He displayed a rare strength of will.
— from Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Above all, he saw that men like himself, who snarled at the mirth and cheerfulness of others, were the foulest weeds on the fair surface of the earth; and setting all the good of the world against the evil, he came to the conclusion that it was a very decent and respectable sort of world after all.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Some would overcome the difficulty by perseverance, others would give it up in despair and resign, still others would hold on from pride or shame, until some pressure from above or below would force them to retire.
— from Military Reminiscences of the Civil War, Volume 1: April 1861-November 1863 by Jacob D. (Jacob Dolson) Cox

The circle of the Jewish feasts was closed, the half year of harvest was at an end, and the dark and rainy season of winter was fast approaching, when no pilgrim’s song was heard on the roads to Jerusalem; a winter which to many would prove the winter of death.
— from Helon's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Volume 2 (of 2) A picture of Judaism, in the century which preceded the advent of our Savior. by Friedrich Strauss

Between this woodland and the prairie, there is a deep and rapid stream of water, across which there is a pole, kept in continual motion by the force of the current.
— from Great Indian Chief of the West; Or, Life and Adventures of Black Hawk by Benjamin Drake

It is a beautiful little instrument of killing, shaped like this—[Here Tommy displayed a remarkable sketch of what looked like an intricate pump, or the inside of a small steam-engine]—44 are the sights; 6 is a false stock that fits in at A; 3 is the trigger, and 2 is the cock.
— from Little Men: Life at Plumfield with Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott

I therefore sent the pinnace ashore directly for the purpose of getting certain information regarding the place and the clouds of smoke we had seen; the men in her, after rounding a steep point, where we had suspected the presence of water, discovered a running streamlet, of which the water was brackish near the sea, but quite fresh higher up; they also found a great many human footprints and continuous footpaths leading to the mountains, and saw numerous clouds of smoke, but the blacks kept themselves in concealment, and no human being was seen.
— from The Part Borne by the Dutch in the Discovery of Australia 1606-1765 by J. E. (Jan Ernst) Heeres

But he never found it a congenial occupation, and I cannot help feeling that it was rather a case of putting a very delicate and subtle instrument to do a rough sort of work.
— from Hugh: Memoirs of a Brother by Arthur Christopher Benson

"And the noblest mountain in the world, when you come right down to details, is only a heap of dirt and rocks strewn over with sticks and stones.
— from With the Procession by Henry Blake Fuller

277 The chums had often carried each other "armchair fashion" while at school, and soon Dave and Roger started off with Phil between them, and carrying the fishing pole and fish.
— from Dave Porter at Star Ranch; Or, The Cowboy's Secret by Edward Stratemeyer