Children often attain great skill in quick seeing and full reproducing of even complicated meaningless combinations.
— from How We Think by John Dewey

Spies may, however, be very useful when the hostile army is commanded by a great captain or a great sovereign who always moves with the mass of his troops or with the reserves.
— from The Art of War by Jomini, Antoine Henri, baron de

It would be better, instead of comparing it with any Art, to liken it to business competition, which is also a conflict of human interests and activities; and it is still more like State policy, which again, on its part, may be looked upon as a kind of business competition on a great scale.
— from On War — Volume 1 by Carl von Clausewitz

The real tests of the comparative values of different methods of brewing are the flavor and palatibility of the drink, in conjunction with the number of cups of a given strength which are produced, or the relative strengths of brews of the same number of cups volume.
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

She is the source of the intellectual 840 and creative gods, who in their turn guide the visible gods: she is both the mother and the spouse of mighty Zeus; she came into being next to and together with the great creator; she is in control of every form of life, and the cause of all generation; she easily brings to perfection all things that are made; without pain
— from The Works of the Emperor Julian, Vol. 1 by Emperor of Rome Julian

Her heart is thrice as rich in bliss, She’s three times gentler than before; He gains a right to call her his, Now she through him is so much more; ’Tis heaven where’er she turns her head; ’Tis music when she talks; ’tis air On which, elate, she seems to tread, The convert of a gladder sphere!
— from The Angel in the House by Coventry Patmore

Apotheosis, 450, &c. The consciousness of a generous sentiment seems to have raised the Christian post above his usual mediocrity.
— 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

The compositions of ancient genius, so many of which have irretrievably perished, might surely have been excepted from the wreck of idolatry, for the amusement and instruction of succeeding ages; and either the zeal or the avarice of the archbishop, might have been satiated with the rich spoils, which were the reward of his victory.
— 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

ANT: Retain, maintain, claim, occupy, assert, grasp, seize, usurp.
— from A Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms or, Synonyms and Words of Opposite Meaning by Samuel Fallows

gentlemen on the other; I say it without any wish to achieve a party triumph, for I believe I belong to a party which can triumph no more, for we have nothing left on our side except the constituencies which we have betrayed; but I do say my conception of a great statesman is of one who represents a great idea—an idea which may lead him to power; an idea with which he may identify himself; an idea which he may develop; an idea which he may and can impress on the mind and conscience of a nation.
— from Ten Englishmen of the Nineteenth Century by James Richard Joy

For secure in its clasp Of adamant gold She was held imprisoned, The prey of his guile; And Hephestus knew By him alone
— from The Poems of Sappho: An Interpretative Rendition into English by Sappho

So long as we see no sign of alarm from the people on shore I shall let her drive; that will increase our chances of a good start.
— from The Missing Merchantman by Harry Collingwood

Clout,' says I, 'your conduct in regard iv some persons in this house,' says I, 'is iv a description that may be shuitable to the English spalpeens,' says I, 'but is about as like the conduct of a gintleman,' says I, 'as blackin' is to plate powder.'
— from The Cock and Anchor by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

On top I've a cask of as good, sir, As man from the tap ever drew; No poison to cut up your blood, sir, But liquor as pure as the dew.
— from Political Recollections 1840 to 1872 by George Washington Julian

At Vaucluse, for instance, near Avignon, M. Bouvier in 1878 explored the channels of a gigantic siphon that carries the waters of an inaccessible reservoir into the Fontaine de Vaucluse, a famous "rising.
— from The Netherworld of Mendip Explorations in the great caverns of Somerset, Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and elsewhere by Ernest A. (Ernest Albert) Baker

To be generous in thought and deed is to be at the centre of all great speculation on morals and religion.
— from The Non-religion of the Future: A Sociological Study by Jean-Marie Guyau

“This fortune in the river rightly managed will pay the expenses of government and give you control of a great source of revenue forever,” he wrote.
— from Windy McPherson's Son by Sherwood Anderson