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"Creatures of habit"

Posted by R. Berg on October 16, 2001

In Reply to: "Creatures of habit" posted by Susan Baxter on October 16, 2001

: Ideas or known origins for this phrase would be greatly appreciated - thank you !

I can't find this phrase in the Oxford English Dictionary, but I found other "creature of _____" phrases under the following definition of "creature": "One who owes his fortune and position to a patron; one who is actuated by the will of another, or is ready to do his bidding; an instrument or puppet." Example of a figurative use in this sense: "We are but the creatures of circumstances" (Sir B. Brodie, Psychol. Inq., 1862). If "creature of habit" was formed by analogy with such uses, the idea behind it is enslavement or victimization by habit.

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