At the same time I ought here to repeat what I have said elsewhere, that if any of our guardians shall try to be happy in such a manner that he will cease to be a guardian, and is not content with this safe and harmonious life, which, in our judgment, is of all lives the best, but infatuated by some youthful conceit of happiness which gets up into his head shall seek to appropriate the whole state to himself, then he will have to learn how wisely Hesiod spoke, when he said, 'half is more than the whole.'
— from The Republic by Plato

Before all of these nobody shows himself as he is, because the most honest man will show himself before people in whose judgment he has an interest at least as good as, if not better than he is—that is fundamental to the general egoistic essence of humanity, which seeks at least to avoid reducing its present welfare.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross

"Tut, you fool," said Sancho; "it will be only to practise it for two or three years; and then dignity and decorum will fit her as easily as a glove; and if not, what matter?
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

If any goods are imported, not mentioned in the book of rates, they are taxed at 4s:9¾d.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Yet the care with which Galdós studied his material, acquainting himself with the minutest details of the history of the time, and the skill as a narrator that rarely fails him, make the Episodios Nacionales incomparably the best documents in which to obtain a true understanding of one of the greatest movements in the life of a great and interesting nation.
— from Doña Perfecta by Benito Pérez Galdós

There are plenty of females where we are going and I need you on Flora—not in Albertsville.
— from The Lani People by Jesse F. (Jesse Franklin) Bone

Scott Truxtun opened a government agency in New York in 1905.
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

Justice and goodness are inseparable; now goodness is the necessary result of boundless power and of that self-love which is innate in all sentient beings.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

From all these grounds William gathered together a great army in Normandy, and had many men, and sufficient transport-shipping.
— from Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson

The reason why I did not acquaint you last night that I professed this art, was, that I then concluded you was under the hands of another gentleman, and I never love to interfere with my brethren in their business.
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

On the other hand, Squire Talcott, as he soon came to be called, was a young man of fine appearance and good address, in no wise troubled with an undue degree of doubt touching the excellence of his own abilities.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 01, No. 01, November, 1857 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

The notes of the Wren are very lively and garrulous, and, if not uttered more frequently during the heat of the day, are certainly more noticeable at this hour.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 02, No. 12, October, 1858 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

The old Professor was himself lured into it and loudest in his praise of Hedrick's realistic art; and I yet recall him at the orgie's height, excitedly repulsing the continued slurs and insinuations of the clammy-handed Sweeney, who, still contending against the old man's fulsome praise of his more fortunate rival, at last openly declared that Hedrick was NOT a poet, NOT a genius, and in no way worthy to be classed in the same breath with HIMSELF—"the gifted but unfortunate SWEENEY, sir—the unacknowledged author, sir 'y gad, sir!—of the two poems that held you spellbound to-night!"
— from The Complete Works of James Whitcomb Riley — Volume 10 by James Whitcomb Riley

"I told you I wouldn't tell," answered Grace, "and I never shall."
— from Grace Harlowe's Plebe Year at High School The Merry Doings of the Oakdale Freshmen Girls by Josephine Chase

Perhaps one might find more suitable subjects of moribund self-congratulation; and I have always rejoiced in the mental picture of the Archbishop, in all the frigid pomp of Political Economy, waving off the Dublin beggar with "Go away, go away; I never give to any one in the street," and receiving the instantaneous rejoinder, "Then where would your reverence have me wait on you?"
— from Collections and Recollections by George William Erskine Russell

I have stopped them from getting into a bad condition, and the poor thing is limping about grazing as if nothing much was the matter.
— from The Peril Finders by George Manville Fenn

I refer to Peoria, whose aspect is as soft and gentle as its name.
— from Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXIV, No. 1, January 1849 by Various

If it is as good as its name it ought to be a good one."
— from Around Old Bethany: A Story of the Adventures of Robert and Mary Davis by R. L. (Robert Lee) Berry

Having therefore already well considered my project, I had decided on attempting to accomplish it for this reason: I had seen Syria and Nubia, lands of the Sun, in their full-blown summer radiance and glory, and I now longed to gaze on Siberia, the region of snow and ice, in its wondrous winter garb.
— from From Paris to Pekin over Siberian Snows A Narrative of a Journey by Sledge over the Snows of European Russia and Siberia, by Caravan Through Mongolia, Across the Gobi Desert and the Great Wall, and by Mule Palanquin Through China to Pekin by Victor Meignan

Of course, I’m obliged to jump down his throat once a month or so—they all need that—but I consider him a gentleman, and I never hurt his feelings.
— from The Simple Adventures of a Memsahib by Sara Jeannette Duncan