If their ill judged moderation be suited to their own private situations only , regardless of others, the event will convince them, that “they are reckoning without their Host.” 159 Put us, say some, on the footing we were on in sixty-three: To which I answer, the request is not now in the power of Britain to comply with, neither will she propose it; but if it were, and even should be granted, I ask, as a reasonable question, By what means is such a corrupt and faithless court to be kept to its engagements?
— from Common Sense by Thomas Paine

He asked and repeated questions which had already been answered.
— from Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

The truth is, that while I was leading this busy life, in a retirement that might compare with that of a monastery, and unseen as I thought by any except the servants of the house (for when I went to Mass it was so early in the morning, and I was so closely attended by my mother and the women of the household, and so thickly veiled and so shy, that my eyes scarcely saw more ground than I trod on), in spite of all this, the eyes of love, or idleness, more properly speaking, that the lynx’s cannot rival, discovered me, with the help of the assiduity of Don Fernando; for that is the name of the younger son of the duke I told of.” The moment the speaker mentioned the name of Don Fernando, Cardenio changed colour and broke into a sweat, with such signs of emotion that the curate and the barber, who observed it, feared that one of the mad fits which they heard attacked him sometimes was coming upon him; but Cardenio showed no further agitation and remained quiet, regarding the peasant girl with fixed attention, for he began to suspect who she was.
— from The History of Don Quixote, Volume 1, Complete by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

On these vermin mean, Whose guardians e'en Eat at a rate quadruple!-- Themselves and their dogs, As greedy as hogs, And I, a wolf, to scruple!' 'Look out for your wool I'll not be a fool, The very pet I'll eat; The lamb the best-looking, Without any cooking, I'll strangle from the teat; And swallow the dam, As well as the lamb, And stop her foolish bleat.
— from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine

After that he throws water all over himself, scatters it about, and returns quietly to the camp.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer

Wenn du eine weise Antwort verlangst, / Musst du vernünftig fragen —If thou desirest a wise answer, thou must ask a reasonable question.
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

And what but war can have brought the Esquimos to the north of America, a race quite distinct from those of that country and probably European adventurers of [p. 151] prehistoric times?
— from Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay by Immanuel Kant

Between these two races there is constant intercourse even now; for Irish seers say that they can behold the majestic, beautiful Sidhe , and according to them the Sidhe are a race quite distinct from our own, just as living and possibly more powerful.
— from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. (Walter Yeeling) Evans-Wentz

That a quantity of two-inch pine plank, not exceeding 6,000 feet, should also be laid in; and a reasonable quantity of Oak studs, and Oak plank, for the window-frames and sashes.—A future meeting we understand," the Oracle adds, "will be held in the course of the season, at which, when the different Estimates and Proposals have been examined, and the extent which the fund will reach, has been ascertained, something decisive will be settled."
— from Toronto of Old Collections and recollections illustrative of the early settlement and social life of the capital of Ontario by Henry Scadding

“That’s good, at any rate,” quoth John.
— from Tales and Novels — Volume 07 Patronage [part 1] by Maria Edgeworth

Shines as a romance quite as much as 'Joseph Vance' does among realistic novels."— Chicago Record-Herald.
— from The Rosie World by Parker Fillmore

So likewise if it be false, to say that vertue can be powred, or blown up and down; the words In-powred Vertue, In-blown Vertue, are as absurd and insignificant, as a Round Quadrangle.
— from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

Nature cannot but always act rightly, quite unconcerned as to what may be the consequences.
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

One of his colleagues tells us he was not distinguished by any external eccentricity; that he wore, according to the custom of the time, a decent suit of blue jeans; that he was known simply as a rather quiet young man, good-natured and sensible.
— from Abraham Lincoln: a History — Volume 01 by John G. (John George) Nicolay

“You’ll pardon me,” said the boy laboriously, “if I ast a rude question.
— from A Son of the State by W. Pett (William Pett) Ridge

He drove his own craft alongside and reaching quickly seized Enoch’s shoulder, bearing him up as the youth’s own hands slipped from their resting-place on the keel of the canoe.
— from With Ethan Allen at Ticonderoga by W. Bert (Walter Bertram) Foster

The townsmen and peasants of some place, of all ages and all ranks, quit their homes in a body, and make a pilgrimage of two or three days to some famous shrine.
— from The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Volumes 1 and 2 by Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq

In beginning her confidence, she had been warmed by the thought of the amazing and romantic quality of her news, she had thought that Bocqueraz's admiration would seem a great thing in Billy's eyes.
— from Saturday's Child by Kathleen Thompson Norris

As a vehicle for wine, and as a restorative quickly prepared, it is all very well.
— from Notes on Nursing: What It Is, and What It Is Not by Florence Nightingale