And then, it is all one whether he has been happy or miserable; for his life was never anything more than a present moment always vanishing; and now it is over.
— from The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Studies in Pessimism by Arthur Schopenhauer

A proper man; and, were Volpone dead, A fit match for my daughter.
— from Volpone; Or, The Fox by Ben Jonson

The Duke of York is troubled for her; but hath declared he will never have another public mistress again; which I shall be glad of, and would the King would do the like.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

Among my workmen again, pleasing myself all the afternoon there, and so to the office doing business till past 9 at night, and so home and to bed.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

Many persons of the reformed persuasion were, about this time, beaten, racked, scourged, and burnt to death, in several parts of France but more particularly at Paris, Malda, and Limosin.
— from Fox's Book of Martyrs Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs by John Foxe

You must require such a user to return or destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm works. *
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon A revised text with introductions, notes and dissertations by J. B. (Joseph Barber) Lightfoot

He tells me how the King was vexed the other day for having no paper laid him at the Council-table, as was usual; and Sir Richard Browne did tell his Majesty he would call the person whose work it was to provide it: who being come, did tell his Majesty that he was but a poor man, and was out L400 or L500 for it, which was as much as he is worth; and that he cannot provide it any longer without money, having not received a penny since the King’s coming in.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

Pigspleen actually paid me a non-zero sum of money to do this, which was really weird.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

Now the overthrow of the places of strength, and the death of the high priest Ananias, so puffed up Manahem, that he became barbarously cruel; and as he thought he had no antagonist to dispute the management of affairs with him, he was no better than an insupportable tyrant; but Eleazar and his party, when words had passed between them, how it was not proper when they revolted from the Romans, out of the desire of liberty, to betray that liberty to any of their own people, and to bear a lord, who, though he should be guilty of no violence, was yet meaner than themselves; as also, that in case they were obliged to set some one over their public affairs, it was fitter they should give that privilege to any one rather than to him; they made an assault upon him in the temple; for he went up thither to worship in a pompous manner, and adorned with royal garments, and had his followers with him in their armor.
— from The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Flavius Josephus

But what was extraordinary, the Bishop of London, who sat there in a pew, made a purpose for him by the pulpitt, do give the last blessing to the congregation; which was, he being a comely old man, a very decent thing, methought.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

I now formally ask of Professor Pratt to tell what this 'as'-ness in itself CONSISTS in—for it seems to me that it ought to consist in something assignable and describable, and not remain a pure mystery, and I promise that if he can assign any determination of it whatever which I cannot successfully refer to some specification of what in this article I have called the empirical fundamentum, I will confess my stupidity cheerfully, and will agree never to publish a line upon this subject of truth again.
— from The Meaning of Truth by William James

A person marrying a lucky wife sits at his ease in his house, and eats excellent food, and I go a-begging, and yet starve.
— from Phallic Miscellanies Facts and Phases of Ancient and Modern Sex Worship, as Illustrated Chiefly in the Religions of India by Hargrave Jennings

A poverty-stricken peasant in Connaught will not be made happy because a Parliament meets at Dublin.
— from A Leap in the Dark A Criticism of the Principles of Home Rule as Illustrated by the Bill of 1893 by Albert Venn Dicey

They had no conception whatever of what a photograph meant and motion-pictures were entirely beyond their comprehension.
— from Adventures in Swaziland: The Story of a South African Boer by Owen Rowe O'Neil

[Pg 295] “I soothed him by immediate agreement, professed my admiration at his vast store of knowledge and pumped him all that afternoon on Dirak.
— from The Mercy of Allah by Hilaire Belloc

"I declare Mervyn sits very well, papa," said Bunny in a patronizing manner, as she looked back at her cousin, who was following them with the servant.
— from Naughty Miss Bunny A Story for Little Children by Clara Mulholland

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— from Babylonian and Assyrian Laws, Contracts and Letters by C. H. W. (Claude Hermann Walter) Johns