Miss Bates, let Emma help you to a little bit of tart—a very little bit.
— from Emma by Jane Austen

Marianne said no more, but looked exceedingly hurt.
— from Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

"You've been lucky enough," he said, "to-day to have been in master's good graces!
— from Hung Lou Meng, or, the Dream of the Red Chamber, a Chinese Novel, Book I by Xueqin Cao

So the king commended them, and confessed that he had reason to thank them, because they had given him information of his enemy; and he promised them, that it should not be long ere he would requite their kindness.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

But as those of Gaza stoutly resisted them, and would not yield for either their want of any thing, nor for the great multitude that were slain, [for they would rather suffer any hardship whatever than come under the power of their enemies,] Aretas, king of the Arabians, a person then very illustrious, encouraged them to go on with alacrity, and promised them that he would come to their assistance; but it happened that before he came Apollodotus was slain; for his brother Lysimachus envying him for the great reputation he had gained among the citizens, slew him, and got the army together, and delivered up the city to Alexander, who, when he came in at first, lay quiet, but afterward set his army upon the inhabitants of Gaza, and gave them leave to punish them; so some went one way, and some went another, and slew the inhabitants of Gaza; yet were not they of cowardly hearts, but opposed those that came to slay them, and slew as many of the Jews; and some of them, when they saw themselves deserted, burnt their own houses, that the enemy might get none of their spoils; nay, some of them, with their own hands, slew their children and their wives, having no other way but this of avoiding slavery for them; but the senators, who were in all five hundred, fled to Apollo's temple, [for this attack happened to be made as they were sitting,] whom Alexander slew; and when he had utterly overthrown their city, he returned to Jerusalem, having spent a year in that siege.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

(Mrs. James Town) The Social Note There should be no more difficulty in writing a social note than in writing a business letter; each has a specific message for its sole object and the principle of construction is the same:
— from Etiquette by Emily Post

ANT: Big, bulky, large, enormous, huge, monstrous, full-sized, long, full, developed, much, important, grave, serious, momentous, liberal, generous, noble, high-minded, handsome.
— from A Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms or, Synonyms and Words of Opposite Meaning by Samuel Fallows

Page 468: "If the human race were at the commencement of their social career—in the first ages of civilization—they would perhaps be excusable for founding some hope of social good upon human science, upon the legislation of man; but long experience has proved the impotency of human legislation, and shown clearly that the world has nothing to hope from human laws and civilized constitutions."
— from Brook Farm: Historic and Personal Memoirs by John Thomas Codman

119-202, 68 figures in text December 15, 1951 University of Kansas LAWRENCE 1951 University of Kansas Publications, Museum of Natural History Editors: E. Raymond Hall, Chairman, A. Byron Leonard, Edward H. Taylor, Robert W. Wilson Volume 5, No. 10, pp.
— from A Synopsis of the North American Lagomorpha by E. Raymond (Eugene Raymond) Hall

The amazing mercifulness of God, and the awfulness of supposing that many around us will be lost eternally, he has handled fully and with characteristic rhetoric.
— from Practical Religion Being Plain Papers on the Daily Duties, Experience, Dangers, and Privileges of Professing Christians by J. C. (John Charles) Ryle

COASTING-PILOT, cotier , a pilot, who by long experience has become sufficiently acquainted with the nature of any particular coast, and of the requisites mentioned in the preceding article, to conduct a ship or fleet from one part of it to another.
— from An Universal Dictionary of the Marine Or, a Copious Explanation of the Technical Terms and Phrases Employed in the Construction, Equipment, Furniture, Machinery, Movements, and Military Operations of a Ship. Illustrated With Variety of Original Designs of Shipping, in Different Situations; Together With Separate Views of Their Masts, Sails, Yards, and Rigging. to Which Is Annexed, a Translation of the French Sea-terms and Phrases, Collected from the Works of Mess. Du Hamel, Aubin, Saverien, &c. by William Falconer

But she shrugged her shoulders, whilst a short, bitter laugh escaped her lips: "At last?" she said with biting sarcasm.
— from The Nest of the Sparrowhawk: A Romance of the XVIIth Century by Orczy, Emmuska Orczy, Baroness

During the peace which followed the American war he married an amiable lady, whose fortune united to his own, enabled him to quit the noisy scenes of a military life, and settle on a beautiful little estate he purchased in the province of Gascony.
— from A Week of Instruction and Amusement, or, Mrs. Harley's birthday present to her daughter : interspersed with short stories, outlines of sacred and prophane history, geography &c. by Unknown

One of ’em was that tall and big long ears hung down over his eyes.
— from Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Arkansas Narratives, Part 3 by United States. Work Projects Administration

It was the anniversary of that happy day on which the Church of England as by law established, had bestowed Mrs. Kenwigs upon Mr. Kenwigs; and in grateful commemoration of the same, Mrs. Kenwigs had invited a few select friends to cards and a supper in the first floor, and had put on a new gown to receive them in: which gown, being of a flaming colour and made upon a juvenile principle, was so successful that Mr. Kenwigs said the eight years of matrimony and the five children seemed all a dream, and Mrs Kenwigs younger and more blooming than on the very first Sunday he had kept company with her.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

Healey, before leaving England, had secured through the good offices of John Florio (a man of influence in both fashionable and literary circles) the patronage of the Earl of Pembroke for a translation of Bishop Hall’s fanciful satire, ‘Mundus alter et idem.’
— from A Life of William Shakespeare with portraits and facsimiles by Lee, Sidney, Sir