He who lived well during his appointed time was to return and dwell in his native star, and there he would have a blessed and congenial existence.
— from Timaeus by Plato

Dames of elevated rank, likewise, whose doors she entered in the way of her occupation, were accustomed to distil drops of bitterness into her heart; sometimes through that alchemy of quiet malice, by which women can concoct a subtle poison from ordinary trifles; and sometimes, also, by a coarser expression, that fell upon the sufferer's defenceless breast like a rough blow upon an ulcerated wound.
— from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

The lad is good at bottom, and clever enough to do, if he's put in the right way; and he loves and honors my daughter beyond anything, and she has given him a sort of promise according to what he turns out.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot

There was no bed now in the living-room, and the small space was well filled with decent furniture, all bright and clean enough to satisfy Dolly Winthrop's eye.
— from Silas Marner by George Eliot

Formerly an ancient prophet of the Jewish nation ate a book and became a clerk even to the very teeth!
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

“He got up and began a close examination, admiring the immense quantity of hair I had already got, opened the lips, caressed what he called the little doodle, my clitoris, which was rampant with lewdness.
— from The Romance of Lust: A classic Victorian erotic novel by Anonymous

“Athanasi Vassilievitch,” he said firmly, “if you will but petition for my release, as well as for permission for me to leave here with a portion of my property, I swear to you on my word of honour that I will begin a new life, and buy a country estate, and become the head of a household, and save money, not for myself, but for others, and do good everywhere, and to the best of my ability, and forget alike myself and the feasting and debauchery of town life, and lead, instead, a plain, sober existence.”
— from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol

First the Athenians besieged and captured Eion on the Strymon from the Medes, and made slaves of the inhabitants, being under the command of Cimon, son of Miltiades.
— from The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

In the guild , which signifies a banquet at common expense, there was a mutual assurance against misfortunes and injuries of all sorts, such as fire and shipwreck, and also against all lawsuits incurred for offences and crimes, even though they were proved against the accused.
— from Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by P. L. Jacob

[ This emigration is not attested by any contemporary evidence; but the fact is proved by the event, and the circumstances might be preserved by tradition.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

The temple, with its pure white marble walls, and endless columns projected against a blue and cloudless Egyptian sky, was to them a whited sepulchre full of rottenness within.
— from History of the Intellectual Development of Europe, Volume I (of 2) Revised Edition by John William Draper

Among ordinary insane, visions are always accompanied by a certain ecstatic exaltation which gives the seer the attitude of the inspired, of the prophet, and never permit him to relate his visions with calmness and tranquillity.
— from The Spell of the Heart of France: The Towns, Villages and Chateaus about Paris by André Hallays

These currents of hot and cold water are accompanied by atmospheric changes equally extraordinary; and, taken together, they largely affect the course of the navigator from the old to the new world, and, not unfrequently, are the cause of the most fearful shipwrecks.
— from Curiosities of Civilization by Andrew Wynter

After breakfast a copper ewer and basin (aftabah and chillimchi) were taken to the chief guests, and they washed their hands.
— from At the Court of the Amîr: A Narrative by John Alfred Gray

[Pg 164] "The suggestion was to provide a steamer on which a permanent stage, complete with sets of scenery, exits and entrances, footlights, sidelights, and dressing-rooms, had been installed; also sufficient seats to accommodate as many of the crew of a battleship as could ever be off duty at one time.
— from Stories of the Ships by Lewis R. (Lewis Ransome) Freeman

{110} But upon the breaking out of the war of 1805, it was agreed, by a convention entered into at Paris, 21st of September, and ratified by the King of Naples on the 8th of October, that the French should withdraw their forces from the places which they occupied in the Neapolitan territories, and the King should observe a strict neutrality.
— from Life of Napoleon Bonaparte, Volume III. by Walter Scott

Aberystwith and Barmouth, a coach, every Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday morning, at eleven.
— from A Description of Modern Birmingham Whereunto Are Annexed Observations Made during an Excursion Round the Town, in the Summer of 1818, Including Warwick and Leamington by Charles Pye

Callié mentions the four towns of Ghourlan, L'Eksebi, Sosso and Boheim as containing eleven or twelve thousand souls.
— from Travels in Morocco, Volume 2. by James Richardson

The river in several places expands to the width of many miles, embosoming numerous islands, some of which are broad and considerably extensive, and all of them covered with a growth of cotton-wood and willows.
— from James's Account of S. H. Long's Expedition, 1819-1820, part 4 by Thomas Say