Nor was there any need of forcing my heavy and lazy disposition; for being born to such a fortune as I had reason to be contented with (a reason, nevertheless, that a thousand others of my acquaintance would have rather made use of for a plank upon which to pass over in search of higher fortune, to tumult and disquiet), and with as much intelligence as I required, I sought for no more, and also got no more: “Non agimur tumidis velis Aquilone secundo, Non tamen adversis aetatem ducimus Austris Viribus, ingenio, specie, virtute, loco, re, Extremi primorum, extremis usque priores.”
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

Virtues are as dangerous as vices, in so far as they are allowed to rule over one as authorities and laws coming from outside, and not as qualities one develops one's self.
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book I and II by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Putting his fare down at Vyborgskaya, Iona stops by a restaurant, and again sits huddled up on the box....
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

How many young men fail to reach the point of efficiency in one line of work before they get discouraged and venture into something else!
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden

“His wife might possibly be able to explain that mystery to you, but you may take it for granted that the poor duke will die a virgin in spite of himself; and he knows that as well as anybody.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

“It does seem, and it is most shocking indeed,” replied Elizabeth, with tears in her eyes, “that a sister's sense of decency and virtue in such a point should admit of doubt.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

"It does seem, and it is most shocking indeed," replied Elizabeth, with tears in her eyes, "that a sister's sense of decency and virtue in such a point should admit of doubt.
— from Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

It could no longer be concealed, that by virtue of a plausible phrase power had been transferred from the crown to a parliament, the members of which were appointed by an extremely limited and exclusive class, who owned no responsibility to the country, who debated and voted in secret, and who were regularly paid by the small knot of great families that by this machinery had secured the permanent possession of the king’s treasury.
— from Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

Salt is said to be the common instrument of commerce and exchanges in Abyssinia; a species of shells in some parts of the coast of India; dried cod at Newfoundland; tobacco in Virginia; sugar in some of our West India colonies; hides or dressed leather in some other countries; and there is at this day a village in Scotland, where it is not uncommon, I am told, for a workman to carry nails instead of money to the baker's shop or the ale-house.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Of course I'm going to win his twenty-five thousand bet because he doesn't know what it means to discharge a vessel in Sobre Vista, and Mike Murphy has orders from me to hire all the available stevedores there to do something else while Joey is trying to hire them to discharge the Tyee .
— from Cappy Ricks Retires: But That Doesn't Keep Him from Coming Back Stronger Than Ever by Peter B. (Peter Bernard) Kyne

For though now--glory be to God!--I had no desire after vanities, I saw clearly in the vision how all things are vanity, and how hollow are all the dignities of earth; it was a great lesson, teaching me to raise up my desires to the Truth alone.
— from The Life of St. Teresa of Jesus, of the Order of Our Lady of Carmel by Teresa, of Avila, Saint

— Mytilus edulis , with Byssus We have made use of the terms dorsal and ventral in speaking of the shell of a bivalve, and it is important that these and a few other similar terms be well understood by those who are about to read the descriptions of the animals, or who may desire to describe them themselves.
— from The Sea Shore by William S. Furneaux

The color is occasionally employed in Persian decoration, and varies in shade.
— from The Ceramic Art A Compendium of The History and Manufacture of Pottery and Porcelain by Jennie J. Young

As the glacier moves down a valley, it scours the valley bottom and walls.
— from Creation of the Teton Landscape: The Geologic Story of Grand Teton National Park by John C. (John Calvin) Reed

And if there was one man on earth whom Peter admired as much as he did Romuald, it was a certain mail-coated Dominicus, a virtuoso in self-mortification.
— from The Mediaeval Mind (Volume 1 of 2) A History of the Development of Thought and Emotion in the Middle Ages by Henry Osborn Taylor

Nevertheless, even if it is so, and even if the narrative describes a vision, I should still feel as certain as ever that this vision expressed the real eternal truth.”
— from Silanus the Christian by Edwin Abbott Abbott

Behold, your house is left unto you desolate; and verily I say unto you, ye shall not see me, until the time come when ye shall say, blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord."
— from Cowley's Talks on Doctrine by Matthias F. Cowley

Among the French writers, Malebranche, perhaps, reminds us with the least disadvantage, although very imperfectly still, of the manner of Plato: he sometimes expresses its elevation and grace; but he is far from possessing the Socratic good sense, and, it must be confessed, no one has clouded more the theory of ideas by exaggerations of every kind which he has mingled with them.
— from Lectures on the true, the beautiful and the good by Victor Cousin