I was told in answer to this that my work itself would be better served by a fixed position without arduous duties, as for a whole year since the completion of the Fliegender Hollander I had not, under existing circumstances, found any leisure at all for composition.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner

The crowd was gathering now, and an egg came flying and struck her in the eye, and broke and ran down her face.
— from The Mysterious Stranger, and Other Stories by Mark Twain

Joseph and Emile Closset formed a partnership as Closset Bros, in 1880.
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

'I should not have doubted it, sir.' 'Generally, I confess myself a man to be doubted,' returned Eugene, coolly, 'for all that.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

If you put the statement on the air, "An American negro workman in Greensboro, N. C., got eighty cents for a hard day's work last week," that can be presented and interpreted as: (a.) simple news, if there is something more to the story, about what the man said, or how he spent the eighty cents on corn meal to feed his pet tarantula; (b.) anti-capitalist propaganda, if you show that eighty cents is mighty little money for American business to pay its workers; (c.) pro-capitalist propaganda, if you show that the eighty cents will buy more than two weeks' wages of a worker in the city of Riga, when it comes to consumer goods; (d.) anti-White propaganda, if you show the man got only eighty cents because he was a Negro.
— from Psychological Warfare by Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger

In the centre of space there was, in the morning of time, a great abyss called Ginnunga-gap, the cleft of clefts, the yawning gulf, whose depths no eye could fathom, as it was enveloped in perpetual twilight.
— from Myths of the Norsemen: From the Eddas and Sagas by H. A. (Hélène Adeline) Guerber

Thanks to an alchemy somewhat analogous to that of Cuvier, he was enabled to reconstruct an entire temperament from the smallest detail, and an entire class from a single individual; but that which guided him in his work of reconstruction was always and everywhere the habitual process of philosophers: the quest and investigation of causes.
— from Repertory of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A — Z by Anatole Cerfberr

“I will write them with pleasure, monsignor, and your eminence can form an opinion; if they do not seem good enough to be worthy of you, they need not be given to the marchioness.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

In the French system, where each battalion consists of eight companies, forming as many platoons at drill, this objection does not exist, since each company is conducted by its own captain.
— from The Art of War by Jomini, Antoine Henri, baron de

[Pg 322] grant made to him, "Noah builded an altar unto the Lord, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean fowl, and offered burnt-offerings upon the altar.
— from The Ordinance of Covenanting by John Cunningham

I must have looked extremely convincing, for Artie paled a little and did not try to deny anything.
— from Jack of No Trades by Charles Cottrell

The Solonian census retained in the main, though with modifications, at the restoration under the archonship of Eukleides in 403 B.C. — Archonship of Nausinikus in 378 B.C. — New census and schedule then introduced, of all citizens worth twenty minæ and upwards, distributed into classes, and entered for a fraction of their total property; each class for a different fraction.
— from History of Greece, Volume 10 (of 12) by George Grote

But chief the eye to Ilion's glories turn'd That gleam'd along th' extended champaign far, And bulwarks, in terrific pomp adorn'd, Where Peace sat smiling at the frowns of War.
— from The Poetical Works of James Beattie by James Beattie

It brought forth exclamatory comment from all, once each had acquainted herself with its contents.
— from Marjorie Dean, College Junior by Josephine Chase

He was recognized by the men and greeted with loud and enthusiastic cheers; for a
— from Campaign of the Fourteenth Regiment New Jersey Volunteers by J. Newton (John Newton) Terrill

Local slang in the eastern counties for a tramp, vagrant, or “Loafer.”
— from Phrases and Names, Their Origins and Meanings by Trench H. Johnson

Add a pound of Finnan Haddie flaked, and the yolks of two eggs, well beaten, three hard-boiled eggs cut fine, and a tablespoonful of strong cheese, grated.
— from The Myrtle Reed Cook Book by Myrtle Reed

That clever new American flier, Hawk Ericson, had won only sixth place in speed, but he had won first prize in duration, by a flight of nearly six hours, driving round and round and round the pylons, hour on hour, safe and steady as a train, never taking the risk of sensational banking, nor spiraling like Johnstone, but amusing himself and breaking the tedium by keeping an eye out on each circuit for a fat woman in a bright lavender top-coat, who stood out in the dark line of people that flowed beneath.
— from The Trail of the Hawk: A Comedy of the Seriousness of Life by Sinclair Lewis

Then, if ever, come perfect days; Then Heaven tries earth if it be in tune, And over it softly her warm ear lays; Whether we look, or whether we listen, We hear life murmur, or see it glisten; Every clod feels a stir of might, An instinct within it that reaches and towers, And, groping blindly above it for light, Climbs to a soul in grass and flowers; The flush of life may well be seen Thrilling back over hills and valleys; The cowslip startles in meadows green, The buttercup catches the sun in its chalice, And there's never a leaf nor a blade too mean To be some happy creature's palace; The little bird sits at his door in the sun, Atilt like a blossom among the leaves, And lets his illumined being o'errun With the deluge of summer it receives; His mate feels the eggs beneath her wings, And the heart in her dumb breast flutters and sings; He sings to the wide world and she to her nest,—
— from The Home Book of Verse — Volume 3 by Burton Egbert Stevenson