There are terribly few honest people here, and hardly any whom one can respect, although people put on airs—Varia especially!
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

At Ravello there is the Casa Ruffolo, a picturesque palace of the 13th century, still nearly entire: a strange mixture of Gothic and Saracenic taste, but so exceptional, that it would not be fair to quote it as a type of any style.
— from A History of Architecture in all Countries, Volume 1, 3rd ed. From the Earliest Times to the Present Day by James Fergusson

Physical science and natural philosophy, together with some agricultural chemistry, received a prominent place on the programme.
— from Egerton Ryerson and Education in Upper Canada by J. Harold (John Harold) Putman

The other end was then carried round a projecting point of the rock on which they stood, and knotted firmly, so that the rope was quite taut, and stretched in a nearly horizontal direction, about a foot above the surface of the water.
— from The Young Voyageurs: Boy Hunters in the North by Mayne Reid

No other guest than myself seemed to be in it, except in the kitchen, where I heard a fellow talking English, and occasionally yelling an English song; the master and mistress of the house were civil, and lighted me a fire in what was called the Commercial Room, and putting plenty of coals in the grate, soon made the apartment warm and comfortable.
— from Wild Wales: The People, Language, & Scenery by George Borrow

No other guest than myself seemed to be in it, except in the kitchen, where I heard a fellow talking English and occasionally yelling an English song: the master and the mistress of the house were civil, and lighted me a fire in what was called the Commercial Room, and putting plenty of coals in the grate soon made the apartment warm and comfortable.
— from Wild Wales: Its People, Language and Scenery by George Borrow

On the whole, it was so doubtful whether I could reach any particular place, or escape starvation after I got there, and so certain that failure would be death, the project seemed a forlorn hope.
— from The Captive in Patagonia by Benjamin Franklin Bourne