But he makes no more of doubt to say that the Archbishop is a wencher, and known to be so, which is one of the most astonishing things that I have heard of, unless it be, what for certain he says is true, that my Lady Castlemayne hath made a Bishop lately, namely,—her uncle, Dr. Glenham, who, I think they say, is Bishop of Carlisle; a drunken, swearing rascal, and a scandal to the Church; and do now pretend to be Bishop of Lincoln, in competition with Dr. Raynbow, who is reckoned as worthy a man as most in the Church for piety and learning: which are things so scandalous to consider, that no man can doubt but we must be undone that hears of them.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

We can and do supply ready-made "ideas" by the thousand; we do not usually take much pains to see that the one learning engages in significant situations where his own activities generate, support, and clinch ideas—that is, perceived meanings or connections.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey

without causing a descent so rapid as to be most dangerous to a human being, though it would not injure the stolen property.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney

Yet it was the same as ever; its walls tinted a deep rose, with their hangings of dull cloth-of-gold, its lights discriminatingly clustered and discreetly shaded, redoubled in half a hundred mirrors, its subdued shimmer of plate and glass, its soberly festive assemblage of circumspect men and women splendidly gowned, its decorously muted murmur of voices penetrated and interwoven by the strains of a hidden string orchestra—caressed his senses as always, yet with a difference.
— from The Black Bag by Louis Joseph Vance

In some cases we remark crateriform hollows or sudden expansions in their course, and deep sinuous ravines, which render them still more unsymmetrical and variable in breadth.
— from The Moon: A Full Description and Map of its Principal Physical Features by Thomas Gwyn Elger

Later on they dragged their chairs a little farther out into the darkness, smoking cigars and drinking some rather wonderful coffee.
— from The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim

It gives conveniently any desired speed ratio and permits the use of high speed dynamos and motors.
— from Hawkins Electrical Guide v. 02 (of 10) Questions, Answers, & Illustrations, A progressive course of study for engineers, electricians, students and those desiring to acquire a working knowledge of electricity and its applications by N. (Nehemiah) Hawkins

I ought to exchange all this for some living in a city, and do some real work before it’s too late.
— from Landed Gentry: A Comedy in Four Acts by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham

The soil on which they grew was, if possible, worse than that of the barren plain which we were traversing; and their colour and drooping state rendered the desolate landscape still more dreary.
— from Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia — Complete by Charles Sturt

Is it anything but a social chimera, as Diderot supposed, reminding us that this sentiment always gives way before sickness and before misery?
— from The Works of Balzac: A linked index to all Project Gutenberg editions by Honoré de Balzac

And between these two abbesses all the members of Herrad’s congregation are drawn, six rows of women’s heads placed one above the other.
— from Woman under Monasticism Chapters on Saint-Lore and Convent Life between A.D. 500 and A.D. 1500 by Lina Eckenstein