What I think of on this point is, when self is the fixed point the centripetal force is balanced with the centrifugal; when duty, a cause, etc., is the fixed point, the latter force is paramount, and only accident or a series of accidents can balance it.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker

The intelligence of this disgraceful and calamitous event afflicted the declining health of the emperor; and Heraclius died of a dropsy about seven weeks after the loss of Alexandria.
— 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

No sound, no heat, no movement came from it, but still the great luminous curtain glowed before us, silvering all the cave and turning the sand to powdered jewels, until as we drew closer it discovered a circular edge.
— from The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle

A person, we find, states that he desires a certain end A, and that he is acting with a view to achieving it.
— from The Analysis of Mind by Bertrand Russell

This commerce he likewise extended to medals, bronzes, busts, intaglios, and old china, and kept divers artificers continually employed in making antiques for the English nobility.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. (Tobias) Smollett

I had thrown myself at her feet, and strongly represented the catastrophe that threatened her, had earnestly entreated that she would reform her expenses, and begin with myself, representing that it was better to suffer something while she was yet young, than by multiplying her debts and creditors, expose her old age to vexation and misery.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

The ambassadors obtained all that they desired, and Cæsar even remitted the tribute which he had imposed.
— from The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3) Literally Translated, with Notes by Strabo

The organized crowd is controlled by a common purpose and acts to achieve, no matter how vaguely it is defined, a common end.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. (Ernest Watson) Burgess

What a dismal, debasing, and confusing element is that of a sick body on the human soul or thinking part!
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

Although pocket watches with duplex and cylinder escapements having balances compensated for heat and cold and balance springs adjusted to isochronism gave very good results, careful makers were satisfied that an escapement in which the balance was detached and free to act during the greater proportion of the arc of vibration and uncontrolled by any cause, would do still better, and this led to the detent escapement.
— from Watch and Clock Escapements A Complete Study in Theory and Practice of the Lever, Cylinder and Chronometer Escapements, Together with a Brief Account of the Origin and Evolution of the Escapement in Horology by Anonymous

t maze—the streets which intersect the dark masses of houses meandering aimlessly hither and thither, and throwing off alleyways as narrow as sleeves, and feeling their way along plot-fences and warehouse walls, until, viewed from the hillock above, the town looks as though someone has stirred it up with a stick and dispersed and confused everything that it contains.
— from Through Russia by Maksim Gorky

The pioneer in this instance is Dr. Adene C. E. Minott, founder and head of the Clio School of Mental Sciences, Inc., 3543 State street, this city.
— from Colored girls and boys' inspiring United States history and a heart to heart talk about white folks by William Henry Harrison

Why do all commodities estimate their value in one exclusive commodity, which is thus converted into a special embodiment of exchange value into money?
— from A Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy by Karl Marx

Le peuple souverain s'avance, Tyrans descendez au cercueil,' etc.
— from The Knickerbocker, Vol. 22, No. 3, September 1843 by Various

Mr. Buchanan cannot discover, after careful examination, that any Catholic Emancipation bill was vetoed by George the Third in 1806, according to the statement of Mr. Grant.
— from Life of James Buchanan, Fifteenth President of the United States. v. 1 (of 2) by George Ticknor Curtis

Snow had fallen to the depth of two inches during the night, and when I departed, a chilling east wind, freighted with sleet, was sweeping over the barren country.
— from The Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, Vol. 2 (of 2) or, Illustrations, by Pen And Pencil, of the History, Biography, Scenery, Relics, and Traditions of the War for Independence by Benson John Lossing

HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE PROGRESS OF DISCOVERY AND COMMERCIAL ENTERPRIZE, FROM THE AGE OF HERODOTUS TO THE DEATH OF ALEXANDER
— from A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels - Volume 18 Historical Sketch of the Progress of Discovery, Navigation, and Commerce, from the Earliest Records to the Beginning of the Nineteenth Century, By William Stevenson by William Stevenson