All 11 Uses
motive
in
Childhood's End
(Auto-generated)
- Is it surprising that we doubt his motives?†
Chpt 2motives = reasons for doing something
- No-one knew their motives: and no-one knew towards what future they were shepherding mankind.†
Chpt 2
- He was honest enough to admit that, in the final analysis, his, main motive was simple human curiosity.†
Chpt 3 *motive = reason (for doing something)
- "Our motives," he began, "should be pretty obvious.†
Chpt 3motives = reasons for doing something
- "You know what our motives are," continued the other in his softly lilting voice.†
Chpt 3
- Possibly the motives of the Overlords are good-according to their standards, which may sometimes be the same as ours.†
Chpt 3
- Sheer curiosity was also a powerful motive, and so was a determination to get his own back for the trick that had been played upon him.†
Chpt 4motive = reason (for doing something)
- Was it random curiosity, or did he have some other motive?†
Chpt 9
- Was it possible, he sometimes said to himself that despite all their enormous intelligence the Overlords did not really understand mankind, and were making a terrible mistake from the best of motives?†
Chpt 15motives = reasons for doing something
- In that case, was the purpose of this visit purely asthetic, or did Karellen have less innocent motives?†
Chpt 17
- The main difference between us and the British in India was that they had no real motives for going there-no conscious objectives, that is, except such trivial and temporary ones as trade or hostility to other European powers.†
Chpt 17
Definitions:
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(1)
(motive as in: What is her motive?) a reason for doing something
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(2)
(meaning too rare to warrant focus) Less commonly, motive can refer to something that causes motion in an inanimate object. Even less commonly, it can refer to a distinctive feature in music, art, or literature.