When he had gone we enjoyed the check she had thus given to the inquisitiveness of our guest, but I told Henriette that, in good conscience, she ought to forgive all those whom she rendered curious, because....
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

Should not every apartment in which man dwells be lofty enough to create some obscurity overhead, where flickering shadows may play at evening about the rafters?
— from Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau

“Heaven,” continued she, “was pleased to restore the use of my reason, which I had lost when I found myself abandoned by the Count; but, all my connexion with my own family being entirely cut off, and every door shut against a poor creature who could procure no recommendation, except the certificate signed by the physician of Bedlam,
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. (Tobias) Smollett

One of these is occupied by the globe which on earth they call Saturn.
— from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations Also, Treatises On The Nature Of The Gods, And On The Commonwealth by Marcus Tullius Cicero

Consider, for instance, a porter in Naples or Venice (in the north of Europe solicitude for the winter months makes people more thoughtful and therefore reflective); look at the life he leads, from its beginning to its end:—driven by poverty; living on his physical strength; meeting the needs of every day, nay, of every hour, by hard work, great effort, constant tumult, want in all its forms, no care for the morrow; his only comfort rest after exhaustion; continuous quarreling; not a moment free for reflection; such sensual delights as a mild climate and only just sufficient food will permit of; and then, finally, as the metaphysical element, the crass superstition of his church; the whole forming a manner of life with only a low degree of consciousness, where a man hustles, or rather is hustled, through his existence.
— from The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Studies in Pessimism by Arthur Schopenhauer

On the occasion of their annual dinner the Fishermen were in the habit of exposing all their treasures, as if they were in a private house, especially the celebrated set of fish knives and forks which were, as it were, the insignia of the society, each being exquisitely wrought in silver in the form of a fish, and each loaded at the hilt with one large pearl.
— from The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

When he was once started on his democratic eloquence, the couple, somewhat ill at ease, would keep silent from politeness and good-breeding; then the husband would try to turn the conversation into some other channel in order to avoid a clash.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

Talk of lotus-eating; of Castles of Indolence; of the dreamy ether inhaled from amber-tubed narghilé; of poppy and mandragora, and all the drowsy syrups of the world; of rain upon the midnight roof; the cooing of doves, the hush of falling snow, the murmur of brooks, the long summer song of grasshoppers in the field, the tinkling of fountains, and everything else that can soothe, lull, or tranquillize; and what are these to the serenity of this sail-swinging, ripple-stirring, gently-creaking craft, in her veil of luminous vapor?
— from Acadia or, A Month with the Blue Noses by Frederic S. (Frederic Swartwout) Cozzens

The perspective illustrations show the machine very clearly, and the section explains the construction still further.
— from Scientific American Supplement, No. 315, January 14, 1882 by Various

Even the common soldier, serving in the ranks of his army, is not called upon to obey illegal orders.
— from Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremburg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946, Volume 3 by Various

The values and ideals which enlist the child's sympathy are morally worthy, affording a practice to those fundamental prejudices toward right and wrong which are the earliest acquisitions of a young soul.
— from A Study of Fairy Tales by Laura Fry Kready

exclaimed the corporal, shaking hands violently all round.
— from Blue Lights: Hot Work in the Soudan by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

Anything else that charmed snakes may do is probably the result of training; for there is no doubt that cobras admit of being tamed, and even domesticated.
— from Animal Intelligence The International Scientific Series, Vol. XLIV. by George John Romanes

He pondered on whether he might seek the post of estate-manager, or enter the Civil Service.
— from The Duel by A. I. (Aleksandr Ivanovich) Kuprin

From this masterly speech we extract the concluding summary: "At the risk of repetition, but for the sake of clearness, review now this argument, and gather it together.
— from Men of Our Times; Or, Leading Patriots of the Day Being narratives of the lives and deeds of statesmen, generals, and orators. Including biographical sketches and anecdotes of Lincoln, Grant, Garrison, Sumner, Chase, Wilson, Greeley, Farragut, Andrew, Colfax, Stanton, Douglass, Buckingham, Sherman, Sheridan, Howard, Phillips and Beecher. by Harriet Beecher Stowe

United with the copperas dye of the black wadding, the camphor and turpentine will destroy or expel the cockroaches, so that for a long time you will see no more of them.
— from Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt-Book, 3rd ed. A Useful Guide for Large or Small Families, Containing Directions for Cooking, Preserving, Pickling... by Eliza Leslie