how brief indeed the space ere this "immortal star" Shall be consumed in its own glow, and vanished—oh, how far!
— from Poems by Victor Hugo

There are many ways of bringing about this interference, I mean of bracketing in the same expression two independent meanings that apparently tally.
— from Laughter: An Essay on the Meaning of the Comic by Henri Bergson

Quite behind, in the southwest, extended the border of the forest.
— from The Mysterious Island by Jules Verne

Such conduct is not war; but in the single eye that looked to England's naval prestige and dictated his action, common as it was to England's people as well as to her government, has lain the secret of final success following many blunders through the centuries.
— from The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783 by A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan

These things being premised, and such being the government, it follows that such rules as the following should be observed in it, that all the magistrates should be chosen out of all the people, and all to command each, and each in his turn all: that all the magistrates should be chosen by lot, except to those offices only which required some particular knowledge and skill: that no census, or a very small one, should be required to qualify a man for any office: that none should be in the same employment twice, or very few, and very seldom, except in the army: that all their appointments should be limited to a very short time, or at least as many as possible: that the whole community should be qualified to judge in all causes whatsoever, let the object be ever so extensive, ever so interesting, or of ever so high a nature; as at Athens, where the people at large judge the magistrates when they come out of office, and decide concerning public affairs as well as private contracts: that the supreme power should be in the public assembly; and that no magistrate should be allowed any discretionary power but in a few instances, and of no consequence to public business.
— from Politics: A Treatise on Government by Aristotle

For the life of me I could not muster up the courage to address any of these reputable burghers; I thought shame even to speak with them in such a pickle of rags and dirt; and if I had asked for the house of such a man as Mr. Rankeillor, I suppose they would have burst out laughing in my face.
— from Kidnapped by Robert Louis Stevenson

In the first conflict, their valor prevailed; but in the second engagement they were overwhelmed by the numbers and military engines of the Greeks, and indignantly retreated with their faces to the enemy.
— 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

Well, then, will it please him to let us see that kneeling before the actual images of Christ's body and blood in the sacrament, even though these images should be no otherwise considered in the act of adoration, but as active objects, motives and occasions which stir up the mind of the kneeler to worship Christ (for this is the best face which himself puts upon kneeling, though falsely, as we shall see afterward), is not so great idolatry as the other.
— from The Works of Mr. George Gillespie (Vol. 1 of 2) by George Gillespie

But in that sour effusion there is little of generous recognition of any one.
— from Virgin Saints and Martyrs by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould

The wild geese screaming to one another overhead, the bald eagles building in the solitary elm that grew by the river, the flocks of great white pelicans that were fishing on the beach of Swan Lake, three miles away, were all objects of envy to the lonesome heart of the girl; for they had companions of their kind—they were husbands and wives, and parents and children, while she—here she checked her thoughts, lest she should be disloyal to her father.
— from Duffels by Edward Eggleston

I almost expect to see a little red baby in the straw every time I peek into a manger."
— from Letters of a Woman Homesteader by Elinore Pruitt Stewart

At no time did girls receive such training as the boys, but in the second epoch they were taught to read and to write with dancing and music and domestic arts.
— from The Historical Child Paidology; The Science of the Child by Oscar Chrisman

Anyone who has hurriedly searched his sack for some particular bit of gear knows the sort of haystack which results, while if first-aid equipment, sealskins, spare bindings, emergency rations, mending outfit, etc., are all carried in separate, differently coloured bundles inside the sack, endless time is saved.
— from Ski-running by Katharine Furse

The saddle-shaped seat is there, the straight turned legs, and the back is the same except that the upper extension has disappeared and the old centre rail has become broader as a properly-formed rest for the tired clerk's back.
— from Chats on Cottage and Farmhouse Furniture by Arthur Hayden

Thou hearest thy father's voice, which none may ever hear again; Thou art destined for the altar, for the service of the Lord, But if thy spirit earthward tend, take thou the steed and sword.
— from Bits of Blarney by R. Shelton (Robert Shelton) Mackenzie

Golden had been received back into their hearts, not because he had repented, but because the scandal against him had died into oblivion, and because in their souls even the honest men admired the consummate cleverness of the rogue.
— from At His Gates: A Novel. Vol. 3 (of 3) by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

Beautiful is the spiritual essence they embody.
— from American Indian Stories by Zitkala-Sa