Lohengrin, the first conception of which dates from the end of my time in Paris, stood suddenly revealed before me, complete in every detail of its dramatic construction.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner

Each pillar’s length from the basis to the architraves was near seven hands, taking an exact dimension of its diameter through the centre of its circumference and inward roundness; and it was so disposed that, casting our eyes behind one of them, whatever its cube might be, to view its opposite, we found that the pyramidal cone of our visual line ended at the said centre, and there, by the two opposites, formed an equilateral triangle whose two lines divided the pillar into two equal parts.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

Constant nourishment and renewal differ from generation only in degree, and constant excretion differs only in degree from death.
— from The World as Will and Idea (Vol. 1 of 3) by Arthur Schopenhauer

I don’t know what Milicent Hargrave thought of such conduct, but I found his conversation extremely interesting; though, as I afterwards discovered, when I came to analyse it, it was chiefly confined to quizzing the different members of the company present; and albeit he made some clever remarks, and some excessively droll ones, I do not think the whole would appear anything very particular, if written here, without the adventitious aids of look, and tone, and gesture, and that ineffable but indefinite charm, which cast a halo over all he did and said, and which would have made it a delight to look in his face, and hear the music of his voice, if he had been talking positive nonsense—and which, moreover, made me feel so bitter against my aunt when she put a stop to this enjoyment, by coming composedly forward, under pretence of wishing to see the drawings, that she cared and knew nothing about, and while making believe to examine them, addressing herself to Mr. Huntingdon, with one of her coldest and most repellent aspects, and beginning a series of the most common-place and formidably formal questions and observations, on purpose to wrest his attention from me—on purpose to vex me, as I thought: and having now looked through the portfolio, I left them to their tête-à-tête , and seated myself on a sofa, quite apart from the company—never thinking how strange such conduct would appear, but merely to indulge, at first, the vexation of the moment, and subsequently to enjoy my private thoughts.
— from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

Now if we bear in mind the numerous points of structure having no relation to expression, in which all the races of man closely agree, and then add to them the numerous points, some of the highest importance and many of the most trifling value, on which the movements of expression directly or indirectly depend, it seems to me improbable in the highest degree that so much similarity, or rather identity of structure, could have been acquired by independent means.
— from The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin

Their hunger thus appeas’d, their care attends The doubtful fortune of their absent friends: Alternate hopes and fears their minds possess, Whether to deem ’em dead, or in distress.
— from The Aeneid by Virgil

She begins to show her taste in the exquisite details of its dress.
— from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales With Condensed Novels, Spanish and American Legends, and Earlier Papers by Bret Harte

That is how the most diverse methods and practices, both those that make possible the continuation of the moral life (law, morals, beaux-arts) and those serving the material life (the natural, technical and practical sciences), are either directly or indirectly derived from religion.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim

Thornton's desperate struggle was fresh-written on the earth, and Buck scented every detail of it down to the edge of a deep pool.
— from The Call of the Wild by Jack London

As Heyward, however, no longer expected that rescue which time and distance now rendered so improbable, he regarded these little peculiarities with an eye devoid of interest, devoting himself entirely to the comfort and condolence of his feebler companions.
— from The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper

Wherever, then, difficulty has been overcome, there is excellence: and therefore, in order to prove excellent, we have only to prove the difficulty of its production: whether it be useful or beautiful is another question; its excellence depends on its difficulty alone.
— from Modern Painters, Volume 1 (of 5) by John Ruskin

Arthur was again at home for a week, and Theodora was riding with him when she next met the two sisters, who at once attacked them for their absence from the picnic, giving an eager description of its delights and of the silence and melancholy of poor Lord St. Erme.
— from Heartsease; Or, The Brother's Wife by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

(4) The carbon dioxide hypothesis does not attempt to explain minor climatic fluctuations such as post-glacial stages and historic pulsations, but these appear to be of the same nature as glacial epochs, differing only in degree.
— from Climatic Changes: Their Nature and Causes by Ellsworth Huntington

To cultivate peace and maintain commerce and navigation in all their lawful enterprises; to foster our fisheries as nurseries of navigation and for the nurture of man, and protect the manufactures adapted to our circumstances; to preserve the faith of the nation by an exact discharge of its debts and contracts, expend the public money with the same care and economy we would practice with our own, and impose on our citizens no unnecessary burthens; to keep in all things within the pale of our constitutional powers, and cherish the federal union as the only rock of safety--these, fellow citizens, are the land-marks by which we are to guide ourselves in all proceedings.
— from State of the Union Addresses by Thomas Jefferson

He places the whole administration of the kingdom under distinct departments, putting at the head of each the officer that is best fitted for the effective discharge of its duties.
— from The Expositor's Bible: The Second Book of Samuel by William Garden Blaikie

To this copy sent to Manning we now come in chronological order, but the exact date of its despatch must remain uncertain.
— from The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 4 Poems and Plays by Charles Lamb

Vber welch vnerhörten Fall der Juncker Friederich von Lindenau, als Erbsass diesess ortes, in der Jurisstischen Facultet zu Leipzig sich darüber dess Rechtes belernet:
— from The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals by E. P. (Edward Payson) Evans