I have said thus much, because I cannot bear to see you wasting in useless sorrow, for want of that resistance which is due from mind; and I have not said it till now, because there is a period when all reasoning must yield to nature; that is past: and another, when excessive indulgence, having sunk into habit, weighs down the elasticity of the spirits so as to render conquest nearly impossible; this is to come.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

And although this enchantress has lived in, so to speak, civil marriage with a respectable man, yet she is of an independent character, an unapproachable fortress for everybody, just like a legal wife—for she is virtuous, yes, holy Fathers, she is virtuous.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Took Holy Orders and resided many years in Guernsey.
— from The Waterloo Roll Call With Biographical Notes and Anecdotes by Charles Dalton

You've got a religious mother, you have, my boy: going and flopping herself down, and praying that the bread-and-butter may be snatched out of the mouth of her only child.”
— from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

If you are not a rich man, you are, at least, certain of earning a living with this talent.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

At last he seemed suddenly, as it were, to sink into thought again—so at least it was reported—frowned, went firmly up to the affronted Pyotr Pavlovitch, and with evident vexation said in a rapid mutter: “You must forgive me, of course … I really don’t know what suddenly came over me … it’s silly.”
— from The Possessed (The Devils) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

As a respectable man, you see, I didn’t like it.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Near Caerleon, (Monmouthshire,) in the twelfth century, Giraldus tells us [80] there lived ‘a Welshman named Melerius, who by the following means acquired the knowledge of future events and the occult sciences: Having on a certain night met a damsel whom he loved, in a pleasant and convenient place, while he was indulging in her embraces, instead of a beautiful girl he found in his arms a hairy, rough and hideous creature, the sight of which deprived him of his senses; and after remaining many years in this condition he was restored to health in the church of St. David’s, through the merits of its saints.
— from British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions by Wirt Sikes

On July 7, 1958, large numbers of tadpoles and recently metamorphosed young were in a shallow grassy pool just east of Salina Cruz.
— from A Distributional Study of the Amphibians of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, México by William Edward Duellman

At length they came; and though the Rev. Mr. Roscoe was a reformed man, yet he discovered no signs of being a spiritual one.
— from The Sheepfold and the Common; Or, Within and Without. Vol. 1 (of 2) by Timothy East

In fact I think we were all rather modest young fellows, we who formed the group wont to spend some part of every evening at that house, where there was always music, or whist, or gay talk, or all three.
— from Complete Project Gutenberg William Dean Howells Literature Essays by William Dean Howells

"But, Katherine...." "Yes, yes, a regular matron, you will see....
— from German Fiction by Gottfried Keller

Alex thought again of the Superior's welcome, which had never failed her—the Superior who knew nothing of her wicked ingratitude and undutifulness at home, and repeated miserably: "Yes, yes, I'd much rather be there than here."
— from Consequences by E. M. Delafield

"Above all, remember, Mr. Yankee, that you are in a certain sense a civilian now; you must not compromise us by free speech in Richmond," Rosa added.
— from The Iron Game A Tale of the War by Henry F. (Henry Francis) Keenan

It was from Joel’s lips that I heard about Mordecai Boswell, who died at Retford many years ago.
— from The Gypsy's Parson: his experiences and adventures by Hall, George, rector of Ruckland, Lincolnshire

"Her mother made a runaway match, you may remember—Damn' poor cigar, this.
— from The Rivet in Grandfather's Neck: A Comedy of Limitations by James Branch Cabell