Canniness

On balance, this canniness is an asset in a President. ❋ Unknown (2008)

The proverbial "canniness" of the Scottish nation was all upon the one side; the equally proverbial _perfervidum ingenium_ was all upon the other. ❋ John Hunter (1883)

However exciting it may be for a time, parties soon tire of carrying on a losing game for the mere sake of abusing each other, and Æneas M'Quirter not being behind the generality of his countrymen in 'canniness' and shrewdness of intellect, came to the conclusion that it was no use doing so in this case, especially as the few remaining friends who still applauded would be very sorry to subscribe anything towards his losses. ❋ Robert Smith Surtees (1833)

The Ipswich manager still has £6m unspent from the proceeds of selling Connor Wickham which, if invested with the same canniness he displayed at Wigan rather than his disastrous forays in the market at Derby, would make them credible promotion candidates. ❋ Unknown (2011)

The fact that every club Harry has ever been in charge of – Bournemouth, West Ham, Southampton, Pompey – has stumbled into a financial quagmire after he left is actually the surest indication there could possibly be of the canniness of his stewardship. ❋ Unknown (2012)

If the plot of The Killer Inside Me seems flimsy -- even arbitrary and contrived -- well, that's an element of Thompson's stories: a fervid, almost feverish quality, a helplessness to deal with bad impulses and a quick canniness for covering one's tracks. ❋ Marshall Fine (2010)

Piaf gave these behind-the-scenes glimpses with a canniness that could put a Washington spin-doctor to shame —­­and that she didn't bother to hide: "People know only what I want them to," she once told a roomful of reporters. ❋ Mark Polizzotti (2011)

These positions were hardening just as Wilson was getting his practical plans for his beloved League into focus, and the canniness of the other major players caught him in a trap. ❋ Gideon Rose (2010)

And similar admiration for wily politicians who can bend and break election laws with brass and canniness -- even begrudging from the opposition -- is yet another proud Texas tradition. ❋ Rob Patterson (2010)

But the canniness comes at a price, and that price is seen in the third most admirable aspect of the campaign, and that is its policies. ❋ Unknown (2008)

He had been blessed with a talent as rare and requisite to the challenge of dealing in art as his size and canniness had been to the challenge of racing horses: he had an eye. ❋ Moss, Nat (2009)

And you get the sense that a lot more Chinese physical strength goes into canniness, goes into brainpower. ❋ Unknown (2008)

It was another quiet gotcha moment for Boies, whose consciously unflashy courtroom style is turning the Microsoft trial into a clash between the concede-nothing culture of Redmond and a lawyer with the understated canniness of a courtroom Columbo. ❋ Unknown (2008)

The real canniness of McCain's pick is in how hard this is going to be to achieve. ❋ Unknown (2008)

Given her experience in 1994 (she knows what won't work) combined with the legislative canniness she seems to have developed in the Senate (she know what will work), that's not too surprising. ❋ Ann Althouse (2007)

Why not treat it as symbolic of the cleverness of Mexican-American entrepreneurs, and their canniness at combining currency trading with pizza delivery and thereby speeding up their pursuit of the American Dream? ❋ Jacob T. Levy (2007)

Frankly, I have little faith in the other parties' canniness in responding to that kind of politicking. ❋ Unknown (2006)