“The people are very contented here, eh Slimsey?” said Lord Marney.
— from Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

He carried in his pocket, too, a fire-box of mysterious and unknown construction; and as sure as ever Kit’s mother closed her eyes, so surely—whisk, rattle, fizz—there was the single gentleman consulting his watch by a flame of fire, and letting the sparks fall down among the straw as if there were no such thing as a possibility of himself and Kit’s mother being roasted alive before the boys could stop their horses.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

Indeed, if I had not known to whom it belonged, I might have thought it was the devil's money, and have been afraid to use it; but as you know otherwise, and came honestly by it, it would be an affront to fortune to part with it all again, at the very time when you want it most; you can hardly expect she should ever do you such another good turn; for fortuna nunquam perpetuo est bona .
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

In an assembly of phantasms such as I have painted, it may well be supposed that no ordinary appearance could have excited such sensation.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe

It seems that as he stood contemplating his enemy she struck him as the most beautiful woman he had ever seen all his life; and the little blind boy whom in our streets they commonly call Love had no mind to let slip the chance of triumphing over a lacquey heart, and adding it to the list of his trophies; and so, stealing gently upon him unseen, he drove a dart two yards long into the poor lacquey's left side and pierced his heart through and through; which he was able to do quite at his ease, for Love is invisible, and comes in and goes out as he likes, without anyone calling him to account for what he does.
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

"I call her Esther Summerson," says Mrs. Chadband with austerity.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens

To dance, clap hands, exult, shout, skip, leap, roll on, float on!
— from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

When Darya Alexandrovna lay in bed that night, as soon as she closed her eyes, she saw Vassenka Veslovsky flying about the croquet ground.
— from Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

Her neck and shoulders, which, according to the rigid etiquette of court-dress, were fully exposed, were white, and, considering her extreme slenderness, surprisingly round.
— from The Genius by Margaret Horton Potter

The Constitution, on the contrary, at the close of the long severe conflict, had every spar standing.
— from The Second War with England, Vol. 1 of 2 by Joel Tyler Headley

Closing her eyes she slipped quietly on to the floor, and lay at the feet of Ellis, white and insensible.
— from The Crimson Cryptogram: A Detective Story by Fergus Hume

There he was, daring to complain because his army career had ended so suddenly—wishing that he had remained in uniform.
— from Ruth Fielding on the St. Lawrence; Or, The Queer Old Man of the Thousand Islands by Alice B. Emerson

Who the devil could have expected such strange effects from a cause so common and so slight?
— from Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 6 by Samuel Richardson

"I cannot help expressing some surprise," he wrote to Lord North on April 5, 1770, "at seeing Lieutenant-General Conway's name in support of Sir Edward Astley's motion, which is so antiquated an Opposition's point, but which no candid man could be supposed to adopt."
— from Farmer George, Volume 2 by Lewis Melville

This time, in order to avoid the shock of his opponent's impetus, Andrea determined to throw himself to one side and repeat the thrust which Cassibile had employed so successfully, the white patch of lint on Rutolo's breast serving him as a mark.
— from The Child of Pleasure by Gabriele D'Annunzio