He can make himself admired for his wit, not his toilette; his elegance and refinement, not the price of his clothes.
— from The Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness Being a Complete Guide for a Gentleman's Conduct in All His Relations Towards Society by Cecil B. Hartley

But however exquisite this may be, the pitch of emotional exaltation and refinement necessary to attain it is comparatively so rare, that it is scarcely included in men’s common estimate of happiness.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick

Of this tour he composed a poetical journal Childe Harold's Pilgrimage in which he ascribed his experiences and reflections not to himself but to a fictitious character Childe Harold described as a melancholy young nobleman prematurely familiar with evil sated with pleasures and embittered against humanity.
— from The Elements of Style by William Strunk

These fine emotions are really new; they are altogether musical and unexampled in practical life; they are native to the passing cadence, absolute postures into which it throws the soul.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana

But I perceived this to be my only chance of escaping, and resolved not to lose the opportunity.
— from The Monk: A Romance by M. G. (Matthew Gregory) Lewis

Which I have been the more curious to express and report; not to upbraid any miserable man, or by way of derision, (I rather pity them,) but the better to discern, to apply remedies unto them; and to show that the best and soundest of us all is in great danger; how much we ought to fear our own fickle estates, remember our miseries and vanities, examine and humiliate ourselves, seek to God, and call to Him for mercy, that needs not look for any rods to scourge ourselves, since we carry them in our bowels, and that our souls are in a miserable captivity, if the light of grace and heavenly truth doth not shine continually upon us: and by our discretion to moderate ourselves, to be more circumspect and wary in the midst of these dangers.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

Over the clock at the western end, and reaching nearly the whole breadth of the Hall, with Gog and Magog on the right and left, was placed an immense stack of armour, with upwards of 30 furled flags as an appropriate background.
— from Gossip in the First Decade of Victoria's Reign by John Ashton

Our officers and men were determined that not a ship should escape, and resolved not to relax their efforts until they had succeeded in either sinking or capturing every Russian ship.
— from The Japan-Russia War: An Illustrated History of the War in the Far East by Sydney Tyler

I could not help congratulating myself on my narrow escape, and resolved never to trust my hand to an unknown animal, merely because I liked its gentle appearance.
— from John Smith's Funny Adventures on a Crutch Or The Remarkable Peregrinations of a One-legged Soldier after the War by A. F. (Ashbel Fairchild) Hill

Would to God that these things were observed by all who desire the worthy office of a pastor; for neither the patron's presentation, nor the clergy's nomination, examination and recommendation, nor the bishop's laying on of hands and giving of institution, nor all these put together, can make up to a man
— from The Works of Mr. George Gillespie (Vol. 1 of 2) by George Gillespie

It was not till the beginning of July that Bouquet with an advanced party encamped at Raystown, now the town of Bedford, on the eastern slope of the Alleghanies, and that Forbes was able to move to the frontier village of Carlisle and thence to Shippensburg.
— from A History of the British Army, Vol. 2 First Part—to the Close of the Seven Years' War by Fortescue, J. W. (John William), Sir

So as there existed nothing but kindly feelings between Edith and Ruth now, there was no reason why Ruth should not have spent the holidays in Hilton, but she simply wouldn't give up a single hour with Bob Jennings.
— from Bobbie, General Manager: A Novel by Olive Higgins Prouty

The danger of conceit can be safely entrusted to editors and reviewers, not to mention the disillusion that sickens any author on comparing the finished book with the fancied one.
— from The Joys of Being a Woman, and Other Papers by Winifred Margaretta Kirkland

It's a plateau low and narrow at this end, but it runs far to the east and rises nine thousand feet.
— from The Heritage of the Desert: A Novel by Zane Grey

Lincoln had long before realized the deficiencies of his education, and resolved, now that the conditions were favorable, to atone for early neglect by a course of study.
— from Abraham Lincoln: The True Story of a Great Life, Volume 1 (of 2) by William Henry Herndon

The dinner passed pleasantly enough, but both Ethel and Ruth noticed the Judge was under strong but well-controlled feeling.
— from The Man Between: An International Romance by Amelia E. Barr