sterner

• “Her father, Henry Rich, Lord Holland, the second son of the Earl of Warwick, has found place in sterner history than this.”

  Letters from Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Temple (1652-54)

• “If the brow slightly bent before her did slightly knit itself in sterner lines than common, she could not be sure of it, bent as it was; and when he looked up, there was no such expression there.”

  The Old Helmet

• “So much the sterner is the demand through the remaining ground for exquisite brevity.”

  The Posthumous Works of Thomas De Quincey, Vol. 2

• “Idle fancies these indeed, and such as sterner judgments may deem trifling or absurd, yet not uninteresting, since many of them evidently afford vestiges of classic times and manners, transmitted through the course of ages; nor unuseful, since they tend to smooth and adorn the rugged way of life, and to strew its flinty path with flowers.”

  The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 10, No. 266, July 28, 1827

• “But many of the planet's current pop stars are clearly made of sterner stuff.”

  The Guardian: Caught singing for tyrants? Don't be embarrassed. Do what 50 Cent does: embrace it | Charlie Brooker

• “If the result is not even sterner reforms from Congress than those pushed by Obama to wholesale ethics reform on our college campuses, the only one we can blame is ourselves.”

  The Huffington Post: Michael Giltz: DVDs: Zombies Attack in The Walking Dead

• “If it didn't for you, you're either made of much sterner stuff than I or the faeries must already have you clutched safe to their collective silvery bosom, far, far away from here.”

  The Guardian: TV review: Perez Hilton: Superfan; Frozen Planet

• “Nico was trying not to be distracted thinking about how he could possibly look sterner while unchanging but he quieted that thought for another day.”

  Superhero Nation: how to write superhero novels and comic books » CarsonArtist’s Review Forum

• “But throughout last week, and now perhaps through more weeks ahead, hope needs a firmer spine of resolution and at least the prospect of something sterner.”

  The Guardian: Libya: Gaddafi's cronies must desert or be damned | Observer editorial

• “Not all the potential 2012 contenders have urged quicker or sterner action against Libya.”

  The Wall Street Journal: GOP's 2012 Hopefuls Fault Obama's Stance

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