"Let not his frailties be remembered; he was a very great man," said Johnson; and the literary world--which, like that old dictator, is kind enough at heart, though often rough in its methods--is glad to accept and record the verdict.
— from English Literature Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English-Speaking World by William J. (William Joseph) Long

During the liberty granted her by the bishop, before-mentioned, she went into St. Peter's church, and there found a skilful Dutchman, who was affixing new noses to certain fine images which had been disfigured in king Edward's time; to whom she said, What a madman art thou, to make them new noses, which within a few days shall all lose their heads?
— from Fox's Book of Martyrs Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs by John Foxe

Well do I know that fair place for miles about, and well do I know each hedgerow and gentle pebbly stream, and even all the bright little fishes therein, for there I was born and bred.
— from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

We had some difficulty in keeping Eliza blind to our doings.
— from The Romance of Lust: A classic Victorian erotic novel by Anonymous

Nay, on delicate subjects, where a seemingly trifling difference of more or less may constitute a difference in kind, even a faithful display of the main and supporting ideas, if yet they are separated from the forms by which they are at once clothed and modified, may perchance present a skeleton indeed; but a skeleton to alarm and deter.
— from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

On Anne’s birthday they were tripping lightly down it, keeping eyes and ears alert amid all their chatter, for Miss Stacy had told them that they must soon write a composition on “A Winter’s Walk in the Woods,” and it behooved them to be observant.
— from Anne of Green Gables by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

“But do I know even that?
— from Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac

Bishop William held this land in demesne in King Edward’s time.
— from Early London: Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon and Norman by Walter Besant

A familiar medical dogma is, "Keep everything alive."
— from Woman and Womanhood: A Search for Principles by C. W. (Caleb Williams) Saleeby

This is well illustrated by the words prefaced to the revived and retitled Frankfurter Gelehrte Anzeigen , which state the purpose of the periodical: “Besonders wird man für den Liebhaber der englischen Litteratur dahin sorgen, dass ihm kein einziger Artikel, der seiner Aufmerksamkeit würdig ist, entgehe, und die Preise der englischen
— from Laurence Sterne in Germany A Contribution to the Study of the Literary Relations of England and Germany in the Eighteenth Century by Harvey W. (Harvey Waterman) Hewett-Thayer

When so much milk is handled in one place, it is more or less unsafe unless the dairy is kept extremely clean and is conducted in the most sanitary manner.
— from Woman's Institute Library of Cookery Volume 2: Milk, Butter and Cheese; Eggs; Vegetables by Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences

I do not know whether or not Julius had a previous understanding with Malcolm Murchison by which he was to drive us round by the long road that day, nor do I know exactly what motive influenced the old man's exertions in the matter.
— from The Conjure Woman by Charles W. (Charles Waddell) Chesnutt

"Why, I did," said the clerk, "I who have been here for over twenty long years, and there's not a soul in the whole county knows as much about the church as I do; I know every stone of it, and you have only been in it ten minutes.
— from A Leisurely Tour in England by James John Hissey

“You know, then, how they have treated me?” “Oh, sir,” said Mrs. Bread, dryly, “I know everything.”
— from The American by Henry James

I am your pupil, although you have shown great discretion in keeping everything from me which might interfere with the profession I was to follow.
— from Waldfried: A Novel by Berthold Auerbach