This same man was seen in an ecstasy, standing upon his feet a whole day and a night together, in the presence of all the Grecian army, surprised and absorbed by some profound thought.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

We read in the Arabian manuscript at the Bibliothéque Nationale that lawyers, students, as well as travelers who journeyed at night, artisans, and others, who worked at night, to escape the heat of the day, took to drinking coffee; and even left off another drink, then becoming popular, made from the leaves of a plant called khat or cat ( catha edulis ).
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

The valor of Gennerid, formidable to the adjacent Barbarians, was the firmest bulwark of the Illyrian frontier; and his vigilant care assisted the empire with a reenforcement of ten thousand Huns, who arrived on the confines of Italy, attended by such a convoy of provisions, and such a numerous train of sheep and oxen, as might have been sufficient, not only for the march of an army, but for the settlement of a colony.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

And the poet is mocking him and ridiculing his cowardice when he says that as he was sitting under the oak-tree, being already near the gate, Iris came to him with this message from Zeus:) Ὄφρ᾽ ἂν μέν κεν ὁρᾷς Ἀγαμέμνονα ποιμένα λαῶν Θύνοντ᾽ ἐν προμάχοισιν, ἐναίροντα στίχας ἀνδρῶν, [68] Τόφρ᾽ ὑπόεικε μάχης.
— from The Works of the Emperor Julian, Vol. 1 by Emperor of Rome Julian

As she no longer offered me that by her side, and spoke to me but seldom, not having on my part much to say to her, I was well satisfied with another, where I was more at my ease, especially in the evening; for I mechanically contracted the habit of placing myself nearer and nearer to the marechal.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The mind of a good man doth not alter, even when he is in distress; the waters of the ocean are not to be heated by a torch of straw.
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

“I am now third lieutenant of the Victorieuse” (she was the flagship of the French Pacific squadron at the time), he said, detaching his shoulders from the wall a couple of inches to introduce himself.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

At all events, he seems to be patriotically anxious not to lose sight of any of his own countrymen who may happen to be in England.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

His sliding gait had been deceptively swift, but it was as nothing to the speed at which he now ran.
— from White Fang by Jack London

Fire broke out and added a new terror to the situation.
— from Merchantmen-at-arms : the British merchants' service in the war by David W. (David William) Bone

And now they tell me she is quite chirked up and resigned to living because there is something she can do, and she knits for the soldiers from daylight to dark.
— from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

The weather is not so bad, and I know you are not the man to be afraid of a storm.”
— from The Coming Conquest of England by August Niemann

Twice a day some food would be thrown on the ground before him, to gnaw as best he might, without the use of hands; and at night, tightening his greasy rags around him, he would crawl into some miserable lair of leaves and rubbish; there, cold, half starved, miserable, and dirty, to pass, in fitful ghost-haunted slumbers, a wretched night, as prelude to another wretched day.
— from Old New Zealand: Being Incidents of Native Customs and Character in the Old Times by Frederick Edward Maning

A properly composed course of lectures ought to contain fully as much matter as a student can assimilate in the time occupied by its delivery; and the teacher should always recollect that his business is to feed and not to cram the intellect.
— from Aphorisms and Reflections from the Works of T. H. Huxley by Thomas Henry Huxley

A Shelley-like tenuity at times wings his thought, and he is the creator of a new thrill within the thrill.
— from Chopin : the Man and His Music by James Huneker

And now, to return to our original sin: What are we to do about the ambitious Mr. Blithers?
— from The Prince of Graustark by George Barr McCutcheon

The Gallus turcicus certainly seems to be a pencilled Hamburgh; but Mr. Brent, a most capable judge, thinks that Aldrovandi "evidently figured what he happened to see, and not the best of the breed."
— from The Variation of Animals and Plants under Domestication by Charles Darwin

He did not have enough money with him to pay for it, but they allowed him to take it home, and he sent the money back by the stage driver, who laid it down on the seat where he drove, and the wind blew it away, never to be found, so he had to pay fifty dollars more; at least, so says tradition.
— from Old Time Wall Papers An Account of the Pictorial Papers on Our Forefathers' Walls with a Study of the Historical Development of Wall Paper Making and Decoration by Kate Sanborn

Well, signor, I am not the accusatore pubblico, and it is no business of mine to hunt down criminals.
— from The Romance Of Giovanni Calvotti From Coals Of Fire And Other Stories, Volume II. (of III.) by David Christie Murray