I have seen a great many commanders encourage their soldiers with this fatal necessity; for if our time be limited to a certain hour, neither the enemies’ shot nor our own boldness, nor our flight and cowardice, can either shorten or prolong our lives.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

To secure the first of these essentials, a clear, concise, expressive selection of language is required.
— from The American Gentleman's Guide to Politeness and Fashion or, Familiar Letters to his Nephews by Margaret C. (Margaret Cockburn) Conkling

Its immediate effects are often atrocious crimes, conflicting errors, skepticism on points the most clear, dogmatism on points the most mysterious.
— from A Short History of Women's Rights From the Days of Augustus to the Present Time. with Special Reference to England and the United States. Second Edition Revised, With Additions. by Eugene A. (Eugene Arthur) Hecker

On the other hand if we find universal recognition of some fundamental truth, a common cogito ergo sum , or the like, acknowledged by all philosophers, we have made a discovery as satisfactory in its way as is acceptance of the complex system of philosophy offered by Plato or Descartes.
— from The Poet's Poet : essays on the character and mission of the poet as interpreted in English verse of the last one hundred and fifty years by Elizabeth Atkins

She looked apprehensively over her shoulder and the audience could catch excited shouts of “stop her, stop her.”
— from Fresh Every Hour Detailing the Adventures, Comic and Pathetic of One Jimmy Martin, Purveyor of Publicity, a Young Gentleman Possessing Sublime Nerve, Whimsical Imagination, Colossal Impudence, and, Withal, the Heart of a Child. by John Peter Toohey

The Aranzazu , national brig of war, so long anchored in the outer roads, has a crew chiefly English; some of them are refractory seamen from the merchant vessels.
— from A Five Years' Residence in Buenos Ayres, During the years 1820 to 1825 Containing Remarks on the Country and Inhabitants; and a Visit to Colonia Del Sacramento by George Thomas Love

o ur owne Realme so meruelous rarely storyd of inhabytaunt es and hable men, but there paraadventure yt myght be saide vnto me Why puttyst thow so many dowtt es ayenst this my most redowtyd souerayns enterpryse, he beyng so high in courage of maruelous wysdome and well tryed experyence in all m ar ciall Condutt es seyng other his progenito ur s of farre lesse graces w i t h an handfull of men in comparyson to his armye haue geuyn them soo notable ou er throwes To thys question breuely to show my pore mynde Trewly the manyfold victoryes that we haue had ayenst theym bryngyth theym in
— from Life and Letters of Thomas Cromwell, Vol. 1 of 2 Life, Letters to 1535 by Roger Bigelow Merriman

(1) Probably the long period (nine months) elapsing between cohabitation and childbirth confused early speculation on the subject.
— from Pagan and Christian Creeds: Their Origin and Meaning by Edward Carpenter