If play and imitative representation suffice for the child and for primitive man, it must not be taken as a sign of modesty, in our sense, or of resignation due to the realization of their impotence, on the contrary; it is the very obvious result of the excessive valuation of their wish, of the will which depends upon the wish and of the paths the wish takes.
— from Totem and Taboo Resemblances Between the Psychic Lives of Savages and Neurotics by Sigmund Freud

Some of my friends have suggested that such a scheme of town clusters is well enough adapted to a new country, but that in an old-settled country, with its towns built, and its railway “system” for the most part constructed, it is quite a different matter.
— from Garden Cities of To-Morrow Being the Second Edition of "To-Morrow: a Peaceful Path to Real Reform" by Howard, Ebenezer, Sir

As for the letter to Herr Bahr, I don't think it is necessary to send it to me; I am not as yet acquainted with him; I only know that he plays the clarionet well, but is in other respects no desirable companion, and I do not willingly associate with such people; no credit is derived from them, and I really should feel positively ashamed to give him a letter recommending me to him—even if he could be of service to me; but it so happens that he is by no means in good repute here.
— from The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Volume 01 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

I have suffered already in reading so far.
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

He had lived among the Irish islands ( “in insulis Scottorum,” and “in regionibus Scottorum” ) for the sake of study, according to Bede, but William of Malmesbury implies that Egfrid may have been responsible for his exile.
— from Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England by Bede, the Venerable, Saint

Am I right, so far?” “Quite right!” “Can you assign any cause for the nervous suffering, and your want of sleep?” “I can assign no cause.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

To someone not acquainted with the South Sea landscape it is difficult to convey the permanent impression of smiling festiveness, the alluring clearness of the beach, fringed by jungle trees and palms, skirted by white foam and blue sea, above it the slopes ascending in rich, stiff folds of dark and light green, piebald and shaded over towards the summit by steamy, tropical mists.
— from Argonauts of the Western Pacific An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea by Bronislaw Malinowski

and I rose soon from dinner, and with my wife and girle to the King’s house, and there saw “The Mad Couple,” which is but an ordinary play; but only Nell’s and Hart’s mad parts are most excellently done, but especially hers: which makes it a miracle to me to think how ill she do any serious part, as, the other day, just like a fool or changeling; and, in a mad part, do beyond all imitation almost.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

[1271] Odo de Stellis, that for a time can build castles in the air, represent armies, &c., as they are [1272] said to have done, command wealth and treasure, feed thousands with all variety of meats upon a sudden, protect themselves and their followers from all princes' persecutions, by removing from place to place in an instant, reveal secrets, future events, tell what is done in far countries, make them appear that died long since, and do many such miracles, to the world's terror, admiration and opinion of deity to themselves, yet the devil forsakes them at last, they come to wicked ends, and raro aut nunquam such impostors are to be found.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

And the thought went floating through my head, “He is worshiped—think of it—he is not a recipient of the pale homage called compliment, wherewith the highest human clay must make shift to be satisfied, but of an infinitely richer spiritual food: adoration, worship!—men and women lay their cares and their griefs and their broken hearts at his feet; and he gives them his peace; and they go away healed.”
— from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain

The strokes of fortune are oftentimes as irresistible as they are severe; and he who, with an impatient reluctant spirit, fights against her, instead of alleviating, does but double her blows upon himself.
— from Æsop's Fables, Embellished with One Hundred and Eleven Emblematical Devices. by Aesop

"I've got my car outside," said the doctor, and together he and I raised Swain from the chair and led him to it.
— from The Gloved Hand by Burton Egbert Stevenson

The human or animal body, when surrounded with any gas not already contained within the [pg 497] body, absorbs it rapidly; such, for instance, as the gases of putrefying matters: which helps to explain malaria.
— from A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive (Vol. 1 of 2) by John Stuart Mill

He was brown of color, with disorderly hair and stubby beard, and no covering to his body except strips of cloth, faded and in rags, suspended from one shoulder, held at the waist by a cord, and dangling in tatters about his legs.
— from The Pines of Lory by John Ames Mitchell

Of course all this has only an academic interest in England, but in China with its rapidly growing Christianity and an intellectual revolution surging forward to unknown possibilities, all this is of vital interest.
— from Changing China by Cecil, Florence Mary (Bootle-Wilbraham), Lady

"Am I really so fascinating?
— from The Gnomes of the Saline Mountains: A Fantastic Narrative by Anna Goldmark Gross

At present I mean only to consider it as it respects security for the preservation of peace and tranquillity, as well as against dangers from FOREIGN ARMS AND INFLUENCE, as from dangers of the LIKE KIND arising from domestic causes.
— from The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton

Matthew Paris says that at the sacking of Antioch, in 1098, gold, silver and priceless costumes were so equally distributed among the Crusaders, that many who the night before were famishing and imploring relief, suddenly found themselves overwhelmed with wealth; and Robert de Clair tells us of the wonderful fêtes that followed the capture of Constantinople.
— from Reviews by Oscar Wilde

Besides, as the arteries are every where spread in the organs, and as they form, if we may so say, a part with them, it would be difficult to distinguish what belongs to them, especially as it respects sensibility, from what is peculiar to these organs.
— from General Anatomy, Applied to Physiology and Medicine, Vol. 1 (of 3) by Xavier Bichat