Line In The Sand (phrase)
A line in the sand is a metaphor with two similar meanings:
- The first meaning is of a point (physical, decisional, etc.) beyond which one will proceed no further. An example would be a person who might agree to visit a bar with his friends, but will go no further (i.e., not partake in drinking alcohol).
- The second meaning is that of a point beyond which, once the decision to go beyond it is made, the decision and its resulting consequences are permanently decided and irreversible. An example would be to commit funds to completing a project (as opposed to deferral or cancellation); once committed, the funds cannot be spent on another activity, and the project will either succeed or fail.
Read more about Line In The Sand (phrase): Origin
Famous quotes containing the words line and/or sand:
“For almost seventy years the life insurance industry has been a smug sacred cow feeding the public a steady line of sacred bull.”
—Ralph Nader (b. 1934)
“Mix salt and sand, and it shall puzzle the wisest of men, with his mere natural appliances, to separate all the grains of sand from all the grains of salt; but a shower of rain will effect the same object in ten minutes.”
—Thomas Henry Huxley (1825–95)