The obstacles in the way of hunting down an Italian murderer are as nothing to the opposition encountered in Chinatown.
— from How the Other Half Lives: Studies Among the Tenements of New York by Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis

There are thousands who are in opinion opposed to slavery and to the war, who yet in effect do nothing to put an end to them; who, esteeming themselves children of Washington and Franklin, sit down with their hands in their pockets, and say that they know not what to do, and do nothing; who even postpone the question of freedom to the question of free-trade, and quietly read the prices-current along with the latest advices from Mexico, after dinner, and, it may be, fall asleep over them both.
— from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

Which resolution of theirs did import that it was in their opinion a so difficult and inextricable matter that they knew not what to say or judge therein.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

Odin, seeing he had been so cleverly outwitted, made no demur, and in memory of the victory which his favour vouchsafed to them the Winilers retained the name given by the king of the gods, who ever after watched over them with special care, giving them many blessings, among others a home in the sunny South, on the fruitful plains of Lombardy.
— from Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas by H. A. (Hélène Adeline) Guerber

The old priest, who at first had seemed to me so deaf and infirm, must yet have retained his faculties in tolerable preservation; absorbed in his book as he appeared, without once lifting his head, or, as far as I knew, turning his eyes, he perceived the point towards which my attention was drawn, and, in a slow distinct voice, dropped, concerning it, these four observations:— "She was much beloved.
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë

Of his industry in collating, and his judgment in deciding upon the preference due to, dissentient authorities, in matters of testimony, the work affords numberless proofs.
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius

When o'er the hill beat surly storms, And winter nights were dark and rainy; I'd seek some dell, and in my arms I'd shelter dear Montgomerie's Peggy.
— from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Robert Burns

Our answer being affirmative, she took us to a fine room in which we found fourteen young women, all very handsome, and dressed alike in muslin.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

No more of that.—I pray you, in your letters, When you shall these unlucky deeds relate, Speak of me as I am; nothing extenuate, Nor set down aught in malice: then must you speak Of one that loved not wisely, but too well; Of one not easily jealous, but, being wrought, Perplex'd in the extreme; of one whose hand, Like the base Judean, threw a pearl away Richer than all his tribe; of one whose subdu'd eyes, Albeit unusèd to the melting mood, Drop tears as fast as the Arabian trees Their medicinal gum.
— from Othello, the Moor of Venice by William Shakespeare

Mr Rigby, glaring defiance, answered, "I meant it." "Oh waall," responded the Yankee Canadian, mildly, "that's all right; because I want you to know that I don't allaow folks to joke with me that way.
— from Two Knapsacks: A Novel of Canadian Summer Life by John Campbell

I perceived, about four years ago, a large spider in one corner of my room making its web; and, though the maid frequently leveled her broom against the labors of the little animal, I had the good fortune then to prevent its destruction, and I may say it more than paid me by the entertainment it afforded.
— from Oliver Goldsmith: A Biography by Washington Irving

When one observes these phenomena for the first time, one says, "I shoved it down, and it moved to the right; I shoved it up, and it moved to the left;" but if the direction of the spin were opposite to what it is, one would say, "I shoved it down, and it moved to the left; I shoved it up, and it moved to the right."
— from Spinning Tops The "Operatives' Lecture" of the British Association Meeting at Leeds, 6th September, 1890 by John Perry

You may have your idees of duty, and I may have mine; and I'm a justice of the peace, and I don't see anything for it but to ask you to give up that child to his lawful guardeen, as has sent me for him."
— from Nautilus by Laura Elizabeth Howe Richards

There’ll be plenty for Florrie to do, and I make no doubt she’ll be happy, and what my aunt calls work off her bouncing.”
— from Maud Florence Nellie; or, Don't care! by Christabel R. (Christabel Rose) Coleridge

“It is only a reasonable demand, and I must stand by it,” replied Keraunus decidedly.
— from The Emperor — Complete by Georg Ebers

In the intestine of a normal dog, an innocuous microbe was found, the Glycobacter peptonicus , which decomposes starch into sugar.
— from Life of Elie Metchnikoff, 1845-1916 by Olga Metchnikoff

The lantern is about a foot and a half high—and nearly a foot in diameter, and it moves round with a slow and slightly vibratory motion.
— from Suppressed Plates, Wood-engravings, &c. Together with Other Curiosities Germane Thereto; Being an Account of Certain Matters Peculiarly Alluring to the Collector by George Somes Layard

He had experienced indeed the mockery of a judicial proceeding, but had been sacrificed to the ravings of a despicable and infatuated mob, the asseverations of perjured witnesses, the timidity of Pilate, and the hatred of every class of Jews.
— from Female Scripture Biography, Volume II Including an Essay on What Christianity Has Done for Women by F. A. (Francis Augustus) Cox