“We must not suppose either, that an atom can become visible to us; for, first of all, one does not see that that is the case, and besides, one cannot even conceive, how an atom is to become visible; besides, we must not believe, that in a finite body there are particles of every sort, infinite in number; consequently, one must not only reject the doctrine of infinite divisibility in parcels smaller and smaller, lest we should be reducing everything to nothing, and find ourselves forced to admit, that in a mass composed of a crowd of elements, existence can reduce itself to non-existence.
— from The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius

“My dear boy,” my uncle would reply, with a wink, “we are most to be dreaded in politics; slowly and surely we are everywhere undermining the monarchical spirit.”
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

The scheme of trust here briefly outlined would probably require for its successful operation the concurrence of the entire stockholding interest of each company embraced in it; and herein, it seems likely, will be found the chief difficulty in perfecting such a scheme.
— from The Railroad Question A historical and practical treatise on railroads, and remedies for their abuses by William Larrabee

Not only did it provide subsistence, although scantier upon the whole, for as many families in proportion as the intermediate and smaller properties; but the landlords moreover, occupying a comparatively elevated and free position, supplied the community with its natural leaders and rulers, while the agricultural and unpropertied tenants-on-sufferance furnished the genuine material for the Roman policy of colonization, without which it never would have succeeded; for while the state may furnish land to him who has none, it cannot impart to one who knows nothing of agriculture the spirit and the energy to wield the plough.
— from The History of Rome (Volumes 1-5) by Theodor Mommsen

Their rides were always very long, and Roderick insisted on making them longer by dismounting in picturesque spots and stretching himself in the sun among a heap of overtangled stones.
— from Roderick Hudson by Henry James

The tame or domestic ~ is patient, slow, and sureÐfooted, and has become the type of obstinacy and stupidity.
— from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1st 100 Pages) by Noah Webster

When absorbed by a thought he would brood over it for hours and days in perfect silence and solitude.
— from Frederic Chopin: His Life, Letters, and Works, v. 1 (of 2) by Maurycy Karasowski

He was born, he lived, he died, in poverty, sorrow, and suffering, a social outcast even from his own people.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 20, October 1874‐March 1875 by Various