He had almost yielded, but not quite. He had not consented. It is very hard for evil to take hold of the unconsenting soul.
ursula k. le guinThus society is born, as something required by nature, and (because this nature is human nature) as something accomplished through a work of reason and will, and freely consented to. Man is a political animal, which means that the human person craves political life, communal life, not only with regard to the family community, but with regard to the civil community.
jacques maritainAnd whispering, "I will ne'er consent" consented.
lord byronWe ourselves of the present age, chose our common law, and consented to the most ancient Acts of Parliament, for we lived in our ancestors 1,000 years ago, and those ancestors are still living in us.