Any inquiry into the symbolism and philosophy of Freemasonry must necessarily be preceded by a brief investigation of the origin and history of the institution.
— from The Symbolism of Freemasonry Illustrating and Explaining Its Science and Philosophy, Its Legends, Myths and Symbols by Albert Gallatin Mackey

In the course of that letter, I told Peggotty that I had a particular occasion for half a guinea; and that if she could lend me that sum until I could repay it, I should be very much obliged to her, and would tell her afterwards what I had wanted it for.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

On the one on the left was a pyramid of four print-covered pillows, each smaller than the one beneath.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Our mind is assured by a proof of falsehood; our purse is not made secure by proof of injustice.
— from Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal

He instantly dismounted to present the pilgrim with his camel, her rich caparison, and a purse of four thousand pieces of gold, excepting only the sword, either for its intrinsic value, or as the gift of an honored kinsman.
— 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

Ivar's son was called Hakon; and of him it was said that he was distinguished above all men then in Norway for beauty, strength and perfection of figure.
— from Heimskringla; Or, The Chronicle of the Kings of Norway by Snorri Sturluson

He did not practise at the bar, nor could he bring himself to court the favour of the people by the greetings, embraces, and professions of friendship to which most men used to stoop to obtain popularity.
— from Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch

And if he is acquitted, make him come straight from the law courts to dinner with me, and I'll have a party of friends, and we'll drink to the reformed law courts.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

When a whale is seen blowing in the offing, they rush to their canoes and push off, furnished with a number of large sealskin bags filled with air, each attached by a cord to a barbed spear-head, in the socket of which is fitted a handle five or six feet long.
— from Prehistoric Man Researches into the Origin of Civilization in the Old and the New World by Wilson, Daniel, Sir

I have never picked a pocket, or forged a cheque.
— from Windfalls by A. G. (Alfred George) Gardiner

But now they chop and slash away without remorse, and the young forest-tree rising up with a promise of future beauty falls before the billhook.
— from The Gamekeeper at Home: Sketches of Natural History and Rural Life by Richard Jefferies

They're just a pack of failures.
— from Helena Brett's Career by Desmond Coke

Coming as it did upon the heels of the new and peculiarly offensive Fugitive Slave Law Mrs. Stowe's romance converted pretty nearly all the people of the North to the anti-slavery cause and hastened the growth of the anti-slavery party into formidable proportions.
— from The History of the Confederate War, Its Causes and Its Conduct, Volume 1 (of 2) A Narrative and Critical History by George Cary Eggleston

Her brow was wreathed with gaudy broom; With gesture wild she waved a plume Of feathers, which the eagles fling To crag and cliff from dusky wing; * * *
— 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

There is something indescribably alluring to the eye in a portion of flesh seen through an hiatus in the undergarment, more attractive far than when it rises gracefully above the circular curve of the velvet bodice, to the vanishing line of the prettiest swan’s-neck that ever lover kissed before a ball.
— from Bureaucracy by Honoré de Balzac

The king being washed and dressed, and having dined, received a compliment from Ras Michael, who sent him a present of fruit, and a thousand ounces of gold.
— from Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, Volume 4 (of 5) In the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 and 1773 by James Bruce

Hester’s voice rose softly from the aisle, and there was a patter of feet and swish of draperies, but it was low, as though the girl who made it felt the silence of the place.
— from The Dust of Conflict by Harold Bindloss