Axiom III.—In proportion as the parts of an individual, or a compound body, are in contact over a greater or less superficies, they will with greater or less difficulty admit of being moved from their position; consequently the individual will, with greater or less difficulty, be brought to assume another form.
— from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza

As its name implies, the first of these is of cloth of gold, ornamented to a greater or less degree with jewels, while the second—though likewise of cloth of gold—is without any design or ornament.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

The majority of bottle-fed babies and a large number of the breast-fed suffer from a greater or less degree of constipation.
— from Scurvy, Past and Present by Alfred F. Hess

Therefore, I cannot blame too strongly the rashness of some of our countrymen, who being anything rather than Greeks or Latins, depreciate and reject with more than stoical disdain everything written in French; nor can I express my surprise at the odd opinion of some learned men who think that our vulgar tongue is wholly incapable of erudition and good literature."
— from The Renaissance: Studies in Art and Poetry by Walter Pater

The volumes contained the Medea and Giocasta of Lodovico Dolce, in Italian; the Hecuba and Iphigenia of Euripides in Latin, by Erasmus, the Comedies of Terence, &c.; and the first Italian and English Grammar, by Henry Grantham, 1575.
— from Notes and Queries, Vol. IV, Number 97, September 6, 1851 A Medium of Inter-communication for Literary Men, Artists, Antiquaries, Genealogists, etc. by Various

Such a paper money would, no doubt, fall more or less below the value of gold and silver, according as the difficulty or uncertainty of obtaining immediate payment was supposed to be greater or less, or according to the greater or less distance of time at which payment was exigible.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

“He offers to take nothing but piece-work; the man who does piece-work is guilty of less defensible conduct than a drunkard.
— from Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

For what was it led the Cynics to repudiate pleasure in every form, if it was not the fact that pain is, in a greater or less degree, always bound up with pleasure?
— from The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Counsels and Maxims by Arthur Schopenhauer

Nationality: noun: Maldivian(s) adjective: Maldivian Ethnic groups: Sinhalese, Dravidian, Arab, African Religions: Sunni Muslim Languages: Maldivian Divehi (dialect of Sinhala, script derived from Arabic), English spoken by most government officials Literacy: definition: age 15 and over can read and write total population: 93.2% male: 93.3% female: 93% (1995 est.) @Maldives:Government Country name: conventional long form: Republic of Maldives conventional short form: Maldives local long form : Dhivehi Raajjeyge Jumhooriyyaa local short form: Dhivehi Raajje Data code: MV Government type: republic National capital: Male (Maale) Administrative divisions: 19 atolls (atholhu, singular and plural) and 1 other first-order administrative division*; Alifu, Baa, Dhaalu, Faafu, Gaafu Alifu, Gaafu Dhaalu, Gnaviyani, Haa Alifu, Haa Dhaalu, Kaafu, Laamu, Lhaviyani, Maale*, Meemu, Noonu, Raa, Seenu, Shaviyani, Thaa, Vaavu Independence: 26 July 1965 (from UK) National holiday: Independence Day, 26 July (1965) Constitution: 4 June 1968 Legal system: based on Islamic law with admixtures of English common law primarily in commercial matters; has not accepted compulsory ICJ jurisdiction Suffrage: 21 years of age; universal Executive branch: chief of state: President Maumoon Abdul GAYOOM (since 11 November 1978); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government head of government: President Maumoon Abdul GAYOOM (since 11 November 1978); note - the president is both the chief of state and head of government cabinet: Ministry of Atolls appointed by the president; note - need not be members of Majilis elections : president elected by secret ballot of the Majlis for a five-year term; election last held 1 October 1993 (next to be held NA October 1998) election results: President Maumoon Abdul GAYOOM reelected; percent of Majlis vote - Maumoon Abdul GAYOOM 92.76% Legislative branch: unicameral Citizens' Council or Majlis (48 seats; 40 elected by popular vote, 8 appointed by the president; members serve five-year terms) elections: last held 2 December 1994 (next to be held NA December 1999) election results : percent of vote - NA; seats - independents 40 Judicial branch: High Court Political parties and leaders: although political parties are not banned, none exist International organization participation: AsDB, C, CCC, CP, ESCAP, FAO, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, IMF, IMO, Intelsat (nonsignatory user), Interpol, IOC, ITU, NAM, OIC, SAARC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO, WToO, WTrO Diplomatic representation in the US: Maldives does not have an embassy in the US, but does have a Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, headed by Ahmed ZAKI Diplomatic representation from the US: the US does not have an embassy in Maldives; the US Ambassador to Sri Lanka is accredited to Maldives and makes periodic visits there Flag description: red with a large green rectangle in the center bearing a vertical white crescent; the closed side of the crescent is on the hoist side of the flag Economy Economy - overview: During the 1980s tourism became one of the most important and highest growth sectors of the economy.
— from The 1997 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Your petitioners have not gone into detail with an account of their individual sufferings from death, and bruised bodies, and the universal distress which prevails at this day, in a greater or less degree throughout our community.
— from History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Volume 1 Period 1. History of Joseph Smith, the Prophet by Smith, Joseph, Jr.

Of 24 control specimens, 23 were bent to the sieve, and on a second occasion 15 out of 16 were similarly curved in a greater or less degree.
— from The Power of Movement in Plants by Darwin, Francis, Sir

Transvaal Under Pretorius In all the great region between the Orange River and the Limpopo these conditions, however, prevailed between 1836 and 1850 to a greater or lesser degree.
— from South Africa and the Boer-British War, Volume I Comprising a History of South Africa and its people, including the war of 1899 and 1900 by J. Castell (John Castell) Hopkins

The “hairy man” and “girt with a girdle of leather” did not study the scanning of his sentences.
— from Bible Characters by Dwight Lyman Moody

The banks of the river have almost everywhere been broken down in a greater or less degree.
— from Audubon and His Journals, Volume 2 (of 2) by John James Audubon

The chief object of his animosity was, of course, Mimi, whose will had overcome his, but it was obscured in greater or lesser degree by all who had opposed him.
— from The Lair of the White Worm by Bram Stoker

We feel confident, therefore, that in presenting this article on The Roman Congregations to the American public, and particularly to the legal profession, we are directing attention to what must, in a greater or less degree, be the model of all permanent and reliable civil tribunals.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 10, October, 1869 to March, 1870 by Various

[83] ( b ) Failure of game from desiccation, as in Australia, or because the tribe has been driven into a poor country like Tierra del Fuego; so that a small population is scattered over a wide area, and reduced to a greater or less dependence on “collecting.” ( c ) The adoption of even a primitive agricultural or pastoral life may make hunting a secondary interest.
— from The Origin of Man and of His Superstitions by Carveth Read

There can be no doubt that all laws against dissent and separation from an established church, those even of the inquisition, have proceeded in a greater or less degree from political motives; and these appear to me far less odious than the disinterested rancour of superstition.
— from Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 2 of 3 by Henry Hallam