self-protective

Two hours come and go, and the self-protective defiance many of the girls had brought with them transforms into extraordinary honesty—heartache and fear laid bare.

American Grace

And regarding the former, it may be brave souls like Susan Boyle, with her obvious self-protective armament on display as she exchanges banter with the three judges, who shatter the boundaries by their sheer will and their enormous gifts.

Archive 2009-04-01

I have never engaged in a "self-protective strategy" in order to "buy time," especially not to "sort out" my emotions.

Saying Something

Apparently, some readers need such "self-protective strategies" that "buy time, until the reader can sort out what is happening to her emotionally ...."

Saying Something

In an effort to be self-protective, many wounded people try to fool themselves and others, constructing elaborate facades that bear little resemblance to the truth.

Recovering From Religious Abuse

Poetry's declining status has made its embattled practitioners insular and self-protective: personal friendships have spawned cliques and coteries in book and magazine publishing, prize committees and grants organisations.

Poetry

Now that it's over, the safest, most self-protective move I could make would be to mold myself back into the shape of someone who is satisfied reading about love and fantasizing about it, rather than experiencing it full tilt.

Laura Brounstein: Why Are Vampires Such a Turn-On?

The world we live in, and the very nature of our mind, push us to stay self-focused and self-protective.

Rev. Zesho Susan O'Connell: Zen Practice Is Difficult And Dangerous

"The traffickers, the casino operators and corrupt politicians form a self-protective triangle which makes it difficult for honest law enforcement officers to get at organized crime," said a 2009 U.S. diplomatic cable released by document-leaking website WikiLeaks, signed by Bruce Williamson, then the U.S. consul in Monterrey.

Casino Arrests Stir Scandal in Mexico

Outcomes of the British efforts to dictate overall strategic pressure were the self-protective attempts at interservice cooperation that resulted in the creation of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the principal continuing mechanism for British-American wartime coordination, the Combined Chiefs of Staff CCS organization.

Between War and Peace