As this Chen Shih-yin was of a contented and unambitious frame of mind, and entertained no hankering after any official distinction, but day after day of his life took delight in gazing at flowers, planting bamboos, sipping his wine and conning poetical works, he was in fact, in the indulgence of these pursuits, as happy as a supernatural being.
— from Hung Lou Meng, or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, Book I by Xueqin Cao

In my mind—and modestly—I asked for particulars, but Satan paid no attention to my thought.
— from The Mysterious Stranger, and Other Stories by Mark Twain

We were now under way; at a funeral pace, but still under way.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle

In their stead beans in cod are started up; that is, these merry and fructifying Pantagruelian books, so much sought nowadays in expectation of the following jubilee’s period; to the study of which writings all people have given their minds, and accordingly have gained the name of wise.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

And not a few priests, both secular [ 50 ] and regular, undertook dangerous journeys, as representatives of the country, and this, along with the strict and public residencia 2 then required of the governing powers, from the captain-general to the most insignificant official, rather consoled and pacified the wounded spirits, satisfying, even though it were only in form, all the malcontents.
— from The Philippines a Century Hence by José Rizal

It was first used as a prison in 1373, being then a free prison, but soon losing that privilege.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

The bones of tigers and leopards ground into powder, and mixed with their fat, gingelly ( Sesamum ) oil, and a finely powdered blue stone, make an ointment for the cure of syphilitic sores.
— from Omens and Superstitions of Southern India by Edgar Thurston

But that Caesar, or the angel Gabriel, or any being never existed, may be a false proposition, but still is perfectly conceivable, and implies no contradiction.
— from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume

It was said that she took drugs and that she hid herself away from people because she was often so under the influence of drink that her condition could not be concealed.
— from Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life by Sherwood Anderson

Of these, Egbert, (as I was informed by a priest venerable for his [pg 205] age, and of great veracity, who declared he had heard the story from his own lips,) concluding that he was at the point of death, went out of the chamber, where the sick lay, in the morning, and sitting alone in a fitting place, began seriously to reflect upon his past actions, and, being full of compunction at the remembrance of his sins, bedewed his face with tears, and prayed fervently to God that he might not die yet, before he could forthwith more fully make amends for the careless offences which he had committed in his boyhood and infancy, or might further exercise himself in good works.
— from Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England by Bede, the Venerable, Saint

“Say, one thing, though; I’m going to tell my employer about Fred Porter being so anxious to see him, and you can write to Porter and tell him that his friend is all right and safe, if you want to.
— from Ralph on the Overland Express; Or, The Trials and Triumphs of a Young Engineer by Allen Chapman

He waited to see if she would make any further protest, but she set her lips firmly and refused to speak.
— from The Hippodrome by Rachel Hayward

And of this kind I spoke as the intelligible, although in the search after it the soul is compelled to use hypotheses; not ascending to a first principle, because she is unable to rise above the region of hypothesis, but employing the objects of which the shadows below are resemblances in their turn as images, they having in relation to the shadows and reflections of them a greater distinctness, and therefore a higher value.
— from The Republic by Plato

The wind blew a gale, and we had a fearful passage, but succeeded in reaching our destination in safety, and in time for evening meeting, when we preached to a large congregation.
— from Life of a Pioneer: Being the Autobiography of James S. Brown by James S. (James Stephens) Brown

In private life "Brown" may be a forceful and fascinating personality, but, so far as literature is concerned, he is merely a "wonderful literary machine."
— from Vanishing Roads and Other Essays by Richard Le Gallienne

It was leased in the 15th century to a certain Grutarius who erected that part of the building overlooking the Reye, a fine primitive Bruges style gable of which still remains.
— from The Yser and the Belgian Coast: An Illustrated History and Guide by Pneu Michelin (Firm)

“A fine polacca brig, sir, as one can see with half an eye,” he answered deliberately; “but more of her I cannot say, as she shows no colours.
— from The Pirate of the Mediterranean: A Tale of the Sea by William Henry Giles Kingston

Sour pickles are first prepared by soaking in a brine made of one pint of coarse salt to six quarts of water.
— from The Easiest Way in Housekeeping and Cooking Adapted to Domestic Use or Study in Classes by Helen Campbell