Sign

“ For we take the sign for the thing; yea, talk to the sign, and love it, or hate it, or worship it—all the while being as ignorant as mules, "ne pictum quidem vidit;" the very sign may be as far from the reality, as in philosophy we see it every day. And thus, all wandering and groping in the dark, the blind leading the blind, we screech like owls at a spark of light from the real fountain beyond Aldebaran.
And the owls were more busy than pleasant that night in the deep woods of Balgay Hill. It was a sign that the moon was not kindly to their heavy eyes. ”

“ There was a train going along, and the white smoke of it rose up in the air, and if you'll believe me it formed itself into the sign of a gigantic hand. A great white hand against the crimson of the sky. ”

“ Signs are taken for wonders. "We would see a sign": The word within a word, unable to speak a word, Swaddled with darkness. ”

“ If one demand of the Artist, of what condition, quality or stature the person quesited, or enquired of is, then observe the Sign of that house whereby he is signified, the sign wherein the Lord of that house is, and wherein the Moon is, mix one with another, and by the greater testimonies judge; for if the Sign be humane, aerial, that ascends or descends, and the Lord of that Sign or the Moon in any Sign of the same triplicity or nature, you may judge the Body to be handsome, and the conditions of the party to be sociable, or he very courteous, &c. ”

“ In which regard, Though I do hate him as I do hell pains, Yet, for necessity of present life, I must show out a flag and sign of love, Which is indeed but sign. ”

“ The essential thing about a sign is that it shall be seen, that the circumstances of its appearance shall fasten attention. Not in America alone, but equally in all the civilized world, as a topic of study, this sign in the heavens commanded the attention of men. ”

“ I will give you a sign from heaven. In the evening, at sunset you say, 'It will be fine weather, for the sky is as red as fire.' But in the morning, if the sky is red, you say, 'It will be a stormy day, for the sky is red as fire, and threatening.' You learn to read the signs in the sky, yet you do not know how to read the signs of the times. ”

“ This sacred sign may be regarded as a compendium of all the mysteries of our faith, as a homage rendered to the three Persons of the adorable Trinity, as an act of gratitude for all that the Godhead, — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, — has condescended to do in favor of man. ”

“ The sign, the left and the laugh, all the tangle, the length of light, piece the pressing, to be near and that graciously makes hindering gracious in sleeping. The sent hindering is attacking clinging. ”

“ It's a pity you didn't put it on the board with the farrago of nonsense, by which you hope to attract the attention of all the fool bodies in the town."
"Don't speak disrespectfully of my sign, sir," quoth the little barber, waxing wroth. "My sign is an excellent sign—the admiration of the whole village; and let me tell you that it is not in spite and envy to put it down, let spite and envy try as hard as they can. The genius which suggested that sign is not destined to go unrewarded." ”

“ Now the sign of the cross is a memorial of this wholesome knowledge, and serves to keep us in mind of it, as being the most important thing we have to think upon, or take an interest in, in the whole world; for the words we pronounce when making this sacred sign contain an invocation of the blessed Trinity, one God and three Persons, and the very sign itself recalls to our mind the incarnation and death of Jesus Christ, God made man. ”

“ Then saith the prophet and slave of the beauteous one: Who am I, and what shall be the sign? So she answered him, bending down, a lambent flame of blue, all-touching, all penetrant, her lovely hands upon the black earth, & her lithe body arched for love, and her soft feet not hurting the little flowers: Thou knowest! And the sign shall be my ecstasy, the consciousness of the continuity of existence, the omnipresence of my body. ”

“ In cases where the conception or origin of any sign is ascertained or suggested it should be annexed to the description, and when obtained from the gesturer will be so stated affirmatively, otherwise it will be considered to be presented by the observer. The graphic illustration of associated facial expression or bodily posture which may accentuate or qualify a gesture is necessarily left to the ingenuity of the contributor. ”

“ Anything that shows that animals or people have been in a certain place is called sign. Sign may be old or fresh, and there is always something about it that should tell you more than the mere fact that whatever made it has been there. You ought to be able to tell when the sign was made, and sometimes how it came to be made. Sometimes the sign is merely the way the wild animals act. I remember years ago, when the Sioux and Cheyennes were troublesome, I was travelling alone with Hugh, and one night when we camped, he rode out to kill a buffalo heifer. ”

“ That we regard as the sign, to be recognized by us as the most certain of all signs, that he has cut the rope which bound his barque to the old shore, and that he is going out to sea in quest of a better land. ”

“ Taking the illustration of the attempt to invent a sign for bird, before used, any one of a dozen, signs might have been agreed upon with equal appropriateness, and, in fact, a number have been so selected by several individuals and tribes, each one, therefore, being a synonym of the other. ”

“ If a man moves toward another to throw him out of the room, his movement is not a sign. If, however, the man points to the door with his hand, or utters the sound go, his movement is reduced to a vehicle of meaning: it is a sign or symbol. In the case of signs we care nothing for what they are in themselves, but everything for what they signify and represent. Canis, hund, chien, dog—it makes no difference what the outward thing is, so long as the meaning is presented. ”

“ In describing the position assumed to make the sign it is given as it would be in making the sign by itself. When a number of signs are made in succession, as in a continued narrative, they fall into the next position from the last without any stop, the movement of the arms and hands being practically continuous. The sign is made, usually in front of the body in an easy position, the hands, unless otherwise specified, being held on a line with the elbows or a little above. ”

“ XVI The turnings of life seldom show a sign-post; or rather, though the sign is always there, it is usually placed some distance back, like the notices that give warning of a bad hill or a level railway-crossing. ”

“ This sign is mentioned, about 1708, in a rather curious memorandum from the pen of Partridge, the almanac-maker, at the commencement of a book of “the Cælestial Motions and Aspects for the years of our Lord 1708 to 1720.” ”

“ This was a sign indeed,—a sign addressed to a man who had been waiting day after day, perhaps year after year, for some outward accident to make him well,—that health and disease are dependent upon no accidents; that the power of life is an inward power; that there is One in whom it dwells; that He in whom it dwells is near to the weakest, the most helpless, even the most sinful. ”

“ Wicket Gate.—A small incident leads up to an important future event.
Widow's Bonnet.—This sign must be read in connection with other symbols; sometimes it foreshows grief and mourning, or if dots are round it, that a sum of money or a legacy may be expected from a widow.
Windmill.—A sign that you may hope to succeed in a doubtful enterprise.
Window.—An open window shows that you are regarded with favour by many; a closed one means embarrassment. ”

“ At every forward step and movement, at every going in and out, when we put on our clothes and shoes, when we bathe, when we sit at table, when we light the lamps, on couch, on seat, in all the ordinary actions of daily life, we trace upon the forehead the sign. ”

“ These specifications are as follows:—
“Sky sign”, means any word, letter, model, sign, device, or representation in the nature of an advertisement, announcement, or direction supported on or attached to any post, pole, standard, framework, or other support, wholly or in part upon, over, or above any building or structure, which, or any part of which, sky sign shall be visible against the sky from any point in any street or public way, and includes all and every part of any such post, pole, standard, framework, or other support. ”

“ For there are usually some essential movements of the hands or fingers in each sign and some that are not essential, and a one-armed man making the necessary part of the signs with one hand instead of two against his body or a near-by object is readily understood. ”

“ To illustrate what I mean by the philology of the sign-language, let us examine a few concrete examples, beginning, perhaps, with family relations. The general sign for "man" or "male" is made by grasping with the right hand the brim of an imaginary hat. In the same way, "woman" or "female" is suggested by drawing the tip of the thumb down along the side of the cheek, where a woman's bonnet-string would naturally come. ”

“ I fancy some of my little friends will exclaim. Well, then, a symbol is merely a sign, or mark, by which one knows a thing. When you see an umbrella in a man's hand, it is a symbol, or sign, that he expects a shower. ”

“ Signs, whether natural or arbitrary, which gain acceptance, especially if they are shortened, are ‘conventional.’ ‘Mimic action’ refers, e.g., to the sign for sawing, the side of one hand being passed to and fro over the side or back of the other.’Pantomime’ means, e.g., when the signer pretends to hang up his hat and coat, roll up his sleeves, kneel on his board, guide the saw with his thumb, saw through, wipe his forehead, &c. ”

“ By the aid of verbal signs we exercise an enormous power over all our faculties, for in repeating the sign we are enabled by the personal activity of our will to recall the image which it represents, and submit that image to our control. ”

“ This heaven where the gods live, turns into as many different signs, and sometimes into the Ram: therefore, whoever is born under that sign will own many flocks and much wool, a hard head, a shameless brow, and a sharp horn. A great many school-teachers and rambunctious butters-in are born under that sign.” We applauded the wonderful penetration of our astrologer and he ran on, “Then the whole heaven turns into a bull-calf and the kickers and herdsmen and those who see to it that their own bellies are full, come into the world. ”

“ While in spiritual matters, signs enable the minister to reach thousands where any other method of communication would reach the few. Spiritual truths told and explained in the language of signs reach the understanding and the conscience of the deaf child as no other means can possibly do. ”

“ A good sign-maker, then, may become a power among his fellow-men. The deaf man or woman who can express his thoughts in only halting signs is greatly handicapped in his association with others—but let him learn the exact meaning of every sign in the most forceful and clear manner, and he can sway his audience as a speaking orator can. ”

“ The formal sign to 'cease' or 'stop doing' anything is made by bringing the two hands open and held vertically in front of the body, one behind the other, then quickly pass one upward, the other downward, simulating somewhat the motion of the limbs of a pair of scissors, meaning 'cut it off.' The latter sign is made in conversation in a variety of ways, but habitually with one hand only. ”

“ The value of each symbol is collective; that is to say, the sign of a vowel represents a group of related vowel-sounds, and it stands for either a short or a long quantity, and the sign of a consonant may include more than one variation of a certain place of articulation. ”

“ The sign for white man is a hat, either by itself or on a head, and the gesture-sign indicates one who wears a hat. Draw the open right hand horizontally from left to right across the forehead a little above the eyebrows, the back of the hand to be upward and the fingers pointing toward the left, or draw the index across the forehead in the same manner. ”

“ The sign is no more than an instrument of simplification, an abbreviated formula. When the mind works with the aid of concepts, the co-operation of two factors, the one conscious, the other unconscious or subconscious, is required, in order that its labor may be legitimate and fruitful: on the one hand, we have words or signs, accompanied sometimes by a vague representation ”

“ Let there be lights made in the firmament of heaven, to divide the day and the night, and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days and years: to shine in the firmament of heaven and to give light upon the earth. ”

“ If you are to reach masses of people in this world, you must do it by a sign language. Whether your vehicle be commerce, literature, or politics, you can do nothing but raise signals, and make motions to the people. ”

“ For instance, 119as you walk around the circular hall, when you arrive at the door leading to that sign of the Zodiac under which you were born, you will feel an irresistible desire to enter and stand on that sign in the Zodiacal wheel set in the floor. Like, they say, attracts like.”
“But I do not know which sign I was born under,” said Ione.
“It does not matter in the least whether you know or not,” replied the Brother. “You will instinctively enter the door and be most strongly attracted to the especial sign which appeared at the eastern horizon at the hour of your birth.”
“What fun!” ”

“ Examination is sometimes expressed by making sign with both hands and all the fingers extended, and hands thrown forward as if "charging."
Call, Attract the attention of.—Hold open left hand out in front, palm down and back slightly toward self; strike the back with the open right hand and then beckon toward self. ”

“ STUDENT of the ancient and peculiarly interesting Art of Heraldry can hardly fail, at an early period in his researches, to be struck with the idea that some connection obviously exists between the various “charges,” “crests,” “badges,” and “supporters” with which he is familiar, and the curious designs now to be seen upon the sign-boards of many of our roadside inns, and which were formerly displayed by most other houses of business. ”