The Besetting sin of bureaucracy is the tendency to refer too much to a higher authority, which cannot become familiar with the facts of each case, and finds its only refuge in clinging to hard and fast rules.
"The Government of England (Vol. I)"
A. Lawrence Lowell
The Besetting sins of this people ought to be exposed continually.
"Thoughts on the Religious Instruction of the Negroes of this Country"
William Swan Plumer
I was confident Mrs. Dennison had been Besetting him again, for he was pale and looked fiercely excited.
"Wives and Widows; or The Broken Life"
Ann S. Stephens