Our North American colonies were never supposed to contain more than 3,000,000; and France is a much richer country than North America; though, on account of the more unequal distribution of riches, there is much more poverty and beggary in the one country than in the other.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

But in time of peace they stay at home and do mischief; they are the thieves, footpads, cut-purses, man-stealers of the community; or if they are able to speak, they turn false-witnesses and informers.
— from The Republic by Plato

Before his exile from England, in 1816, the general impression made by Byron is that of a man who leads an irregular life, poses as a romantic hero, makes himself out much worse than he really is, and takes delight in shocking not only the conventions but the ideals of English society.
— from English Literature Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English-Speaking World by William J. (William Joseph) Long

Britain, in the ocean, and opposite to the shores of Flanders, may be considered either as one, or as three islands; but the whole is united by a common interest, by the same manners, and by a similar government.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

They both insisted there on the spot, with those around us, that if all the men ordered up had gone up, or even all that crossed the bayou had moved forward, we could have readily established ourselves in the enemy's works.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. (William Tecumseh) Sherman

Their operation in the one way may endure for many centuries, but in the other it can last no longer than the lives of some of the workmen who were bred to the business in the time of its prosperity.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

In modern language, a “Mixed Grill,” a “Fritto Misto,” a “Shore-Dinner” THALASSA, the sea; title of Book IX , treating of fish Theban ounce, ℞ 3 THERMOPOLIUM, a tavern, specializing in hot drinks THERMOSPODIUM, a hot-plate, a hot dish carrier, a BAIN-MARIS, illustrations, pp.
— from Cookery and Dining in Imperial Rome by Apicius

If every right is alienated in the Social Contract, what sense can there be in talking of "natural rights" afterwards?
— from The Social Contract & Discourses by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Then debarking to stand in the grass before a group of older men and women in bad-ass, home-made armor, dented and scarred, like armor must have been in the old days, not like it's portrayed in the movies, but like a soldier's uniform after a month in the bush.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

" "The only thing that I find much comfort in reading nowadays is the Bible," remarked Susan, whisking her biscuits into the oven.
— from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

How long have you been in the office?” “Not long,” answered Walter, who did not care to admit that his term of service covered less than an hour.
— from Walter Sherwood's Probation by Alger, Horatio, Jr.

“But it turned out that there was other business.
— from The Depot Master by Joseph Crosby Lincoln

Our schoolmaster gone, we were once more back in the old way; we did just what we liked.
— from Far Away and Long Ago: A History of My Early Life by W. H. (William Henry) Hudson

Banking institutions went down before it; thousands of merchants were hopelessly ruined; and in the general disaster Kirtland did not escape.
— from Outlines of Ecclesiastical History by B. H. (Brigham Henry) Roberts

But in the original text this bit of fioritura falls upon the word zieret ("ornament"), and thus is a striking example of Wagner's theory that music must fit the words.
— from Stars of the Opera A Description of Operas & a Series of Personal Interviews with Marcela Sembrich, Emma Eames, Emma Calvé, Lillian Nordica, Lilli Lehmann, Geraldine Farrar & Nellie Melba by Mabel Wagnalls

Once back in the old home again, it became dearer to me than ever.
— from Mistress Nancy Molesworth: A Tale of Adventure by Joseph Hocking

As they got out, the Belgians, in token of gratitude, pressed into our hands the little paper
— from Eighteen Months in the War Zone The Record of a Woman's Work on the Western Front by Kate John Finze

Of course I cannot tell what kind of a secret this is, but I think of it as a disclosure of certain relations of our personal being to time and space, to other intelligences, to the procession of events, and to their First Great Cause.
— from The Works of Oliver Wendell Holmes: An Index of the Project Gutenberg Editions by Oliver Wendell Holmes

But in this old dealer's warehouse he was able to resurrect things which had been bought from old manor houses, and which the Brunford people regarded as rubbish.
— from The Day of Judgment by Joseph Hocking

But in this other one the bodice and the frill are substantially as they must be in the original."
— from The Social Gangster by Arthur B. (Arthur Benjamin) Reeve