spur of the moment

“On the spur of the moment I said the cleverest thing I think I have ever said; viz.: "Perhaps that accounts for the paraSHOOTING pains.”

The Diary of a Nobody

“Also, on the spur of the moment but cold-bloodedly, he took Winwood into his own private office, locked the doors, and beat him up frightfully — all of which came out before the Board of Directors.”

Chapter 2

“Our Convention has been too much impressed by the insurrection of Massachusetts: and in the spur of the moment they are setting up a kite to keep the hen-yard in order.”

Letters

“No, they loved comedy — the giggle-gorged Latin larkery of Plautus and Naevius and Terence; and above all else the simple, maskless idiocy of the pure mime, with its naked strumpets, clumsy fools, clarion farts, elaborate practical jokes, improbable plots made up on the spur of the moment from traditional repertoires.”

The First Man in Rome

“On the spur of the moment it was the only way I could think of to cheer her up; but I know perfectly well that this kind of thing doesn't solve the eventual problem of Miss B., or of all the other Miss B.s. Which brings one back to the old argument between the Lady Bountiful and the Impatient Revolutionary, as to whether it's worth while patching up a dilapidated house -- or social system, or world order, or whatever you like -- when what is really needed is a new one.”

Mrs. Miniver

“And then — absolutely on the spur of the moment — it was some kind of compulsive behaviour, I suppose — I decided not to tell about my fake.”

Killer Dolphin

“On the spur of the moment — perhaps annoyed to the point of cheekiness by what he saw as the excessive caution of Jellicoe’s turnaway — Beatty offered to take matters into his own hands.”

Castles of Steel

“It reminded me that I wasn't quite cut off; I found I was muttering "Wisconsin", then humming it shakily to the tune of "My bonnie is over the ocean", and on the spur of the moment I dug out my cypher key — Crotchet Castle, the edition of 1831, if you're interested — and began to write Broadfoot a note of all that I'd heard on Maian Mir.”

Flashman and the Mountain of Light