That beauty which should have been an inevitable smile on the face of society, an overflow of genuine happiness and power, has to be imported, stimulated artificially, and applied from without; so that art becomes a sickly ornament for an ugly existence.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana

But as I said, On Lammas Eve at night shall she be fourteen; That shall she, marry; I remember it well.
— from Romeo and Juliet by William Shakespeare

And a pliable imagination persuaded her, we must suppose, for a brief moment, that Fyodor Pavlovitch, in spite of his parasitic position, was one of the bold and ironical spirits of that progressive epoch, though he was, in fact, an ill-natured buffoon and nothing more.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The younger Emperor could not restrain his wish to be present at the battle and, in spite of the remonstrances of his courtiers, at twelve o’clock left the third column with which he had been and galloped toward the vanguard.
— from War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

Waiting till he had a tempting pile of the lightest, brownest flapjacks ever seen upon his plate, and was watching an extra big bit of butter melt luxuriously into the warm bosom of the upper one, with a face as benign as if some of the molasses he was trickling over them had been absorbed into his nature, Mrs. Wilkins seized the propitious moment to say impressively: "David Sterlin' has enlisted!"
— from Work: A Story of Experience by Louisa May Alcott

O that you could turn your eyes toward the napes of your necks, and make but an interior survey of your good selves!
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

—Good people who are too awkward to be polite and amiable promptly endeavour to return an act of politeness by an important service, or by a contribution beyond their power.
— from The Dawn of Day by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

We could plainly hear the tunes speak to us while Akshay Babu and I sat on either side fitting words to them as they grew out of my brother's nimble fingers.
— from My Reminiscences by Rabindranath Tagore

Pitched at the edge of a meadow, hidden from view by an intervening spur of the woodland, stood a great number of Indian wigwams.
— from The Conspiracy of Pontiac and the Indian War after the Conquest of Canada by Francis Parkman

It is earnestly hoped that you may show yourselves worthy of a great opportunity, and do more for the public minds by the example of one act of generosity and humility than you could do by an infinite series of sermons.
— from The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition, Vol. 22 Juvenilia and Other Papers by Robert Louis Stevenson

"Come," she said, struggling to her feet and smiling in gentle derision of her weakness, as she felt her head begin to reel, "I am not afraid to try the boat again, if some one will help me."
— from Mabel's Mistake by Ann S. (Ann Sophia) Stephens

Altogether, he had but an indistinct sense of existence; and after a time became without one idea of where he was.
— from Bothwell; or, The Days of Mary Queen of Scots, Volume 2 (of 3) by James Grant

Both mother and daughter were often cruelly unkind to her, more especially when they saw that her beauty, and innocent sweetness of manner, attracted more attention than all the young señorita's fine clothes and accomplishments.
— from Fairy Tales from Gold Lands by May Wentworth

And as the planets anchored in their rest, The sparkling streamlet lives; and while unblest, The land-wave stagnant lingers—there the blue Tide holds the river stainless in its breast— An image still of life, that sparkles through
— from Poems by Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold) Goodrich

Washington City and its suburbs, by the influx of Union volunteers, had during this month become a vast armed camp; the Potomac river had been crossed and the Virginia hills (including Arlington heights) which overlooked the Federal Capital, had been occupied and fortified by Union troops; the young and gallant Colonel Ellsworth had been killed by a Virginia Rebel while pulling down a Rebel flag in Alexandria; and General Benjamin F. Butler, in command at Fortress Monroe, had by an inspiration, solved one of the knottiest points confronting our armies, by declaring of three Negroes who had fled from their master so as to escape working on Rebel fortifications, that they should not be returned to that master—under the Fugitive Slave Law, as demanded by a Rebel officer with a flag of truce—but were confiscated "property," and would be retained, as "contraband of war.
— from Project Gutenberg Edition of The Memoirs of Four Civil War Generals by John Alexander Logan

When the boys reached the spot they stood gazing in speechless astonishment, for there, held over the fire by an impromptu spit of teakwood, was a roast of pork loin, done to a delicious brown and sizzling in its own fat.
— from Jet Plane Mystery by Roy J. (Roy Judson) Snell

Here he was vigorously directing the course of the battle, and in spite of the disparity between the two ships he was gradually getting the advantage, when suddenly, without a moment's warning, the magazine of the "Randolph" blew up, scattering spars, hull, guns, officers, and men in a mass of fragments over the waters.
— from The Boys of 1812 and Other Naval Heroes by James Russell Soley