Cases in which one man injures another by poisons, and which prove fatal, have been already discussed; but about other cases in which a person intentionally and of malice harms another with meats, or drinks, or ointments, nothing has as yet been determined.
— from Laws by Plato

but the well Known treachery of the natives by no means entitle them to Such confidence, and we must check it's groth in our own minds as well as those of our men, by recollecting our selves, and repeating to our men, that our preservation depends on our never loseing Sight of this trate in their character, and being always prepared to meet it in whatever Shape it may present itself The Mule Deer are the Same with those of the Plains of the Missouri
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark

But they exist down there in the depths of our nature; and should anything call them forth, they will come and show themselves, just as we now see them in others.
— from The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Studies in Pessimism by Arthur Schopenhauer

He also left behind him in writing a description of that destruction of our nation which has lately happened in our days, and the taking of Babylon; nor was he the only prophet who delivered such predictions beforehand to the multitude, but so did Ezekiel also, who was the first person that wrote, and left behind him in writing two books concerning these events.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

Indian drudges, qui indies hinc inde deferendis oneribus occumbunt, nam quod apud nos boves et asini vehunt, trahunt , &c.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

But I do not pretend that I should ever have suspected how poor a record of the mutations of life, the best preserved geological section presented, had not the difficulty of our not discovering innumerable transitional links between the species which appeared at the commencement and close of each formation, pressed so hardly on my theory.
— from On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Darwin

But as we do not attribute to continued existence to both these perceptions, and as they are both of the same nature, we clearly perceive, that all our perceptions are dependent on our organs, and the disposition of our nerves and animal spirits.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume

Be content, Anselmo, and refrain from making further proof; and as thou hast passed dryshod through the sea of those doubts and suspicions that are and may be entertained of women, seek not to plunge again into the deep ocean of new embarrassments, or with another pilot make trial of the goodness and strength of the bark that Heaven has granted thee for thy passage across the sea of this world; but reckon thyself now safe in port, moor thyself with the anchor of sound reflection, and rest in peace until thou art called upon to pay that debt which no nobility on earth can escape paying."
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

This principle of the moral destination of our nature, namely, that it is only in an endless progress that we can attain perfect accordance with the moral law, is of the greatest use, not merely for the present purpose of supplementing the impotence of speculative reason, but also with respect to religion.
— from The Critique of Practical Reason by Immanuel Kant

That the grounds of this our present undertaking, are neither pragmaticalness of spirit, nor to vent our own spleen, in aspersing others; nor affectation of domination over others; nor to blow the Trumpet to new troubles.
— from A Vindication of the Presbyteriall-Government and Ministry by Ministers and Elders of the London Provinciall Assembly

When Washington was driven out of New York, many Americans thought he would be captured.
— from The Beginner's American History by D. H. (David Henry) Montgomery

Physical science will demand of our natural theologians that they should be aware of their importance, and let (as Mr. Matthew Arnold would say) their thoughts play freely round them.
— from Scientific Essays and Lectures by Charles Kingsley

And from this swarm of fair advantages [3049] 55 You took occasion to be quickly woo'd To gripe the general sway into your hand; Forgot your oath to us at Doncaster; [3050] And being fed by us you used us so As that ungentle gull, the cuckoo's bird, [3051] 60 Useth the sparrow; did oppress our nest; Grew by our feeding to so great a bulk That even our love durst not come near your sight For fear of swallowing; but with nimble wing We were enforced, for safety sake, to fly 65 Out of your sight and raise this present head; Whereby we stand opposed by such means [3052]
— from The Works of William Shakespeare [Cambridge Edition] [Vol. 4 of 9] by William Shakespeare

There are no changes of ministers to nullify each other’s work and to encourage the diplomatists of other nations to procrastinate and shilly-shally over negotiations in the hope that a general election will bring in a new set of statesmen, easier to deal with.
— from A Hundred Years Hence: The Expectations of an Optimist by T. Baron Russell

Numbers were abroad, for numbers always are abroad in this part of the town, be the time of day or of night what it may, but there was no congestion.
— from From Place to Place by Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb

"All the events that succeeded; the death of her father, the short widowhood of her mother, who pined away till she was at last re-united to her darling ones, all this, sad as it was, could no longer move me, the darkness within me was so great--What mattered it if one spark more died out or not?
— from The Dead Lake, and Other Tales by Paul Heyse