“The storm increased. The wind howled against the side of the house. Everyone was in the living room. They sat listlessly huddled together. And, surreptitiously, they watched each other. When Rogers brought in the tea tray, they all jumped.”
“Five people—five frightened people. Five people who watched each other, who now hardly troubled to hide the state of their nervous tension. There was little pretense now….They were five enemies linked together by a mutual instinct of self-preservation.”
“No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man’s and yet as mortal as his own.”
“Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am,
Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary,
Looks down, is erect, or bends an arm on an impalpable certain rest,
Looking with side-curved head curious what will come next,
Both in and out of the game and watching and wondering at it.”
“Let our hearts admit, “I am poor and weak. Satan is too subtle, too cunning, too powerful; he watches constantly for advantages over my soul. The world presses in upon me with all sorts of pressures, pleas, and pretences.”
“There were also permanent watchmen, chosen by the public – oddly enough, usually butchers – whose job it was, always three at a time, to watch the starvation artist day and night.”
“A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall. A king does not command his men’s loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold; he earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake.”
“Hi! I’m the bus driver. Listen, I’ve got to leave for a little while, so can you watch things for me until I get back? Thanks. On, and remember: Don’t let the Pigeon Drive the Bus!
“Very well, since you insist... You want a vacation. Go fly off and take it. I’ll sit on your egg and try not to break it.
I’ll stay and be faithful. I mean what I say.”
“The Wall wasn’t so high and I could look any Zook square in the eye. If he dared to come close I could give him a twitch with my tought-tufted prickely Snick-Berry Switch. ”
“Never had Mike Mulligan and Mary Anne had so many people to watch them; never had they dug so fast and so well; and never had the sun seemed to go down so fast.”
Jamela (who must be about the age of five) set herself to the task of watching her mother’s fabric for her new party dress. Buuuuut... well... she got a little carried away taking it to show everybody. And the fabric is ruined. There’s a bit of a contrived happy ending, though I guess children mightn’t realize it.
“You don’t have to chase around after creatures, Pismire had said. You watch them for long enough, and then you’ll find the place to wait and they’ll come to you. There’s nearly always a better way of doing something.”
″‘Climb in quick,’ said the pilot and Duffy climbed in while the lorry driver, the boatman, the cyclists, the riders and the farmer all stood and watched.”
“Mattie loved watching Uncle George find water. Sometimes when he was busy, Mattie would go off by herself and cut a forked willow branch and practice. She held the wand firmly straight out in front of her and coaxed it with the charm.”
“Treehorn sat under the bed to finish playing the game. He always liked to finish things, even if they were boring. Even if he was watching a boring program on TV, he always watched it right to the end. Games were the same way. He’d finish this one now. “
“One day, the three dogs were snuggling on the couch, watching Gary on TV. After the weather forecast he began talking about a new puppy he was going to adopt.”
“As long as they were there, the gerbils belonged to Sid. But, from that very first afternoon, Peggy was the one who loved them. Sid would be doing his homework, or out playing football, or just watching television.”
“Little Toot was right in the middle of all the excitement. He watched his father work hard. Big Toot was the biggest and fastest tugboat on the river.”
“The Potkoorok stirred. Its golden eyes gleamed. It slid like a ripple through the water, watching the boy. It waited while he explored the edges, examining brilliant green moss with air-bubbles trapped in it. It waited while he scooped up tiny slate-blue tadpoles and examined them and let them go. It waited till he stepped into deeper water; then it curled a coldness round his ankle, slithering like an eel.”
“The Litte House was very happy as she sat on the hill and watched the countryside around her. She watched the sun rise in the morning and she watched the sun set in the evening.”
“As the Little House settled down on her new foundation, she smiled happily. Once again she could watch the sun and moon and stars. Once again she could watch Spring and Summer and Fall and Winter come and go.”
″‘Just at the minute I’m watching the toast.’
‘It makes an interesting smell, doesn’t it?’ said the puppy, sniffing the air.
‘Yes,’ said Teddy Robinson, ‘It makes a lot of smoke too. That’s what makes it so difficult to watch. You can’t see the toast for the smoke.‘”
″‘Binky, will you do something for us?’ asked Mollie. ‘You know we can’t be with the magic chair always to watch when it grows wings, but if you could watch it for us, and come and tell us when you see it has wings, then we could rush to our playroom and go on another adventure.‘”
“Marlon had automatically assumed that I would be a spectator. But then what else could I do? I wasn’t much use for anything except watching. Everyone, from Travis Cross _our school year’s worse bully_ to my best friend, Marlon, said so.”