And when they had satisfied their souls with human blood, they would cast that one behind them, and rush back again into the tumult and the fray.
— from Hesiod, the Homeric Hymns, and Homerica by Hesiod

One result of this is that the people may sometimes state, when they wave their incense-sticks or light their candles, that their humble sacrifice is made to Shang Ti, whom in reality they have no right either to worship or to offer sacrifice to, but whom they may unofficially pay respect and make obeisance to, as they might and did to the emperor behind the high boards on the roadsides which shielded him from their view as he was borne along in his elaborate procession on the few occasions when he came forth from the imperial city.
— from Myths and Legends of China by E. T. C. (Edward Theodore Chalmers) Werner

Have we not already decided that no gold or silver Plutus shall be allowed in our city?
— from Laws by Plato

Many inventions to make coffee sans ebullition (without boiling) appeared in France about this time; but it was not until 1800 that De Belloy's pot, employing the original French drip method, appeared, signaling another step forward in coffee making—percolation.
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

If you borrow a horse, and he has the reputation of being the best-behaved animal in the district, you no sooner become responsible for his conduct than he loses his character.
— from Roughing It in the Bush by Susanna Moodie

As man, perhaps, the moment of his breath Receives the lurking principle of death; The young disease that must subdue at length, Grows with his growth, and strengthens with his strength: So, cast and mingled with his very frame, The mind’s disease, its ruling passion came; Each vital humour which should feed the whole, Soon flows to this, in body and in soul: Whatever warms the heart, or fills the head, As the mind opens, and its functions spread, Imagination plies her dangerous art, And pours it all upon the peccant part.
— from An Essay on Man; Moral Essays and Satires by Alexander Pope

I have sent it to you, not only as it represents the Actions of Nicholas Hart , but as it seems a very natural Picture of the Life of many an honest English Gentleman, whose whole History very often consists of Yawning, Nodding, Stretching, Turning, Sleeping, Drinking, and the like extraordinary Particulars.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

It is, of course, open to any one to deny that the eye in either case could have been developed through the natural selection of successive slight variations; but if this be admitted in the one case it is clearly possible in the other; and fundamental differences of structure in the visual organs of two groups might have been anticipated, in accordance with this view of their manner of formation.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin

‘Tis not that a wise man may not live everywhere content, and be alone in the very crowd of a palace; but if it be left to his own choice, the schoolman will tell you that he should fly the very sight of the crowd: he will endure it if need be; but if it be referred to him, he will choose to be alone.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

As she came by and into the wake of the monitor, she pitched a little, and suddenly the figure of the crouching man collapsed as though all its joints had given way.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

The hours slipped rapidly by, and it was with horror that I heard the village clock strike eleven, and so learned that for four hours I had forgotten the Emperor's business.
— from The Exploits of Brigadier Gerard by Arthur Conan Doyle

As for the Emperor, the strong man so much adored and mourned by the nation, he never wanted to be dependent on it; but, as if intending to set its sovereignty at defiance, he dared to demand its suffrage: that is, its abdication, the abdication of this inalienable sovereignty; and he obtained it.
— from What is Property? An Inquiry into the Principle of Right and of Government by P.-J. (Pierre-Joseph) Proudhon

Underneath are naval trophies and sea instruments, most admirably sculptured, and upon the base an inscription, showing that the person to whose memory the monument is erected, was Commander-in-Chief of a squadron of ships of war in the reign of Charles II., a Commissioner of the Navy, and one of the Commissioners for executing the office of Lord High Admiral of England, in the reign of William III.
— from Historical Description of Westminster Abbey, Its Monuments and Curiosities by Anonymous

In the reports of the battle that came to Springfield, much glory was claimed for some other general officers, but as I had control of the telegraph line from Springfield east, I detained all despatches until General Curtis had sent in his official report.
— from Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, General, United States Army — Complete by Philip Henry Sheridan

They had penetrated into the northern hills about 500 years ago; but, as I have above mentioned, were far from having expelled or persecuted the ancient inhabitants.
— from An Account of The Kingdom of Nepal And of the Territories Annexed to this Dominion by the House of Gorkha by Francis Hamilton

Teddy hesitated for but an instant, and then advanced towards the man.
— from The Strand Magazine, Vol. 27, February 1904, No. 159. by Various

She patted his great hand bravely as it lay upon the blankets, afraid to touch her own.
— from The Sagebrusher: A Story of the West by Emerson Hough

When he was gone, the clergyman threw himself back again into his chair with a pale face.
— from Phoebe, Junior by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

Then after the last shot, I guess all of us were just looking all around and I just looked straight up ahead of me which would have been looking at the School Book Depository and I noticed two Negro men in a window straining to see directly above them, and my eyes followed right on up to the window above them and I saw the rifle or what looked like a rifle approximately half of the weapon, I guess I saw, and just as I looked 65 at it, it was drawn fairly slowly back into the building, and I saw no one in the window with it.
— from Report of the President's Commission on the Assassination of President John F. Kennedy by United States. Warren Commission

The annual address of the President, Mr. Gardiner G. Hubbard, was delivered, the subject being "Asia, Its Past and Future."
— from The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. II., No. 1, April, 1890 by Various