The lowest price at which coals can be sold for any considerable time, is, like that of all other commodities, the price which is barely sufficient to replace, together with its ordinary profits, the stock which must be employed in bringing them to market.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Garrick, Madam; was no declaimer; there was not one of his own scene-shifters who could not have spoken To be, or not to be, better than he did; yet he was the only actor I ever saw, whom I could call a master both in tragedy and comedy; though I liked him best in comedy.
— from Boswell's Life of Johnson Abridged and edited, with an introduction by Charles Grosvenor Osgood by James Boswell

A cough that is likely to terminate in death.
— from 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose

The outcry against the Cross became so loud among Christians that its literary champion, Bishop Augustine of Hippo--a town between Algiers and Tunis--was led to write a famous treatise in defence of the Cross, familiar still to every scholar, in which he defended feebly the mechanical value of the symbol--arguing only that pagan symbols equally failed--but insisted on its spiritual value in the Civitas Dei which had taken the place of the Civitas Romae in human interest.
— from The Education of Henry Adams by Henry Adams

But they were so happy and contented that I lost all sense of pain in the pleasure of their companionship.
— from The Story of My Life With her letters (1887-1901) and a supplementary account of her education, including passages from the reports and letters of her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, by John Albert Macy by Helen Keller

You have conceived my meaning perfectly; and if I mistake not, what you failed to apprehend before is now made clear to you, that poetry and mythology are, in some cases, wholly imitative—instances of this are supplied by tragedy and comedy; there is likewise the opposite style, in which the poet is the only speaker—of this the dithyramb affords the best example; and the combination of both is found in epic, and in several other styles of poetry.
— from The Republic by Plato

"It dropped when I was setting out the others, took root, and looked so pretty and comfortable that I left it.
— from Work: A Story of Experience by Louisa May Alcott

If I accepted comfort, then I lost my delight in form and color and was not comfortable.
— from Young Earnest: The Romance of a Bad Start in Life by Gilbert Cannan

The ambassador is not represented as extremely insolent, but only pressing; and certainly there is little left of the fine periods on Henry's part about listening to the cry of the oppressed, or preventing the rays of his ancestors' diadem from growing pale, with which contemporary chronicles are filled.
— from History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce — Complete (1584-1609) by John Lothrop Motley

He cuts grasses, ferns, pea-vines and other green plants and carries them in little bundles to the entrance to his tunnel.
— from The Burgess Animal Book for Children by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess

A Complete Treatise in Landscape Drawing in Charcoal, with Lessons and Studies after Allonge.
— from History of the Discovery of the Northwest by John Nicolet in 1634 With a Sketch of his Life by Consul Willshire Butterfield

In Tabaco, Albay, women cut the leaves and carry them in large bundles to the market, where they are sold at prices usually varying from 8 to 12 centavos per hundred.
— from Philippine Mats Philippine Craftsman Reprint Series No. 1 by Philippines. Bureau of Education

He also contributed to its leading columns, and even to the ‘poet’s corner.’”
— from Rossa's Recollections, 1838 to 1898 Childhood, boyhood, manhood; customs, habits and manners of the Irish people; Erinach and Sassenach; Catholic and protestant; Englishman and Irishman; English religion; Irish plunder; social life and prison life; the Fenian movement; Travels in Ireland, England, Scotland and America by Jeremiah O'Donovan Rossa

Take young and thick Stalks of Angelico, cut them into Lengths of about a Quarter of a Yard, then scald them; next put them into cold Water, then strip off the Skins, and cut them into narrow Slips; then lay them on your preserving Pan, then put to them a thin Sugar, that is, to one Part Sugar as clarified, and one Part Water; then set it over the Fire and let it boil, and set it by till next Day, then turn it in the Pan, and give it another Boil; the Day after drain it and boil the Sugar till it is a little smooth, then pour it on your Angelico, and if it be a good Green boil it no more, if not, heat it again; the Day following boil the Sugar till it is very smooth, and pour it upon your Angelico; the next Day boil your Syrup till it rises to the Top of your Pan, then put your Angelico into your Pan, and pour your Syrup upon it, and keep it for Use.
— from The Art of Confectionary Shewing the Various Methods of Preserving All Sorts of Fruits, Dry and Liquid; viz. Oranges, Lemons, Citrons, Golden Pippins, Wardens, Apricots Green, Almonds, Goosberries, Cherries, Currants, Plumbs, Rasberries, Peaches, Walnuts, Nectarines, Figs, Grapes, &c., Flowers and Herbs; as Violets, Angelica, Orange-Flowers, &c.; Also How to Make All Sorts of Biscakes, Maspins, Sugar-Works, and Candies. With the Best Methods of Clarifying, and the Different Ways of Boiling Sugar. by Edward Lambert

If during incubation an egg should be broken, remove it, and take out the remainder, and cleanse them in luke-warm water, or it is probable the sticky nature of the contents of the broken egg will make the others cling to the hen's feathers; and they, too, may be fractured.
— from The Book of Household Management by Mrs. (Isabella Mary) Beeton

A crowd, therefore, is less intellectual and more emotional than the individuals that compose it.
— from Writing for Vaudeville by Brett Page

The body of the deceased is wrapped in matting, and conveyed to its long resting-place—a hole which is dug for that purpose.
— from The American Missionary — Volume 32, No. 12, December, 1878 by Various