It was more especially when this man was speaking in a manner half jesting, half bitter, that Franz’s ear recalled most vividly the deep sonorous, yet well-pitched voice that had addressed him in the grotto of Monte Cristo, and which he heard for the second time amid the darkness and ruined grandeur of the Colosseum.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo, Illustrated by Alexandre Dumas

For as these being by nature appointed for such an use, can challenge no more, than that they may work according to their natural constitution: so man being born to do good unto others whensoever he doth a real good unto any by helping them out of error; or though but in middle things, as in matter of wealth, life, preferment, and the like, doth help to further their desires he doth that for which he was made, and therefore can require no more.
— from Meditations by Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius

We crossed broad natural lawns sparkling with dew, and we moved like spirits, the cushioned turf giving out no sound of footfall; we dreamed along through glades in a mist of green light that got its tint from the sun-drenched roof of leaves overhead, and by our feet the clearest and coldest of runlets went frisking and gossiping over its reefs and making a sort of whispering music, comfortable to hear; and at times we left the world behind and entered into the solemn great deeps and rich gloom of the forest, where furtive wild things whisked and scurried by and were gone before you could even get your eye on the place where the noise was; and where only the earliest birds were turning out and getting to business with a song here and a quarrel yonder and a mysterious far-off hammering and drumming for worms on a tree trunk away somewhere in the impenetrable remotenesses of the woods.
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

[653] For I see no reason (as [654] he said) why an epicure or idle drone, a rich glutton, a usurer, should live at ease, and do nothing, live in honour, in all manner of pleasures, and oppress others, when as in the meantime a poor labourer, a smith, a carpenter, an husbandman that hath spent his time in continual labour, as an ass to carry burdens, to do the commonwealth good, and without whom we cannot live, shall be left in his old age to beg or starve, and lead a miserable life worse than a jument.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

The motion was lost; Ryland withdrew in rage and despair; and Raymond, gay and exulting, retired to dream of his future kingdom.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

He was suffering from disappointment and regret, grieving over what was, and wishing for what could never be.
— from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

In what capacity is it that I claim and demand a respectful greeting from you instead of this expression of disdain?
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James

Make him understand, that to acknowledge the error he shall discover in his own argument, though only found out by himself, is an effect of judgment and sincerity, which are the principal things he is to seek after; that obstinacy and contention are common qualities, most appearing in mean souls; that to revise and correct himself, to forsake an unjust argument in the height and heat of dispute, are rare, great, and philosophical qualities.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

Jones, whose bed was next to that of Ms., shrank back and made a tentative move toward the door as R. glided nearer.
— from Eastern Nights - and Flights: A Record of Oriental Adventure. by Alan Bott

I could not rake together, again, the ashes of Queen Dido, which were scattered to the four winds of Heaven, I fear; nor could I discover a reasonably good bust of Homer; but respectable substitutes are provided, and some of them have the great merit of puzzling all beholders to tell to whom they belong, which I believe was the great characteristic of most of Mr. Jones's invention."
— from Home as Found Sequel to "Homeward Bound" by James Fenimore Cooper

We felt that the distance between a boy still taking lessons under a tutor and a man who danced at real, grown-up balls was too great to allow of their exchanging mutual ideas.
— from Youth by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

Angelika blushed deeply, and, rising, greatly embarrassed, joined her mother, who sat quietly at work by the window.
— from Only a Girl: or, A Physician for the Soul. by Wilhelmine von Hillern

Always ready to turn his inventive genius in any direction, the introduction of the electric light, which had given an impetus to improvement in the methods of utilising gas, led him to design a regenerative gas lamp, which is now employed on a small scale in this country, either for street lighting or in class-rooms and public halls.
— from Heroes of the Telegraph by John Munro

As soon as he discovered that he was at the same terrible bar with himself, although he could not conceive how their causes came to be conjoined, he acknowledged him by a hearty shake of the hand, which the old man returned with affected dignity and real gratitude.
— from Peveril of the Peak by Walter Scott

He again declined to take his seat as a peer in Charles’s second Parliament; but the last stage of his life displayed more dignity and real greatness 31 than the “pride, pomp, and circumstance” of his high offices and honors.
— from Bacon's Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients by Francis Bacon

There should be no peace; calamity was to follow calamity; according to what they had done a righteous God would deal with them.
— from The Prophet Ezekiel: An Analytical Exposition by Arno Clemens Gaebelein