Willfully

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Willfully

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BIBLE

KJV References

Hekousiōs, Greek Strong's #1596, is used 2 times in the New Testament. It is translated as wilfully 1, willingly 1.
Hebrews 10:26 - For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins,
DEFINITIONS

Webster’s American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828
WILLFUL, adjective [will and full.]
1. Governed by the will without yielding to reason; obstinate; stubborn; perverse; inflexible; as a willful man.
2. Stubborn; refractory; as a willful horse.

WILLFULLY, adverb
1. Obstinately; stubbornly.
2. By design; with set purpose.
Bouvier’s Dictionary of the Law, 1856
WILL, criminal law.
1. The power of the mind which directs the actions of a man.
2. In criminal law it is necessary that there should be an act of the will to commit a crime, for unless the act is wilful it is no offence.
3. It is the consent of the will which renders human actions commendable or culpable, and where there is no win there can be no transgression.
4. The defect or want of will may be classed as follows: 1. Natural, as that of infancy. 2. Accidental; namely, 1st. Dementia. 2d. Casualty or chance. 3d. Ignorance. (q. v.) 3. Civil; namely, 1st. Civil subjection. 2d. Compulsion. 3d. Necessity. 4th. Well grounded fear. Hale's P. C. c. 2 Hawk. P. C. book 1, c. 1.

WILFULLY
1. Intentionally.
2. In charging certain offences it is required that they should be stated to be wilfully done. Arch. Cr. Pl. 51, 58; Leach's Cr. L. 556.
3. In Pennsylvania it has been decided that the word maliciously was an equivalent for the word wilfully, in an indictment for arson. 5 Whart. R. 427.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 1st Edition, 1891
WILLFUL.

Proceeding from a conscious motion of the will; intending the result which actually comes to pass; designed; intentional; malicious.

A willful differs essentially from a negligent act. The one is positive and the other negative. Intention is always separated from negligence by a precise line of demarkation. 88 N. Y. Super. Ct. 817.

In common parlance, “willful" is used in the sense of “intentional," as distinguished from “accidental" or “involuntary.” But language of a statute affixing a punishment to acts done willfully may be restricted to such acts done with an unlawful intent. 29 N. J. Law, 96.
WILLFUL NEGLECT.

Willful neglect is the neglect of the husband to provide for his wife the common necessaries of life, he having the ability to do so: or it is the failure to do so by reason of idleness, profligacy. or dissipation. Civil Code Cal. § 105.
WILLFULLY.

Intentionally. In charging certain offenses, it is required that they should be stated to be willfully done. Archb. Crim. P1. 51, 58; Leach, 556.
The Century Dictionary, an Encyclopedic Lexicon of the English Language, 1895
wilfully, willfully (wil'fnl-i), adv.

1. Of free will or choice; willingly; voluntarily; gladly; readily.

2. By design; with set purpose; intentionally; especially, in a wilful manner; as following one's own will ; selfishly ; perversely ; obstinately; stubbornly.

3. In law, wilfully is sometimes interpreted to mean—(a) by an act or an omission done of purpose, with intent to bring about a certain result; or (b) with implication of evil intent or legal malice, or with absence of reasonable ground for believing the act in question to be lawful.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 2nd Edition, 1910
WILLFUL.

Proceeding from a conscious motion of the will; intending the result which actually comes to pass; designed; Intentional ; malicious.

A Willful differs essentially from a negligent act. The one is positive and the other negative. Intention is always separated from negligence by a precise line of demarkation. Sturm v. At lantic Mut. Ins. Co., 38 N. Y. Super. Ct. 317.

In common parlance, "willful" is used in the sense of "intentional." as distinguished from "accidental" or "involuntary." But language of a statute affixing a punishment to acts done willfully may be restricted to such acts done with an unlawful intent. U. S. v. Boyd (C. C.) 45 Fed. 855 ; State v. Clark, 29 N. J. Law, 96.
WILLFULLY.

Intentionally. In charging certain offenses, It is required that they should be stated to be willfully done. Archb. Crim. PI. 51, 58; Leach, 550.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 4th Edition, 1968
WILLFUL.

Proceeding from a conscious motion of the will; voluntary. Nashville, C. & St. L. Ry. Co. v. Commonwealth, 160 Ky. 50, 169 S.W. 511, 513.

Intractable; having a headstrong disposition to act by the rule of contradiction. Bersch v. Morris
& Co., 106 Kan. 800, 189 P. 934, 935, 9 A.L.R. 1374. Obstinate; perverse. Lynch v. Commonwealth, 131 Va. 762, 109 S.E. 427, 428; Jones v. State, 7 Ala.App. 180, 62 So. 306, 307.

Intending the result which actually comes to pass; designed; intentional; not accidental or involuntary. Garrett v. Commonwealth, 215 Ky. 484, 285 S.W. 203, 204; State v. Muzzy, 87 Vt. 267, 88 A. 895, 896; Roseville Trust Co. v. American Surety Co. of New York, 91 N.J.Law, 588, 103 A. 182; State v. Lehman, 131 Minn. 427, 155 N.W. 399, Ann.Cas.1917D, 615; United States v. Illinois Cent. R. Co., La., 58 S.Ct. 533, 535, 303 U.S. 239, 82 L.Ed. 773.

The word "wilful" is a word of many meanings depending on the context in which it is used. Zimberg v. United States, C.C.A.Mass., 142 F.2d 132, 137.

A "willful" act may be described as one done intentionally, knowingly, and purposely, without justifiable excuse, as distinguished from an act done carelessly, thoughtlessly, heedlessly, or inadvertently. Lobdell Car Wheel Co. v. Subielski, 125 A. 462, 464, 2 W.W.Harr. (Del.) 462.

A willful differs essentially from a negligent act. The one is positive and the other negative. Sturm v. Atlantic Mut. Ins. Co., 38 N.Y.Super.Ct. 317; Thayer v. Denver & R. G. R. Co., 21 N.M. 330, 154 P. 691, 694. Simple negligence arises merely from heedlessness, and consists simply of facts of nonfeasance, and is therefore incompatible with willfulness, which comprises acts of aggressive wrong, Stauffer v. Schlegel, 74 Ind.App. 431, 129 N.E. 44, 46; and presupposes a conscious purpose to injure, In re Cunningham, D.C.N.Y., 253 F. 663, 665; Ft. Wayne & Wabash Valley Traction Co. v. Justus, 180 Ind. 464, 115 N.E. 585, 587; Brittain v. Southern Ry. Co., 167 N.C. 642, 83 S.E. 702, 703.

"Willfulness" implies an act done intentionally and designedly; "wantonness" implies action without regard to the rights of others, a conscious failure to observe care, a conscious invasion of the rights of others, willful, unrestrained action; and "recklessness" a disregard of consequences, an indifference whether a wrong or injury is done or not, and an indifference to natural and probable consequences. Jensen v. Denver & R. G. R. Co., 44 Utah, 100, 138 P. 1185, 1188. See, also, Evans v. Illinois Cent. R. Co., 289 Mo. 493, 233 S.W. 397, 399; Cover v. Hershey Transit Co., 290 Pa. 551, 139 A. 266, 268; Feore v. Trammel, 212 Ala. 325, 102 So. 529, 533; Crosman v. Southern Pac. Co., 44 Nev. 2E46, 194 P. 839, 843.

The word "reckless," as applied to negligence, is the legal equivalent of "willful" or "wanton." Heller v. New York, N. H. & H. R. Co., C.C.A.N.Y., 265 F. 192, 194. And see Strough v. Central R. Co. of New Jersey, C.C.A.N.J., 209 F. 23, 26.

Conscious; knowing; done with stubborn purpose, but not with malice. Bundy v. State, 206 N.W. 21, 22, 1141 Neb. 121; American Surety Co. New York v. Sullivan, C.C.A.N.Y., 7 F.2d 605,

Premeditated; malicious; done with evil intent, or with a bad motive or purpose, or with indifference to the natural consequences; unlawful; without legal justification. State v. Vanderveer, 11-5 Wash. 184, 196 P. 650; State v. Johnson, 194 N.C. 378, 139 S.E. 697, 698; Boyce v. Greeley Square Hotel Co., 228 N.Y. 106, 126 N.E. 647, 649; State v. Palmer, 94 Vt. 278, 110 A. 436, 437.

Words which import an exercise of the will, such as "feloniously," "maliciously," and "unlawfully," will supply the place of the word "willfully" in an indictment. Howenstine v. U. S., C.C.A.Cal., 263 F. 1, 3; Chapman v. Corn., 5 Whart. (Pa.) 427, 34 Am.Dec. 565. Contra, State v. Waters, Mo.App., 189 S.W. 624; State v. Hyman, 116 Me. 419, 102 A. 231, 232.
Criminal Law, Rollin M. Perkins and Ronald N. Boyce, 1982
The word “willful” or “willfully” when used in the definition of a crime, it has been said time and again, means only intentionally or purposely as distinguished from accidentally or negligently and does not require any actual impropriety; while on the other hand it has been stated with equal repetition and insistence that the requirement added by such a word is not satisfied unless there is a bad purpose or evil intent.
Black’s Law Dictionary, 7th edition, 1999
Willful, adj.

Voluntary and intentional, but not necessarily malicious. – Sometimes spelled wilful.

"Etymologicum Anglicanum or English Etymology. The Study of English Words" compiled by Randy Lee
Willful

"Only want or defect of will, will protect the doer of a forbidden act from the punishment annexed thereto. An involuntary act induces no guilt; the concurrence of the will, when it has its choice to do or to avoid an act, being the only thing that renders human action either praiseworthy or culpable. To make a crime complete there must be both a will and an act. As no temporal tribunal can search the heart or fathom the intentions of the mind, otherwise than as demonstrated by outward actions, it cannot punish what it cannot know. To constitute a crime against human laws, there must be a vicious will and an unlawful act consequent thereon. 4 Bl. Com. 20-22, (1765).

"In common parlance 'willful' means intentional, as distinguished from accidental or involuntary; in penal statutes it means with evil intent, with legal malice, without ground for believing the act to be lawful." United States v. Three Railroad Cars, 1 Abb. U.S. 201 (1868).

"Referring to an act forbidden by law, [willful] means that the act must be done knowingly and intentionally—that with knowledge the will consented to, designed and directed the act." Woodhouse v. Rio Grande R. Co., 67 Tex. 419 (1887).

"Willful. Proceeding from a conscious motion of the will; voluntary; knowingly; deliberate. Intending the result which actually comes to pass; designed; intentional; purposeful; not accidental or involuntary.
"Premeditated; malicious; done with evil intent, or with a bad motive or purpose, or with indifference to the natural consequences; unlawful; without legal justification.
"The power of the mind which directs the action of a man.
"The ordinary meaning of 'willful,' in statutes, is not merely 'voluntary,' but with a bad purpose." Black's Law Dictionary, 6th Edition (1990), page 1599.
Maxims
No rule of law protects a buyer who willfully closes his ears to information, or refuses to make inquiry when circumstances of grave suspicion imperatively demand it.

Suppression of fact, which should be disclosed, is the same in effect as willful misrepresentation.

An act already begun, the completion of which depends upon the will of the parties, may be recalled; but if it depend on the consent of a third person, or of a contingency, it cannot be recalled.

An act done by me against my will, is not my act.

The disposition of law is firmer and more powerful than the will of man.

In doubtful cases there is no presumption in favor of the will.

In offences, the will and not the consequences are to be looked to.

The will is to be taken for the deed.
QUOTES

William Shakespeare said:
To willful men, the injuries that they themselves procure must be their schoolmasters.
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