willy

• They ignore or forget the pit out of which they were digged By another Eugenist we are told that willy-nilly every sound, healthy person of either sex must get married or at least betake him or herself to the business of propagating the race. —  Science and Morals and Other Essays
• Drawing, as he will, from this liberal source that which he finds necessary in the solving of his initial problems, he will find himself within a short time becoming, willy-nilly, a specialist In the earlier years there should be considerable study done after hours on the part of the graduate engineer. —  Opportunities in Engineering
• Forgetting what a comfort they had been to him the evening before, this while feeling boyishly ashamed and foolish at having had them with him, in a panic he caught them up and flung them, willy-nilly, out of sight upon Cis's couch; after which, looking sheepish, and wondering if Big Tom had, by any chance, seen them, he put away his bedding, filled the teakettle, and reached down the package of oatmeal It was not till he started to build a fire that he remembered! —  The Rich Little Poor Boy
• Failing to bring about this match, Alleyn's backers, not to be beaten, and in order, willy-nilly, to make a wager on their champion, evidently tried to get Alleyn to display his powers before friends who professed to admire Bentley and Knell[22]--actors of a slightly earlier date, who were now either retired from the stage or dead. —  Shakespeare's Lost Years in London, 1586-1592
• I never open a book, but shun them as if they were poison, rise at half-past five o'clock, go to bed at ten, and toil like a galley slave all day, willy, nilly Man labours for the meat which perisheth, and the food which satisfieth not The move to the Lakes, though it enriched his lite with many delicious hours, and gave him leisure for thought and composition, yet seems to have led directly to commercial difficulties. —  Critical Miscellanies (Vol. 3 of 3) Essay 7: W.R. Greg: A Sketch

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