I might compare myself to a person who, on beholding beautiful animals either created by the painter's art, or, better still, alive but at rest, is seized with a desire of seeing them in motion or engaged in some struggle or conflict to which their forms appear suited; this is my feeling about the State which we have been describing.
— from Timaeus by Plato

Picking up a book at random, I sat down in the studio to read.
— from The King in Yellow by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

Gradually the night fell blacker; it was all I could do to guide myself even roughly towards my destination; the double hill behind me and the Spy-glass on my right hand loomed faint and fainter; the stars were few and pale; and in the low ground where I wandered I kept tripping among bushes and rolling into sandy pits.
— from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

What monstrous phantoms, bred of despondency and doubt, and born and reared in solitude, have stalked upon the earth, making creation ugly, and darkening the face of Heaven!
— from American Notes by Charles Dickens

She was happy, eager, interested; there were lessons to be learned and honor to be won; delightful books to read; new pieces to be practiced for the Sunday-school choir; pleasant Saturday afternoons at the manse with Mrs. Allan; and then, almost before Anne realized it, spring had come again to Green Gables and all the world was abloom once more.
— from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

Then, almost before anybody realized it, spring had come; out in Avonlea the Mayflowers were peeping pinkly out on the sere barrens where snow-wreaths lingered; and the “mist of green” was on the woods and in the valleys.
— from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

But when the fourth part of the day was gone, Then Enid was aware of three tall knights On horseback, wholly armed, behind a rock In shadow, waiting for them, caitiffs all; And heard one crying to his fellow, 'Look, Here comes a laggard hanging down his head, Who seems no bolder than a beaten hound; Come, we will slay him and will have his horse And armour, and his damsel shall be ours.'
— from Idylls of the King by Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron

And when the heavens opened and blazed again Roaring, I saw him like a silver star— And had he set the sail, or had the boat Become a living creature clad with wings?
— from Idylls of the King by Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron

"I was goin' to say there's a good show over on Spring Street—movin'-pictures of the best ridin' and buckin' and ropin' I seen yet."
— from Overland Red: A Romance of the Moonstone Cañon Trail by Henry Herbert Knibbs

Further, as by a river is showed what abundance of grace proceeds from God through Christ, so it shows the unsatiable thirst and desire of one that comes indeed aright to the throne of grace for mercy.
— from Works of John Bunyan — Volume 01 by John Bunyan

Dory gave the same warning as before, and repeated it several times.
— from Square and Compasses; Or, Building the House by Oliver Optic

The Earl of E——, a nobleman alike beloved and respected in Scotland, was playing on the day of his decease on the links of St. Andrews at golf.
— from The Ghost World by T. F. (Thomas Firminger) Thiselton-Dyer

"Why are you glad that I am a boy?" asked Robert in surprise.
— from Robert Coverdale's Struggle; Or, on the Wave of Success by Alger, Horatio, Jr.

Both are a lot like Terra at different seasons and sections, and both are rich in soil, water, forests, metals and...."
— from The Planet Mappers by E. Everett (Edward Everett) Evans

The king pursued him thither, and both armies remained in sight of each other till the month of December, when the marquis de Minas, an active and enterprising general, arrived from Madrid, and took upon him the command of the forces under Don Philip.
— from The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.II. Continued from the Reign of William and Mary to the Death of George II. by T. (Tobias) Smollett