Indecision

Indecision

Buridan’s

ass unable to decide between two haystacks, he would starve to death. [Fr. Philos.: Brewer Dictionary, 154]

Cooke, Ebenezer

his irresolution usually leads to catatonia. [Am. Lit.: The Sot-Weed Factor]

Graduate, the

college man with absolutely no direction. [Am. Lit.: The Graduate]

Hamlet

Tragic hero who tarries and broods over revenge and suicide. [Br. Lit.: Hamlet]

Libra

7th constellation of the Zodiac; those born under Libra may be indecisive. [Astrology: Payton, 389]

Panurge

unable to decide whether to marry, he consults many people and undertakes a long voyage to visit an oracle. [Fr. Lit.: Rabelais Gargantua and Pantagruel]

Penelope

put off a decision on which suitor to marry by secretly unraveling the shroud she said she must first complete. [Gk. Lit.: Odyssey]

Theramenes

shilly-shallying oligarch; nicknamed Cothurnus, i.e., ambipedal boot. [Gk. Hist.: Brewer Dictionary, 960]

Waiting for Godot

tramps are torn between waiting for Godot to solve their problems and hanging themselves. [Anglo-French Drama: Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot in Magill III, 1113]

Whiffle, Peter

would-be writer, cursed with indecision, accomplishes nothing. [Am. Lit.: Peter Whiffle, Magill I, 739–741]

hung jury

cannot decide guilt or innocence. [Am. Hist.: Misc.]