It is the theory of the natural selection of the best adapted through the struggle for existence, which is of itself a natural selection, and results in the sifting out of particular forms and of higher forms.
— from Naturalism and Religion by Rudolf Otto

The difficulties of the navigation had hitherto been considered an insuperable obstacle; although the river is of great size, the current runs with prodigious force, and there are numerous shoals and rocks in its course.
— from How Britannia Came to Rule the Waves Updated to 1900 by William Henry Giles Kingston

Such Deans, and Halls for religious teaching, will be absolutely necessary, should a residence in the Colleges be required; but should a system of residence in registered lodgings and boarding-houses be preferred, similar duties to the Deans might be performed by persons nominated by the Catholic, Protestant, and Presbyterian Churches respectively, without the direct interposition of the College; for each parent would take care to put his child under the control of his own Church.
— from Thomas Davis, Selections from his Prose and Poetry by Thomas Osborne Davis

Infantry guarded every yard of them, and armoured trains patrolled them, while at night searchlights at regular intervals shed their vivid rays over the black expanse of the veld and illuminated the mounted figures who flitted from time to time across their narrow belts of light.
— from The Great Boer War by Arthur Conan Doyle

That they are not such a reflection is due to the strong position of the parties.
— from The Americans by Hugo Münsterberg

You have seen dying persons who, after they have been believed to be dead, have all at once assumed a new strength, and retained it until their death; as a lamp whose oil is spent flickers in the surrounding darkness, but only to die out the more quickly: thus the soul casts out flames, which only last for a moment.
— from Spiritual Torrents by Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon

Did any mischief befall them or those whom they knew, without blaming anybody, they immediately and noiselessly set about repairing it with that silent promptitude of nature which rebels not against a wound, but the very next instant begins her work of protection and recovery.
— from The Autobiography of Mark Rutherford, Edited by his friend Reuben Shapcott by William Hale White

It had three churches and an hospital, but is seated among fens and marshes, which send forth a noisome scent, and render it very unhealthy.
— from A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 10 Arranged in systematic order: Forming a complete history of the origin and progress of navigation, discovery, and commerce, by sea and land, from the earliest ages to the present time. by Robert Kerr

At least, he maintains that there are no secure and reliable ideas upon which we can rest with a final mental satisfaction.
— from Heretics by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton