The good man has absolute good, which like fire turns everything to its own nature, so that you cannot do him any harm; but as the royal armies sent against Napoleon, when he approached, cast down their colors [70] and from enemies became friends, so disasters of all kinds, as sickness, offense, poverty, prove benefactors:— "Winds blow and waters roll Strength to the brave, and power and deity, Yet in themselves are nothing."
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson

He was obliged to advance with outstretched hands to avoid contact with the boughs, and discovered that to hit the exact spot from which he had started was at first entirely beyond him.
— from Tess of the d'Urbervilles: A Pure Woman by Thomas Hardy

In both cases the conditions of agriculture are firmly established; but among us now, when everything has been turned upside down and is only just taking shape, the question what form these conditions will take is the one question of importance in Russia,” thought Levin.
— from Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

Temperament, Tradition, and Nationality [78] The temperament of the Negro, as I conceive it, consists in a few elementary but distinctive characteristics, determined by physical
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. (Ernest Watson) Burgess

A faith existed before it, which was its source.
— from The Religions of Japan, from the Dawn of History to the Era of Méiji by William Elliot Griffis

Use fasting and full eating, but rather full eating; 356 watching and sleep, but rather sleep; sitting and exercise, but rather exercise, and the like; so shall nature be cherished, and yet taught masteries.
— from Bacon's Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients by Francis Bacon

Danneil calls some Apician recipes “incredibly absurd,” “fabulous,” “exaggerated,” but he thinks nothing of the serving of similar combinations in his own establishment every day in the year.
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius

Or even when an action, as sometimes happens, cannot be particularly accounted for, either by the person himself or by others; we know, in general, that the characters of men are, to a certain degree, inconstant and irregular.
— from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume

Its jambs are first enriched by an inner pair of pillars, having caps from which spring vigorously, and yet most delicately, carved foliage; and then, after a little interval, two more pairs of similar pillars, carrying a beautifully-moulded arch, one member of which is enriched with the tooth mould.
— from Records of Woodhall Spa and Neighbourhood Historical, Anecdotal, Physiographical, and Archaeological, with Other Matter by James Conway Walter

That fundamental truth which he designated later as the article by which a Christian Church must stand or fall, stands here already firmly established, before he in the least suspects that it would lead him to separate from the Catholic Church, or that his adopting it would occasion a reconstruction of the Church.
— from Life of Luther by Julius Köstlin

There is the house, the house of God's building, the house which must abide for ever; but where is the spirit to inhabit it?
— from The Christian Life: Its Course, Its Hindrances, and Its Helps by Thomas Arnold

And she began to hum: Lieti fiori a felici, e ben nate erbe Che Madonna pensando premer sole; Piaggia ch’ascolti su dolci parole E del bel piede alcun vestigio serbe.
— from Cinq Mars — Complete by Alfred de Vigny

Says I, how's this, says I—you are for ever boasting how much you Americans know—and how the people knows everything that ought to be done, about politics and religion—and you proclaim far and near that your yeomen are the salt of the earth—and yet you don't know how to bargain for your [Pg 174] leases!
— from The Redskins; or, Indian and Injin, Volume 1. Being the Conclusion of the Littlepage Manuscripts by James Fenimore Cooper

The only furniture in the cave consisted of a few empty boxes; on one of these glimmered a flickering wick in a saucerful of oil.
— from Wild Spain (España agreste) Records of Sport with Rifle, Rod, and Gun, Natural History Exploration by Abel Chapman

Not to know Moll was to be inglorious, and she 'slipped from one company to another like a fat eel between a Dutchman's fingers.'
— from A Book of Scoundrels by Charles Whibley

Plant now your choice Tulips, etc., which you feared to interre at the beginning of September; they will be more secure and forward enough: but plant them in natural earth somewhat impoverish’d with very fine sand; else they will soon lose their variegations; some more rich earth may lye at the bottom, within reach of the fibres: Now have a care your Carnations catch not too much wet; therefore retire them to 146 covert, where they may be kept from the rain, not the air, Trimming them with fresh mould.
— from The Charm of Gardens by Dion Clayton Calthrop

"Besides inflicting pains in the limbs, they employ a painful pressure against the navel, which gives the sensation of being surrounded with a prickly girdle; moreover, they sometimes cause constrictions of the chest, which they intensify to a terrible degree; finally, they inspire a disgust of all food except bread, which continues for days.
— from The Inferno by August Strindberg

The house clamors for a fourth encore, but the lights flash on.
— from Just Around the Corner: Romance en casserole by Fannie Hurst