Among Jordan's four million people, there also remains a widespread yearning for simpler days, and many here still clearly hope that the search for new opportunities need only be temporary.

"There's a refreshing quality," Mr. Nelson said of Baldwin, but he attributes some of the character's appeal to a widespread yearning for simple answers in a complicated world.

It is a typical expression of our current widespread yearning for the stability of tradition.

"The very widespread yearning for social peace is itself proof of the grave need of social reform", McQuaid wrote.

Poll takers do not have to look far to find a widespread yearning for an "iron hand."

While Italy's love affair with the automobile may be sorely tested these days, it continues to burn, fanned by the country's new-found affluence and a widespread yearning for flashy acquisitions.

If this indicates some widespread yearning to modify masculine attitudes, to move from hard-boiled aggressiveness to a more temperate, reflective mood, then maybe movies are doing their best to mirror that change.

The resonant chord such books strike suggests that something is afoot in the culture, that these authors speak to a widespread yearning that delves for answers deeper than those of mainstream psychotherapy.

The tragedy of 1492 seems to have caused a widespread yearning for the redemption of Israel foretold by the prophets.

The split, as well as the voter turnout, speaks to a widespread yearning to end an armed struggle that has claimed as many as 40,000 lives.