It was about this choice that Prince Andrew was speaking.
— from War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

A wild lawless freedom becomes impossible for man: he is compelled to [p. 52] seek the protection of a civil society.
— from Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay by Immanuel Kant

ff.) adds that on the morning of the 2nd February, the whole of the pens and inkstands, and the books, if not too numerous and bulky, are collected, the pens or reeds cleaned, the inkstands scoured, and the books wrapped up in new cloth, are arranged upon a platform, or a sheet, and strewn over with flowers and blades of young barley, and that no flowers except white are to be offered.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

I had puzzled my head for several hours as to what substitute I could find for tinder—the only thing I still lacked, and which I could not ask for under any pretense whatsoever—when I remembered that I had told the tailor to put some under the armpits of my coat to prevent the perspiration spoiling the stuff.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

Concerning the Power of Congress to Regulate the Election of Members FEDERALIST No. 60.
— from The Federalist Papers by Alexander Hamilton

Nor even was the kingdom coming to Alexander next, so that when Priam was old the government was in his hands; but Hector, who was both older and more of a man than he, would have received it after the death of Priam; and him it behoved not to allow his brother to go on with his wrong-doing, considering that great evils were coming to pass on his account both to himself privately and in general to the other Trojans.
— from The History of Herodotus — Volume 1 by Herodotus

No, let the candied tongue lick absurd pomp, And crook the pregnant hinges of the knee Where thrift may follow fawning.
— from Hamlet, Prince of Denmark by William Shakespeare

"I shall come to Pyatnitsky Street with my wife to-morrow," he said; "
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

He conceived the plan of feeding them alternately with food mingled with madder, and with ordinary food.
— from The History of Chemistry, Volume 1 (of 2) by Thomas Thomson

I am perfectly indifferent concerning the pretexts upon which we torment one another,—or whether it be for the constitution of the Church of England, or for the constitution of the State of England, that people choose to make their fellow-creatures wretched.
— from The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 02 (of 12) by Edmund Burke

Before the Seventh Century this practice seems 3 to have been gradually abandoned, but was retained the longest in the tribe of Temîm.
— from The Women of the Arabs by Henry Harris Jessup

"Presuming, of course, that popular feeling is a matter about which I am likely to concern myself."
— from The Irrational Knot Being the Second Novel of His Nonage by Bernard Shaw

140-160): The girl who stole the serpent-king's crown; the Pomeranian farmer's boy who, after quenching his thirst with the brown beer of the fairies, tried to run off with the can of pure silver in which it was contained (in a Cornish legend, however, the farmer's boy pockets one of the rich silver goblets which stood on the tables in the palace of the king of the piskies, or fairies, and proves the truth of the story he has afterwards to tell by producing the goblet, "which remained in the boy's family for generations, though unfortunately it is no longer forthcoming for the satisfaction of those who may still be sceptical."
— from The Child and Childhood in Folk-Thought Studies of the Activities and Influences of the Child Among Primitive Peoples, Their Analogues and Survivals in the Civilization of To-Day by Alexander Francis Chamberlain

I'm an old man, and have no right to speak.” Miss Sowersoft seized the earliest opportunity she could to place Colin's letter upon the fire, which she did with a spoonful of salt upon it, in order that its flames should be of the same colour as its contents.
— from Colin Clink, Volume 1 (of 3) by Charles Hooton

It was this quaint condition that puzzled them, and rendered it necessary to guard against making a false start.
— from Bruin: The Grand Bear Hunt by Mayne Reid

There were indeed sufficiently obvious reasons why he might not choose to proceed to extremities with me.
— from Caleb Williams; Or, Things as They Are by William Godwin

The endless variety of his expressions, the deep earnestness of his convictions, the persistent gayety of his tone, are qualities of irresistible attractiveness.
— from The Persian Literature, Comprising The Shah Nameh, The Rubaiyat, The Divan, and The Gulistan, Volume 1 by Firdawsi