‘The plaintiff, gentlemen,’ continued Serjeant Buzfuz, in a soft and melancholy voice, ‘the plaintiff is a widow; yes, gentlemen, a widow.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

“I laugh because I am such a silly little thing.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

All of these notions, most of all belief in a supreme arbitrary Will, are modern disguises of Fate; and belief in Fate is the one thing fatal to human culture and energy.
— from Demonology and Devil-lore by Moncure Daniel Conway

According to Liebig, man's body is a stove, and food the fuel which keeps up the internal combustion in the lungs.
— from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

She looked at him a little surprised; and then her sweet serious face broke into a smile and she said, “And is that strange?”
— from Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

But if, as Socrates argues, all evil is involuntary, then all criminals ought to be admonished and not punished.
— from Apology by Plato

Holding it in his hands and blushing furiously, he began: "I am sorry, Alice Ossipovna, but I must tell you....
— from The Bet, and other stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

For these objective reasons the principle of psychic life must be both immaterial and simple as well as substantial, must be what is called a Soul .
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James

"Come rest in this bosom" is a sweet air, heard in the distance, too apt to be followed, after a protracted season of close proximity, by that other strain,— "No, fly me, fly me, far as pole from pole!
— from Complete Project Gutenberg Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. Works by Oliver Wendell Holmes

Readers of his novels must know by this time that he is not exactly in love with Mrs. Grundy , but here he seems to be insurgent against something, and for the life of me I don't know quite what it is.
— from Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 153, July 4, 1917 by Various

* Put the butter into a saucepan, and when it is dissolved put in the mutton and brown it all over; then lay the ham and vegetables round it, pour in the stock, and bring it to the boil.
— from The Art of Living in Australia Together with Three Hundred Australian Cookery Recipes and Accessory Kitchen Information by Mrs. H. Wicken by Philip E. Muskett

For the sake of this small transit over the sun's disk, I have made some inquiry about Baltimore; but found very little;—perhaps enough:— "He was Charles, Sixth Lord Baltimore, it appears; Sixth, and last but one.
— from History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 10 by Thomas Carlyle

“Very well,” continued Norman, “what you say may be very true, cousin Luce; I only know that the bird I am speaking about is a mighty curious little creature.
— from The Young Voyageurs: Boy Hunters in the North by Mayne Reid

The men broke into a song and chorus presently, and the rude strains chimed in well with the hoarse echo of the cable coming link by link in-board.
— from The Wreck of the Grosvenor, Volume 1 of 3 An account of the mutiny of the crew and the loss of the ship when trying to make the Bermudas by William Clark Russell

We were backed into a siding and kept there six hours.
— from In the Russian Ranks: A Soldier's Account of the Fighting in Poland by John Morse

And, my dear, do not think because Will, poor boy, is a sot and a clown that he does not think of his reputation.
— from The Chaplain of the Fleet by James Rice

To forget that is to lose the possibility of real progress; and insight into these deep-seated needs is often dimmed by our too amiable and innocent belief in automatic social advance waiting to take place on the slightest excuse.
— from Christianity and Progress by Harry Emerson Fosdick