For instance, whether or not there is an open passage from the nostrils to the mouth, the only character, according to Owen, which absolutely distinguishes fishes and reptiles—the inflection of the angle of the lower jaw in Marsupials—the manner in which the wings of insects are folded—mere colour in certain Algae—mere pubescence on parts of the flower in grasses—the nature of the dermal covering, as hair or feathers, in the Vertebrata.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin

We cannot, at this immense distance from a rational social order, judge what concessions individual genius would be called upon to make in a system of education and government in which all attainable goods should be pursued scientifically.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana

At the top of the Shihgnan Valley, he doubtless found a road marked out to Little Bukharia.
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Rustichello of Pisa

His principal accusers and persecutors, on a charge of præmunire in the reign of Edward VI. were George Constantine Walter, his servant; Thomas Young, chanter of the cathedral, afterward bishop of Bangor, &c. Dr. Farrar ably replied to the copies of information laid against him, consisting of fifty-six articles.
— from Fox's Book of Martyrs Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs by John Foxe

And this delight in being a lover, in living by love alone, of the reality of which he was inclined to be doubtful, the price which, in the long run, he must pay for it, as a dilettante in immaterial sensations, enhanced its value in his eyes—as one sees people who are doubtful whether the sight of the sea and the sound of its waves are really enjoyable, become convinced that they are, as also of the rare quality and absolute detachment of their own taste, when they have agreed to pay several pounds a day for a room in an hotel, from which that sight and that sound may be enjoyed.
— from Swann's Way by Marcel Proust

At this Sancho awoke, and feeling this mass almost on top of him fancied he had the nightmare and began to distribute fisticuffs all round, of which a certain share fell upon Maritornes, who, irritated by the pain and flinging modesty aside, paid back so many in return to Sancho that she woke him up in spite of himself.
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

The blow struck at our dear friend and ruler was as deadly as blind hate could make it; but the blow struck at anarchy was deadlier still.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by J. Berg (Joseph Berg) Esenwein

It is covered with burrows hidden under the roots of trees, and the creatures at daybreak frisk about, running in and out of the holes.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

And how the planets, night and day, Fashion and rule our destinies?
— from The Fables of La Fontaine Translated into English Verse by Walter Thornbury and Illustrated by Gustave Doré by Jean de La Fontaine

Those who are familiar with his writings cannot fail to have remarked the singular delight with which the author dwells upon the recollections of this portion of his career, and the longing which he carried with him to the hour of death, for a return to those scenes of primitive freedom.
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 64, No. 397, November 1848 by Various

Ignorance often makes women the murderesses of the fruit of their own body, for many, having conceived and finding themselves out of order, and not rightly knowing the cause, go to the shop of their own conceit and take whatever they think fit, or else (as the custom is) they send to the doctor for a remedy, and he, not perceiving the cause of their trouble, for nothing can be diagnosed accurately by the urine, prescribes what he thinks best; perhaps some diuretic or cathartic, which destroy the embryo.
— from The Works of Aristotle the Famous Philosopher Containing his Complete Masterpiece and Family Physician; his Experienced Midwife, his Book of Problems and his Remarks on Physiognomy by Aristotle

'Mr. Grinling has done for a Railway what Macaulay did for English History.'—
— from The Downfall of the Dervishes; or, The Avenging of Gordon by Ernest Nathaniel Bennett

These two parties would, by their mutual distractions, have destroyed France, and rendered her the slave of Europe, when I had the ambition to make her the mistress of it.
— from Memoirs of the life, exile, and conversations of the Emperor Napoleon. (Vol. III) by Las Cases, Emmanuel-Auguste-Dieudonné, comte de

"Oh, indeed we have!" said Redbud; earnestly—"all this beautiful world: the sunshine, the singing of the birds, the health of our dear friends and relatives; and everything—" "Yes, yes," said Verty, "I ought to be thankful more than anybody else."
— from The Last of the Foresters Or, Humors on the Border; A story of the Old Virginia Frontier by John Esten Cooke

[pg 129] Popular demand for a return to the old ratio in the United States is founded in part upon misconception of commercial principles and largely upon a misunderstanding of current events during a financial crisis.
— from Rural Wealth and Welfare: Economic Principles Illustrated and Applied in Farm Life by Geo. T. (George Thompson) Fairchild

Even before France had herself abolished the monarchy, Belgium threw off the Austrian rule and declared for a republic.
— from The War and Democracy by John Dover Wilson

They would fain substitute a religion of doing for a religion of believing; and so impatient are they of the restrictions of dogma that they resent inquiry into the quality or inward motive of the doing, or even into its moral effect in the long run, so only some “good work” be done and done quickly.
— from Poems of Giosuè Carducci, Translated with two introductory essays: I. Giosuè Carducci and the Hellenic reaction in Italy. II. Carducci and the classic realism by Giosuè Carducci

‘A gentleman we met on the road, coming up from the country, recommended us here,’ said Noah, nudging Charlotte, perhaps to call her attention to this most ingenious device for attracting respect, and perhaps to warn her to betray no surprise.
— from Oliver Twist; or, The Parish Boy's Progress. Illustrated by Charles Dickens

Murat was smarting under the Emperor's displeasure for a rash advance on Vienna which had wellnigh cost the existence of Mortier's corps on the other bank.
— from The Life of Napoleon I (Volume 2 of 2) by J. Holland (John Holland) Rose