artlessness

• “‘Oh! a beautiful cousin, Mr. Caveton!’ replies the young lady, with that perfect artlessness which is the distinguishing characteristic of all young ladies; ‘an affair, of course.’”

  Sketches by Boz

• “Canalis, like Nodier, enchants the reader by an artlessness which is genuine in the prose writer and artificial in the poet, by his tact, his smile, the shedding of his rose-leaves, in short by his infantile philosophy.”

  Modeste Mignon

• “Her golden-brown shining hair waved back from a side parting with that carefully contrived artlessness which is the crowning achievement of a coiffeur, and in colour it exactly matched her soft frock, which was of the sports variety with a finely pleated skirt.”

  Juggernaut

• “Oh! a beautiful cousin, Mr. Caveton!' replies the young lady, with that perfect artlessness which is the distinguishing characteristic of all young ladies; 'an affair, of course.”

  Sketches by Boz, illustrative of everyday life and every-day people

• “In contrast to the image of the poet as the orderer, the craftsman, the poets of the _Fragments_ have a kind of artlessness (to us a very studied one, to be sure) that gave them an aura of sincerity and honesty.”

  Fragments of Ancient Poetry

• “During the first twenty minutes or so, I wasn't sure I would make it through the entire movie -- it was, I thought, similar in style to a kind of movie I find unbearable: a style based on long handheld shots, a soundtrack that contains little or no music and lots of environmental sounds characters breathing, eating, walking, and a general attitude that seems to fetishize "artlessness", though offers little to replace the art it so disdains.”

  4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days

• “But this is not all; beneath the wonderful singing quality are form, compression, reserve force, meaning; the spontaneity now is that apparent artlessness which is the triumph of the lyrical art. ”

  The Stranger at the Gate

• “Thurston Moore's music has ridden far on his goofy charm and teenage enthusiasms, his apparent artlessness arguably his strongest suit.”

  The Guardian: This week's new live music

• “This, this is why, with the artlessness of a little child, kneeling in quiet faith before this Scripture, I rejoice in my soul and thank God.”

  Simon & Schuster: Modern Science in the Bible

• “Whether you think his calculated artlessness reinvented British urban music or just took the mickey a bit, Skinner has remained true to himself.”

  The Guardian: The Streets: Computers and Blues - review

Show 10 more examples...