The gods are deaf to hot and peevish vows;
They are polluted offerings, more abhorred
Than spotted livers in the sacrifice. [ William Shakespeare ]

A six-foot suckling, mincing in its gait.
Affected, peevish, prim and delicate;
Fearful it seemed, tho' of athletic make,
Lest brutal breezes should so roughly shake
Its tender form, and savage motion spread
O'er its pale cheeks, the horrid manly red. [ Churchill ]

The best of men have ever loved repose;
They hate to mingle in the filthy fray;
Where the soul sours, and gradual rancour grows,
Imbitter'd more from peevish day to day. [ Thomson ]

Body and soul like peevish man and wife, united jar, and yet are loath to part. [ Young ]

We readily excuse paralytics from labor; and shall we be angry with a hypochondriac for not being cheerful in company? Must we stigmatize such an unfortunate person as peevish, positive, and unfit for society? His disorder may no more suffer him to be merry, than the gout will suffer another to dance. The advising a melancholic to be cheerful is like bidding a coward to be courageous, or a dwarf be taller. [ Wollaston ]