And as Plato says, ‘tis to no purpose for a sober-minded man to knock at the door of poesy: so Aristotle says, that no excellent soul is exempt from a mixture of madness; and he has reason to call all transports, how commendable soever, that surpass our own judgment and understanding, madness; forasmuch as wisdom is a regular government of the soul, which is carried on with measure and proportion, and for which she is to herself responsible.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

Some are obviously not universally present in all cases,— e. g. , the character of harming no one, or that of following a universal law; for the best course is often cruel; and many acts are reckoned good on the sole condition that they be exceptions, and serve not as examples of a universal law.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James

If, after having cast a rapid glance over the state of American society in 1650, we turn to the condition of Europe, and more especially to that of the Continent, at the same period, we cannot fail to be struck with astonishment.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville

Messrs. Davis, Frye, and Reid go on to say: Military and naval witnesses agree that it would be practically as easy to hold and defe
— from The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912 by James H. (James Henderson) Blount

He made his appearance in God's daylight in the year 1828, I remember, on his father's ancestral estate, in one of the most remote nooks of a remote government of the steppes.
— from A Reckless Character, and Other Stories by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev

Yet a retrospective glance over the story-book literature evolved since Newbery’s juvenile library was produced, shows little that was not poor in quality and untrue to life.
— from Forgotten Books of the American Nursery A History of the Development of the American Story-Book by Rosalie Vrylina Halsey

Do you have any recollection generally of the speed that you were going, not any precise amount.
— from Warren Commission (05 of 26): Hearings Vol. V (of 15) by United States. Warren Commission

"I am really glad of that," said Dr. Jones.
— from Doctor Jones' Picnic by S. E. (Samuel E.) Chapman

[32] However, the consuls announced their manufacture to the people in these terms:—"Citizens, the Constitution is grounded on the true principles of a representative government, on the sacred rights of property, of equality, and of liberty.
— from The History of Napoleon Buonaparte by J. G. (John Gibson) Lockhart

The great delight of Alice, as the ship entered the tropics, was to watch the strange fish which swam about the ship as she glided calmly on; to observe the ocean bathed in the silvery light of the moon, or the sun as it sank into its ocean bed, suffusing a rich glow over the sky and waters.
— from The South Sea Whaler by William Henry Giles Kingston

The room was all white and gold like the hall; a soft radiance fell from the lights hidden in the cornice; two heavy chandeliers with faintly pink electric bulbs and a few pink shaded lights on the table diffused a roseate glow over the scene.
— from A Bed of Roses by Walter Lionel George

But the truth once told did not stay hidden even in the earth; for in time the hole was filled again and reeds grew over the spot, and as the wind swayed them back and forth they 43 murmured: "King Midas has ass's ears.
— from Stories of Old Greece and Rome by Emilie K. (Emilie Kip) Baker

There was a standing camp of cavalry and infantry on a rising ground, on the summit of which this tower was placed, and probably 10,000 or 12,000 men were encamped there.
— from The British Expedition to the Crimea by Russell, William Howard, Sir