession: it was, of course, the tyrannical father, who, from some bigoted or sordid motive, had compelled this sacrifice. [4]
Whatever motive a man or a set of men may have for making annexation of property or territory, it is very easy to assert, but much less easy to disprove, that it is necessary for the wants of the country. [7]
In this case man is impelled by the same instinctive motive, which made the heroic little American monkey, formerly described, save his keeper, by attacking the great and dreaded baboon. [1]
He could not make out from the close face of the old man anything of his motive. [8]
She might have lost had her life been without this motive. [11]
The little princess, like an old war horse that hears the trumpet, unconsciously and quite forgetting her condition, prepared for the familiar gallop of coquetry, without any ulterior motive or any struggle, but with naive and lighthearted gaiety. [2]
Yet one must learn to see deeper, to find motive, not in acts that shake the faith, but in character which needs no explanation, which--" He paused, disturbed. [11]
That was the leading motive, the divinely spiritual one; but there were other motives, which, like tentacles, aided in drawing her will to the acceptance of a possible abnegation. [13]
Did Jessica quite know when she asked the question, what her own motive was; how much it had of delicate malice--unless there was behind it a simple sincerity? [11]
With those that know the facts there is no absence of motive. [7]
The ampler horizon it presented, the loftier ideals it set up, the counteracting agency it supplied to the sordidness of motive and act which, left unchecked, was certain to overwhelm the national spirit--all these were enforced by him again and again with clearness and effectiveness. [4]
I believe it is universally understood and acknowledged that all men will ever act correctly unless they have a motive to do otherwise. [7]
But my motive is not theirs. [4]
Then, if none is found, find another motive and work on that. [11]
Because a poem is an "occasional" one, it does not follow that it has not taken as much time and skill as if it had been written without immediate, accidental, temporary motive. [6]
Woman-like, she exaggerated in order that she might move him; but her motive was good, and what she said was not out of keeping with the facts of life. [11]
That smile was in itself a refutation of motive on Austen's part which no words could have made more emphatic; it had in it (unconsciously, too) compassion for and understanding of the Honourable Hilary's mood and limitations. [9]
It might, indeed, if it had not been blameless, provide some element of unjust suspicion against him, furnish some fancied motive. [11]
As melts the iceberg in the seas, As clouds give rain to the eastern breeze, As snow-banks thaw in April's beam, The solid kingdoms like a dream Resist in vain his motive strain, They totter now and float amain. [6]
And I think I may venture to ask you whether any, special motive brought you among us, or whether it was accident that determined your coming to this place. [6]
Not only did I feel sure that many friends would like to read our itinerary, but another motive prompted me to tell the simple story of our travels. [6]
Pardon me, for I do not ask from curiosity, but a much more serious motive. [6]
He had made his own reflections upon the tastelessness of the rhetoric, and the obvious buncombe of the motive, and he had not taken the matter seriously. [8]
She had divined his intention, and though she was in the dark as to the motive, she saw that he meant to go to Gaspe. [11]
And words failing him, he sought by a gesture to disclaim such a sinister motive for inaction. [9]
You have come here to warn me, and I appreciate your motive. [9]
Becton looked at her with his smouldering eyes, and felt the wish to say, "Yes, it was exactly that," but he only allowed himself to deny the possibility of any such motive in that case. [8]
She called me her benefactor and said she would be a sister to me; and whatever motive you--who hate her out of a habit of prejudice without really knowing her--may choose to ascribe her conduct to, I--I believe in her, and understand her. [10]
Ten to one he will think curiosity is at the bottom of it,--and,--come, don't be angry at me for suggesting it,--may there not be a little of that same motive mingled with the others? [6]
As far as he could see, the new States were wholly without any motive to do such a thing. [7]

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