To ask why I pursue happiness, will admit of no other answer than an explanation of the terms .”

In fiction, a MacGuffin ( sometimes McGuffin or maguffin ) is a plot device in the form of some goal, desired object, or other motivator that the protagonist ( and sometimes the antagonist ) is willing to do and sacrifice almost anything to pursue, often with little or no narrative explanation as to why it is considered so desirable.

It is important to understand, however, that for these mystics it was possible to pursue mystical life without the visions and voices that are usually associated with such a relationship with God.

Carangi immediately became infatuated with Linter and started to pursue her, though the relationship never became stable.

Fond of Carreen O ' Hara, he cannot pursue that relationship as she decides to enter a convent.

' A resource that actors derive from specific social structures and then use to pursue their interests ; it is created by changes in the relationship among actors '; ( Baker 1990, p. 619 ).

One view is that Thomas schemed to marry either Princess Mary or Princess Elizabeth, Henry VIII's daughters by his first two marriages, and there were rumours that he attempted to pursue a relationship with Elizabeth, still in her early teens.

Spike's skills of analysis allowed him to realize Willow was barely holding it together after Oz's departure even though Giles and Buffy thought she was doing better, to be the first to see through Tara's abusive and controlling family, forced Buffy and Angel to admit that they were more than " just friends " and identify when and why some relationships, such as between Buffy and Riley, are not meant to last, masterfully feeding Riley's insecurities in an effort to sabotage his relationship with Buffy, so Spike can pursue her.

In the episode " Bee True " Dean Bolander sees that George loves her more than her ex-husband and thusly decides to pursue a relationship with George.

Before Jughead decides whether he wants to pursue a relationship with Joani, she leaves him-but with a promise that they will be together again.

His relationship with the Emperor allowed him to pursue a military career that, after minor initial successes, ended in 468, when he led the disastrous Roman invasion of Vandal Africa, in one of the largest military operations of Late Antiquity.

After Chris confesses that he is married, Johnny convinces Kitty to pursue a relationship in order to extort money from Chris.

In the meantime, Cronauer spends most of his time drinking and trying to pursue a relationship with Trinh, only to be rebuffed at every attempt.

The medieval Persian philosopher and physician Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi believed in a close relationship between conscience or spiritual integrity and physical health ; rather than being self-indulgent, man should pursue knowledge, use his intellect and apply justice in his life.

In this view, it is essential to allow man the greatest possible freedom in order to pursue this relationship.

She is in love with Marlon and continues to pursue him despite his continual resistance-their relationship has been described as a one sided love triangle.

An R & D alliance is a mutually beneficial formal relationship between two or more parties to pursue a set of agreed goals while remaining independent organisations, where acquiring new knowledge is a goal by itself.

The 2009 General Assembly authorized a committee with " the responsibility to approach " like-minded churches in the Wesleyan-Holiness tradition in order to pursue closer relations, with a goal of exploring the possibility of a merger or a collaborative relationship.

Monty and Adela are upset at losing their friends however, it is implied they pursue a relationship with each other as the film ends.

Starr also argued that Clinton abused power by: denying the relationship with Lewinsky ever occurred ; using executive privilege to both pursue an appeal against the case without Starr's knowledge ; using executive privilege to cover up the relationship ; delaying his grand jury testimony until August, and by getting the Secret Service to agree to assist in covering up the relationship in an acquiescing matter.

It was however problematic to pursue this relationship, as Sun was already married.

Mark begins to pursue Laurel, and they begin a relationship in the second season.

Dixon finally has the last laugh, as Christine finds out Bertrand was also pursuing an affair with the wife of one of Dixon's former colleagues ; she decides to pursue her relationship with Dixon.

Later, in Detective Comics, uncertain if she should pursue her " relationship " with Batman, Selina talks with Bruce about Jezebel Jet, his current girlfriend, and then has a pep talk with Zatanna, whom she believes is also courting Bruce.

In any case, Clausewitz saw military force as an instrument that states and other political actors use to pursue the ends of policy, in a dialectic between opposing wills, each with the aim of imposing his policies and will upon his enemy.

Jean Audubon and Claude Rozier arranged a business partnership between their sons to pursue in Pennsylvania ( to see the terms of the Partnership Agreement, see Jean Ferdinand Rozier ).

The gradual rift between China and the USSR that developed in the early 1960s caused North Korea to pursue a delicate balancing act between the two communist giants.

The Asia Leaders Programme, a Dual Campus Master Programme, is a shared initiative between the Nippon Foundation and the University for Peace, in collaboration with Ateneo de Manila University, which aims to provide students from Japan and other Asian countries with an opportunity to pursue a peace studies post graduate degree with a content-based language-training module.

In 1988 Japan established the Laboratory for International Fuzzy Engineering ( LIFE ), a cooperative arrangement between 48 companies to pursue fuzzy research.

He argues that there are five points of comparison between the ways in which science and theology pursue truth: moments of enforced radical revision, a period of unresolved confusion, new synthesis and understanding, continued wrestling with unresolved problems, deeper implications.

Bilateral relations between the United States and Uganda have been good since Museveni assumed power, and the United States has welcomed his efforts to end human rights abuses and to pursue economic reform.

Book clubs are almost entirely direct-to-retail, and niche publishers pursue a mixed strategy to sell through all available outlets — their output is insignificant to the major booksellers, so lost revenue poses no threat to the traditional symbiotic relationships between the four activities of printing, publishing, distribution and retail.

The proverb was apparently based on an anecdote about Ibycus stupidly or nobly turning down an opportunity to become tyrant of Rhegium in order to pursue a poetic career instead ( one modern scholar however infers from his poetry that Ibycus was in fact wise enough to avoid the lure of supreme power, citing as an example Plato's quotation from one of his lyrics: " I am afraid it may be in exchange for some sin before the gods that I get honour from men ") There is no other information about Ibycus ' activities in the West, apart from an account by Himerius, that he fell from his chariot while travelling between Catana and Himera and injured his hand badly enough to give up playing the lyre " for some considerable time.

Due to conflicts between the girls, and both wanting to pursue solo careers, the duo was officially announced as disbanded.

" GSK officials never commented on whether there was any connection between Senator Grassley's letter and their decision to pursue a settlement with the New York State attorney general's lawsuit.

These three countries have combined share of approximately 12 % of the global student market with somewhere between 250, 000 and 300, 000 students having decided to pursue higher education studies in these countries in 2005-6.

At the university the schools were divided between the partisans of the two professors ; but Cano did not pursue his rival with relentless virulence, and took part in the condemnation for heresy of his brother-friar.

A number of Mojo's servants, led by the hound-like Gog and Magog, pursue him, but get stuck between Longshot's world and Earth.

* Do not pursue, encircle or come in between whales

Students may also pursue a bachelor's degree in hotel management and a master's in business administration through a " 4 + 1 + 1 " program where students work for one year between the undergraduate and graduate experiences.

In 1990, Greene and husband Al Raine were encouraged by the BC provincial government to pursue development of a new ski resort in the Melvin Creek Valley, between Mount Currie and Lillooet, both predominantly Native communities.

While tail-chasing, they pursue a bird closely in flight while twisting between trees, vines and branches, a skill that requires both considerable speed and great agility.

Typically, males will target smaller birds, such as sparrows and wood-warblers, and females will pursue larger prey, such as American Robins and flickers, leading to a lack of conflict between the sexes for prey.

After a brief stint as an official of the Bormla Labour Party club, Mintoff was Labour's Secretary General between 1935 and 1945 ( resigning briefly to pursue his studies abroad ).

However sometime between the airing of sixth series of Red Dwarf in 1993, and the writing of the seventh series in 1996, Rob Grant ended his partnership with Naylor after revealing he was tired of it and that he intended to quit and pursue other projects.