In this world a man must be either anvil or hammer.    From LearnThat.org.  [Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)]

Q: It seems like on the anvil is a saving rate deregulation.    From Wordnik.com.  [Moneycontrol Top Headlines] Reference

He was a real sleight-of - hand man, and the anvil was his orchestra.    From Wordnik.com.  [In the Midst of Alarms] Reference

On the anvil is the cap and detonator, probably fulminate of mercury.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Fashion in Shrouds]

The anvil is a big piece of iron which is embedded firmly in the ground.    From Wordnik.com.  [Travels in West Africa] Reference

On the anvil was a brilliant, yellow-red loop of iron, that was not quite yet.    From Wordnik.com.  [Crowded Out o' Crofield or, The Boy who made his Way] Reference

Stand firm, as an anvil which is beaten: it is the property of a true champion to be struck and to conquer.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Lives of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints January, February, March] Reference

Casca's "anvil," they stood rockline and solid and carved the men opposing them into unrecognizable facsimiles of humanity.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Eternal Mercenary]

I need those kind of anvil-heavy contextual clues because I truly am that clueless.    From Wordnik.com.  [Foma*] Reference

L'Enclume, meaning "anvil", is sited in an 800-year-old former smithy overlooking a stream.    From Wordnik.com.  [Telegraph.co.uk: news business sport the Daily Telegraph newspaper Sunday Telegraph] Reference

"anvil" upon which any further action on domestic initiatives, such as health care reform, will be crushed.    From Wordnik.com.  [18 Reps Call for Up-or-Down Vote on Surge. Peace Groups Target 100. Is One of These Your Rep.?] Reference

Hammer a nail flat on an anvil or stone; feel it.    From Wordnik.com.  [Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Nature Study] Reference

There he laid him on the anvil and began to hammer away on him.    From Wordnik.com.  [Italian Popular Tales] Reference

Air was the hammer and the ground and naval forces were the anvil.    From Wordnik.com.  [Lessons Of A Lucky War] Reference

The smith said: "Leave off blowing and hammer the iron on the anvil.".    From Wordnik.com.  [Italian Popular Tales] Reference

A close-up view showing the back side of the thunderstorm's anvil top.    From Wordnik.com.  [A week ago: thunderstorm clouds at sunset] Reference

Percy wondered what it would be like to hit Glen in the face with an anvil.    From Wordnik.com.  [Percy's Night Out] Reference

"In this world," the poet wrote, "a man must either be an anvil or a hammer.".    From Wordnik.com.  [What’s So Hot About Snowe?] Reference

"The election was the anvil and the president was the hammer," the aide said.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Way It Wasn't] Reference

But Giufà pounded on the anvil so hard that the iron flew into a thousand pieces.    From Wordnik.com.  [Italian Popular Tales] Reference

The anvil chorus ceased abruptly when Persis opened the door of her brother's room.    From Wordnik.com.  [Other People's Business The Romantic Career of the Practical Miss Dale] Reference

"" This thing is hanging over him like an anvil, '' says environmentalist Nelson Ross.    From Wordnik.com.  [Gore's Pollution Problem] Reference

Hammer and anvil: Air power did a most impressive job and virtually won this war by itself.    From Wordnik.com.  [Lessons Of A Lucky War] Reference

"In this world a man must either be anvil or hammer," "Into each life some rain must fall.".    From Wordnik.com.  [Longfellow: A Founder] Reference

A combination vise and anvil will be needed in any case as well as some miscellaneous tools.    From Wordnik.com.  [Home Taxidermy for Pleasure and Profit A Guide for Those Who Wish to Prepare and Mount Animals, Birds, Fish, Reptiles, etc., for Home, Den, or Office Decoration] Reference

So Ilmarinen put the iron on his anvil, and made from it many fine things and tools of every kind.    From Wordnik.com.  [Finnish Legends for English Children] Reference

But Iron swore by the hammer and anvil, 'I will injure trees and mountains, but I'll never kill the heroes.    From Wordnik.com.  [Finnish Legends for English Children] Reference

Master Day imagined; for something more serious than profits on muslin and brocade was on the anvil of fate.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Story of Madras] Reference

To the right, on entering that building, was a blacksmith's shop, with an anvil, forge, and various implements.    From Wordnik.com.  [Some Naval Yarns] Reference

He was not dismayed by the plausibilities of false teachers, but "stood firm as an anvil under the hammer's stroke.".    From Wordnik.com.  [The Quarterly Review, Volume 162, No. 324, April, 1886] Reference

But all day long, and for various other days, the dark little smithy was alight again, and merrily the clink of anvil rang.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Iron Star — and what It saw on Its Journey through the Ages] Reference

He had in his father's hut the Iron Star, which served as his anvil and which he thought turned out better work than any other.    From Wordnik.com.  [The Iron Star — and what It saw on Its Journey through the Ages] Reference