Mr. Snodgrass seized his friend’s hand warmly, as he enthusiastically replied, ‘Not for worlds!’
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

For every one strives to keep his individuality as apart as possible, wishes to secure the greatest possible fullness of life for himself; but meantime all his efforts result not in attaining fullness of life but self-destruction, for instead of self-realization he ends by arriving at complete solitude.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Yet how worthless thou too wouldst be, Mammon, if Pride did not lavish thee upon fair mansions, fine clothes, needless lawsuits, gardens and horses, extravagant relatives, numerous dishes, floods of beer and ale, beyond the power and station of their owner; for if money were spent within the limit of necessity and of becoming moderation, what would Mammon avail us?
— from The Visions of the Sleeping Bard by Ellis Wynne

Before Washington and his escort reached New York, couriers reported the battle of Bunker Hill.
— from The Little Book of the Flag by Eva March Tappan

God will also have Ecclesiasticall Reformation now, or nothing: And here he stands not upon Kings, Parliaments or Assemblies, but upon his own Termes.
— from The Simple Cobler of Aggawam in America by Nathaniel Ward

As her eyes rested now on the bare wall of her bedroom, it softened and melted until she saw a vision of footlights, herself in the centre of the stage, while a murmur of applause, heart-warming, inspiring, intoxicated her senses.
— from The Opened Shutters: A Novel by Clara Louise Burnham

His mouth was as hard as the lawyer's and his eye revealed nothing.
— from Simon by J. Storer (Joseph Storer) Clouston

“I am not going to discuss whether theatres are good or bad places, but I know that night the greatest enjoyment I had was in watching my little girl’s animated countenance, as her eyes rested now upon the handsome chandelier, now upon the boxes full of well-dressed people, then half dancing with pleasure at the strains from the orchestra, while her delight bordered almost upon excitement when the curtain drew up and a showy piece was performed.
— from Adventures of Working Men. From the Notebook of a Working Surgeon by George Manville Fenn

The Exeter road is much the same as that between Lyme Regis and Dorchester—winding, steep, narrow and rough in places—and the deadly Devonshire hedgerow on a high earthen ridge now shuts out our view of the landscape much of the time.
— from On Old-World Highways A Book of Motor Rambles in France and Germany and the Record of a Pilgrimage from Land's End to John O'Groats in Britain by Thos. D. (Thomas Dowler) Murphy

For all at once Melchior disappeared, passing through the snow, and a hollow, echoing, rushing noise fell upon their ears.
— from The Crystal Hunters: A Boy's Adventures in the Higher Alps by George Manville Fenn

"Mr. Snodgrass seized his friend's hand as he enthusiastically replied, 'Not for worlds!'
— from A Week's Tramp in Dickens-Land Together with Personal Reminiscences of the 'Inimitable Boz' Therein Collected by William R. (William Richard) Hughes