No other test is conceivable and no other would be valid; for no good man would ever consent to regard an authority as divine or binding which essentially contradicted his own conscience.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana

The very prospect of beer which my expected coming had opened to him had proved too much, and he had begun too early on his expected debauch.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker

This is now all the more precious that he know it not, and to guard himself have even cut himself off from his knowledge of our where.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker

The elderly conductor, Habeneck, on the other hand, took an interest in my work that was not merely polite, and acceded to my request to have something of mine played at one of the orchestral practises at the Conservatoire as soon as he should have leisure.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner

Without it, I could never have gone to that Exchequer Coffee House, or taken Mrs Wilfer's lodgings.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

But noble Epeus caught hold of him and raised him up; his comrades also came round him and led him from the ring, unsteady in his gait, his head hanging on one side, and spitting great clots of gore.
— from The Iliad by Homer

Ivan Yegoritch throws himself back in his chair, and closing his eyes concentrates himself on his subject.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

It may be laid down as a general principle that the decisive points of maneuver are on that flank of the enemy upon which, if his opponent operates, he can more easily cut him off from his base and supporting forces without being exposed to the same danger.
— from The Art of War by Jomini, Antoine Henri, baron de

Now it happened in the time of the battle that Ptolemy' horse, upon hearing the noise of an elephant, cast him off his back, and threw him on the ground; upon the sight of which accident, his enemies fell upon him, and gave him many wounds upon his head, and brought him into danger of death; for when his guards caught him up, he was so very ill, that for four days' time he was not able either to understand or to speak.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

Quesnel should let it, without even consulting her on the measure, both surprised and shocked her, particularly as it proved the absolute authority he thought himself entitled to exercise in her affairs.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

Goulburn acknowledged the discussion had to a great extent changed his opinion, and that he was not then prepared to propose the tax.
— from A Political Diary, 1828-1830, Volume II by Ellenborough, Edward Law, Earl of

When the pumping is finished one of these light water wheels is easily carried home on a man's shoulders.
— from The Foundations of Japan Notes Made During Journeys Of 6,000 Miles In The Rural Districts As A Basis For A Sounder Knowledge Of The Japanese People by J. W. (John William) Robertson Scott

In either case, Hellenic or American, we look upon generations totally different in circumstance from those which came before them,—generations, freed not only from the despotic tutelage of Nature, (from whom they exact tribute, instead of, as formerly, paying it to her,) but also from the still more galling tutelage of ignorance and of the social necessities imposed by ignorance,—generations which, in either the ancient or modern instance, stand representatively for the whole race, and by necessity, since they only could fairly be said, unimpeded by external conditions, perfectly to represent themselves.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 65, March, 1863 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

But having made a turn in her chamber, and passing before her glass, she comprehended, and my eyes confirmed her opinion, that disgust had no part in what had happened.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Volume 07 by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

We could easily cut her off.
— from Up the River; or, Yachting on the Mississippi by Oliver Optic

He had already, as it is vulgarly expressed, “cut her off, not indeed with a shilling, but with an old bed!”
— from Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Isaac Disraeli

Some of them empty caves hollowed out of the rock, half full of water, abandoned to moths and bats; and others which have been opened and closed up again because the damp and thieves have robbed them of all interest.
— from A Little Pilgrimage in Italy by Olave M. (Olave Muriel) Potter

Any risk involved in the existing contract hinged on the present winter, and since it was all that could be desired, every fine day added to the advantage of Wells Brothers.
— from Wells Brothers: The Young Cattle Kings by Andy Adams

There are in every city hundreds of young men—I regret to say it,—who should heed this warning voice.
— from The Young Man's Guide by William A. (William Andrus) Alcott