In preparing a study of this kind one feels the need of limiting its scope, by reducing the denominator as Arthur Helps remarked.
"The Government of England (Vol. I)"
A. Lawrence Lowell
The ability of a culture finally to pound all of its swords-its intellectual ones as well as its steel ones-into ploughshares must be some kind of least common denominator for cultures that are headed for the stars.
"The Sword"
Frank Quattrocchi
But the conception of energy is more adaptable, and hence better qualified to serve as a common denominator for various aspects of experience.
"The Approach to Philosophy"
Ralph Barton Perry