wilfulness

Even the Reverend Robert Hanmer, who was going himself, was annoyed when Gordon told him of what he called my wilfulness, having a notion that it was decidedly disrespectful in any of us, either to go when he did _not_, or to decline going, when he

Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 54, No. 334, August 1843 Various

I insisted upon obedience, even when my commands came in collision with her conscientious scruples; and she was firm; she had the spirit of a martyr -- and I was very severe in my efforts to subdue what I called wilfulness and obstinacy, "said the distracted father in a voice often, scarcely audible from emotion.

Holidays at Roselands Martha Finley 1868

This annoyed Roald and it seems her wilfulness was the immediate provocation for him to deliver his bedtime bombshell.

Storyteller Donald Sturrock 2010

Nor is that hastily to be interpreted obstinacy or wilfulness, which is the natural product of their age or temper.

Some Thoughts Concerning Education. Sections 71-80 1909

What other people call wilfulness is really sensitiveness.

Calvary Alley Alice Caldwell Hegan Rice 1906

What the unknowing called wilfulness was simply natural independence, which she asserted whenever occasion demanded it.

Parrot & Co. Harold MacGrath 1901

It is only false strength that supports the personal will, -- a false appearance of strength which might be called wilfulness and which leads ultimately to the destruction of its owner.

The Freedom of Life Annie Payson Call 1896

The rich man in the wantonness of his authority will not stop at moral influence, but, if he is disappointed of his expectation by what he will call my wilfulness and obstinacy, will speedily find himself impelled to vindicate his prerogative, and to punish my resistance.

Thoughts on Man: His Nature, Productions, and Discoveries 1831

As a king, Richard neglects his duties with that kind of wilfulness which the world never fails to punish.

William Shakespeare John Masefield 1922

She was offering herself up because she chose to -- in a kind of wilfulness -- but a passionate wilfulness which claimed that for her at least there was no other way.

The Wild Olive Basil King 1893