That proud honour claimed Azazel as his right, a Cherub tall: Who forthwith from the glittering staff unfurled Th' imperial ensign; which, full high advanced, Shone like a meteor streaming to the wind, With gems and golden lustre rich emblazed, Seraphic arms and trophies; all the while Sonorous metal blowing martial sounds: At which the universal host up-sent A shout that tore Hell's concave, and beyond Frighted the reign of Chaos and old Night.
— from Paradise Lost by John Milton

They 'never try an experiment,' or look up a point of interest for themselves; they make no sacrifices for the sake of knowledge; their minds, like their bodies, at a certain age become fixed.
— from The Republic by Plato

They received us well enough; but I did not endeavour to carry myself over familiarly with them; and so after a little stay, there coming in presently after us my Lady Aberguenny and other ladies, we back again by coach, and visited, my wife did, my she cozen Scott, who is very ill still, and thence to Jaggard’s again, where a very good supper and great store of plate; and above all after supper Mrs. Jaggard did at my entreaty play on the Vyall, but so well as I did not think any woman in England could and but few Maisters, I must confess it did mightily surprise me, though I knew heretofore that she could play, but little thought so well.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

But he continues: "A brazen face and a crafty disposition are more dangerous than mountains or rivers; it takes a man of genius to penetrate such.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi

‘Can anything be finer or more delightful?’
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

In times past the courts and benches followed the king wheresoever he went, as well since the Conquest as before; which thing at length being thought cumbersome, painful, and chargeable to the people, it was in the year 1224, the 9th of Henry III., agreed that there should be a standing place appointed, where matters should be heard and judged, which was in the great hall at Westminster.
— from The Survey of London by John Stow

Good, strong, wholesome medicine, as was given with great success to two Irish labourers and a coal-heaver, only a week before—sent 'em for nothing, with a blackin'-bottle in,—and he sends back word that she shan't take it, sir!' As the atrocity presented itself to Mr. Bumble's mind in full force, he struck the counter sharply with his cane, and became flushed with indignation.
— from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Wordsworth has compared a beloved female to two fair objects in nature; but his lines always appeared to me rather a contrast than a similitude: A violet by a mossy stone Half hidden from the eye, Fair as a star when only one Is shining in the sky.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

The body, A, is supposed to be revolving in the direction indicated by the arrow, in the circle, A B F G, around the center, O, to which it is held by the cord, O A.
— from Scientific American Supplement, No. 531, March 6, 1886 by Various

Sweet Cicely as bait for fish, 240 .
— from Camp Life in the Woods and the Tricks of Trapping and Trap Making by W. Hamilton (William Hamilton) Gibson

It’s a little boat he’s sailing in, but she’s carrying a big freight if our good wishes count for anything.”
— from The Protector by Harold Bindloss

With 80 cents a bushel for wheat, 50 cents for corn, 40 cents for oats and $8 for clover seed, the total returns from the four acres would amount to $98.
— from The Farm That Won't Wear Out by Cyril G. (Cyril George) Hopkins

Then Fesse, which riseth aboue Bilisdale chappell, and méeteth with the Rie at the Shaking bridge, from whence they go togither vnder the Rie bridge, to Riuis abbeie, and thence (after it hath crossed a becke from the west) through a parke of the earle of Rutlands to Newton, Muniton, and so to Sawton or Sawlton, Holbecke.
— from Holinshed Chronicles: England, Scotland, and Ireland. Volume 1, Complete by William Harrison

Their group was constantly augmented by fresh arrivals, so the conversation grew general, and Carter had no opportunity except for a chance word now and then with the woman to whom he had silently yielded his heart.
— from Trusia: A Princess of Krovitch by Davis Brinton

Abdul too smiled and said, “You shall have the best of clothes—coats and boots fit to be married in, and you shall be fed like princes, and you can be together in the shed if you like, but I can’t take off the shackles because you might escape.
— from Tolstoi for the young: Select tales from Tolstoi by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

So I cannot well send the Count to court without a matter of twenty thousand crowns——” “Yes,” assented the Chevalier, “with that trifling sum he could cut a brave figure.”
— from The Works of Balzac: A linked index to all Project Gutenberg editions by Honoré de Balzac

The magistrate came as before from the nearest police office, for the express purpose of passing sentence.
— from Millbank Penitentiary: An Experiment in Reformation by Arthur Griffiths