Instead of strutting about as formerly with his three-cornered hat on one side, flourishing his cudgel, and bringing it down every moment with a hearty thump upon the ground, looking every one sturdily in the face, and trolling out a stave of a catch or a drinking-song, he now goes about whistling thoughtfully to himself, with his head drooping down, his cudgel tucked under his arm, and his hands thrust to the bottom of his breeches pockets, which are evidently empty.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving

He had a round, bristling beard—and not a single grey hair—and a nose with a slight bridge, and bright, innocent, dark eyes.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

There was about an average of two dogs to one man; and these sat in expectant attitudes till a spent bone was flung to them, and then they went for it by brigades and divisions, with a rush, and there ensued a fight which filled the prospect with a tumultuous chaos of plunging heads and bodies and flashing tails, and the storm of howlings and barkings deafened all speech for the time; but that was no matter, for the dog-fight was always a bigger interest anyway; the men rose, sometimes, to observe it the better and bet on it, and the ladies and the musicians stretched themselves out over their balusters with the same object; and all broke into delighted ejaculations from time to time.
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

It has been my privilege to witness a good many satisfactory and rather sensational demonstrations in connection with some of my public addresses, but in dramatic effect I have never seen or experienced anything which equalled this.
— from Up from Slavery: An Autobiography by Booker T. Washington

I acknowledged in my examination that I was at the ball in a black domino on the night named in my accusation, but I denied everything else.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

There was a weak attempt at applause, but it died early.
— from The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain

About the same time, to wit, in the quindene of Easter, a parlement of the nobles was holden at Salisburie, during the which an Irish frier of the order of the Carmelits, being a bacheler in diuinitie, exhibited to the king a bill against the duke of Lancaster, charging him with heinous treasons: as that he meant vpon a sudden to destroie the king, and to vsurpe the crowne, shewing the time, the place, and circumstances of the whole contriued matter.
— from Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (2 of 6): England (12 of 12) Richard the Second, the Second Sonne to Edward Prince of Wales by Raphael Holinshed

The hypapophysis is the largest of the series; it is suturally united with the stout, exogenous process of the centrum, and projects downward and backward; its distal extremity is roughened for ligamentous attachments.
— from The Kansas University Quarterly, Vol. I, No. 1 (1892) by Various

Ever mindful of the claims which the holidays make for a literary "treat," Beadle and Company have in preparation, and will issue , TUESDAY, DECEMBER 20th, 1864, A Beautifully Illustrated Dime Edition OF THE WORLD-RENOWNED AND FASCINATING ROMANCE , The Life and Surprising Adventures of ROBINSON CRUSOE!
— from Malaeska: The Indian Wife of the White Hunter by Ann S. (Ann Sophia) Stephens

If Asia be in decay, Europe is in confusion.
— from Tancred; Or, The New Crusade by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

With the Captain was a handsome lady in black, who had already created in Jim's mind a confused impression of massed raven hair and big, innocent dark eyes that had a trick of floating up from under heavy lids and thick, long lashes to their greatest magnitude, and then disappearing again like revolving lights.
— from In the Roaring Fifties by Edward Dyson

The coarse army bread is drawn eagerly from the knapsacks of the blue, smoke quivers above a hundred fires, and the smell of frying bacon brings a wistful look into the gaunt faces.
— from Project Gutenberg Complete Works of Winston Churchill by Winston Churchill

The exchangeable value of a book is due even more to the SOCIAL CONDITION than to the talent displayed in it.
— from What is Property? An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government by P.-J. (Pierre-Joseph) Proudhon

Page 382 [382] As to gratify his animal appetites, therefore, is the sole end and aim of his being, every faculty of his mind and body is directed exclusively to this purpose, and he is no further vicious, no further interesting and agreeable than may be necessary to the acquisition of his object.
— from Shakspeare and His Times [Vol. 2 of 2] Including the Biography of the Poet; criticisms on his genius and writings; a new chronology of his plays; a disquisition on the on the object of his sonnets; and a history of the manners, customs, and amusements, superstitions, poetry, and elegant literature of his age by Nathan Drake

I further present you with check-words two; their names are TRUTH and UNION , and are thus explained: Truth is a divine attribute, and the foundation of every virtue; to be good and true is the first lesson we are taught in Masonry; on this theme we contemplate, and by its dictates endeavor to regulate our conduct; hence, while influenced by this principle, hypocrisy and deceit are unknown among us, sincerity and plain dealing distinguish us, and the heart and tongue join in promoting each other's welfare, and rejoicing in each other's prosperity.
— from The Mysteries of Free Masonry Containing All the Degrees of the Order Conferred in a Master's Lodge by William Morgan