For it was properly the beginning of America: there were straggling settlers in America before, some material as of a body was there; but the soul of it was first this.
— from On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle

Those tokens which he had hitherto considered as proofs of a frightful peculiarity in her physical and moral system were now either forgotten, or, by the subtle sophistry of passion transmitted into a golden crown of enchantment, rendering Beatrice the more admirable by so much as she was the more unique.
— from Mosses from an Old Manse, and Other Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Diocletian was a man of sense, who, in the course of private as well as public life, had formed a just estimate both of himself and of mankind: nor is it easy to conceive, that in substituting the manners of Persia to those of Rome, he was seriously actuated by so mean a principle as that of vanity.
— 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

Striking points of difference between the Poets of the present age and those of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries—Wish expressed for the union of the characteristic merits of both XVII Examination of the tenets peculiar to Mr. Wordsworth— Rustic life (above all, low and rustic life) especially unfavourable to the formation of a human diction-The best parts of language the product of philosophers, not of clowns or shepherds—Poetry essentially ideal and generic— The language of Milton as much the language of real life, yea, incomparably more so than that of the cottager XVIII Language of metrical composition, why and wherein essentially different from that of prose—Origin and elements of metre —Its necessary consequences, and the conditions thereby imposed on the metrical writer in the choice of his diction XIX Continuation—Concerning the real object, which, it is probable, Mr. Wordsworth had before him in his critical preface—Elucidation and application of this XX The former subject continued—The neutral style, or that common to Prose and Poetry, exemplified by specimens from Chaucer, Herbert, and others XXI Remarks on the present mode of conducting critical journals XXII The characteristic defects of Wordsworth's poetry, with the principles from which the judgment, that they are defects, is deduced—Their proportion to the beauties—For the greatest part characteristic of his theory only SATYRANE'S LETTERS XXIII Critique on Bertram XXIV Conclusion So wenig er auch bestimmt seyn mag, andere zu belehren, so wuenscht er doch sich denen mitzutheilen, die er sich gleichgesinnt weis, (oder hofft,) deren Anzahl aber in der Breite der Welt zerstreut ist; er wuenscht sein Verhaeltniss zu den aeltesten Freunden dadurch wieder anzuknuepfen, mit neuen es fortzusetzen, und in der letzten Generation sich wieder andere fur seine uebrige Lebenszeit zu gewinnen.
— from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

She incoherently described the depths of the forest, her feelings, and a talk with a beekeeper she met, and constantly interrupted her story to say: “No, I can’t!
— from War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

To satisfy the ardor of the woman a beautiful saint must appear on the scene, and to satisfy that of the men there must be a virgin.
— from The Antichrist by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

What a bore!" said Meg, assuming a languid air, which amused Laurie immensely.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott

'He sold me two or three stones once or twice, I think; but we are both single men, and we have often dined together.
— from The Old Man in the Corner by Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness

He was always before so much afraid of being sent away that he used to tell Monsieur he ought to know what I was saying and doing, that he might be apprised of any attempt that should be made against the Chevalier or his creatures.
— from Court Memoirs of France Series — Complete by Various

“Roy Bock and Bat Sedley!” murmured Andy.
— from The Putnam Hall Encampment; or, The Secret of the Old Mill by Edward Stratemeyer

If among these causes we have discovered any artificial ornaments, any accidental circumstances, or any mixture of error and passion, it cannot appear surprising that mankind should be the most sensibly affected by such motives as were suited to their imperfect nature.
— from History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire — Volume 1 by Edward Gibbon

"Papa always said I was bright as a button; so mamma always called me Button-Bright," he said.
— from The Road to Oz by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum

The other came on at still greater speed, his appearance contrasting greatly with that of the first; a heavy sword hung by his side, and over his shoulders was an orange sash, which partly covered a breastplate showing many a deep dent, while his dress was travel-stained and bespattered with dark red marks, while his frank and open countenance wore an expression of grief and anxiety.
— from The Lily of Leyden by William Henry Giles Kingston

Of course, I'm in some strained, abnormal condition, and that's all, but send me another letter, for if one is a barricade two should be a fortress.
— from August First by Mary Raymond Shipman Andrews

These accidents became so much a matter-of-course that when anything unusual occurred in the company our first impulse was to go and help Seitz out.
— from Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons — Volume 2 by John McElroy

I'm no writin' a book so much as I'm sittin' doon wi' ye all for a chat, as I micht do gi'en you came into my dressing room some nicht when I was singin' in your toon.
— from Between You and Me by Lauder, Harry, Sir