In general, there is no alternative but experiment (directed by probabilities) of every tongue known to him who attempts the solution, until the true one be attained.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition Table Of Contents And Index Of The Five Volumes by Edgar Allan Poe

I insist, sure of my ear that knows the sound of the wind, from hearing it so often whistle through the rigging.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

ek tou prôtou tôn katholou logôn lexin, en hê phêsin; “Eis to || 94 auto d' anestomômenôn heterôn dyo angeiôn tôn t' epi tên cholêdochon teinontôn kai tôn epi tên koilên phleba symbainei tês anapheromenês ek tês koilias trophês ta enarmozonta hekaterois tôn stomatôn eis hekatera tôn angeiôn metalambanesthai kai ta men epi tên cholêdochon pheresthai, ta d' epi tên koilên phleba peraiousthai.”
— from Galen: On the Natural Faculties by Galen

She had lived long enough to know that a day may bring a terrible thing.
— from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

The quantity was enough to kill three dragoons and their horses, and I felt some alarm for the poor creature; but what could be done?
— from Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey

gis had not studied the books, and he would not have known how to pronounce “laissez faire”; but he had been round the world enough to know that a man has to shift for himself in it, and that if he gets the worst of it, there is nobody to listen to him holler.
— from The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

In the bright light, lightened and cooled in limb, he eyed carefully his black trousers: the ends, the knees, the houghs of the knees.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce

The manner of this meal was this:—Mr Swiveller, holding the slice of toast or cup of tea in his left hand, and taking a bite or drink, as the case might be, constantly kept, in his right, one palm of the Marchioness tight locked; and to shake, or even to kiss this imprisoned hand, he would stop every now and then, in the very act of swallowing, with perfect seriousness of intention, and the utmost gravity.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

This enabled the King to leap in the window.
— from The Luck of Roaring Camp and Other Tales With Condensed Novels, Spanish and American Legends, and Earlier Papers by Bret Harte

When Cildadan and Galaor saw that he stopt, Page 45 [45] they and the Damsels came down the hill and went towards him, and when Galaor was near enough to know the old Knight, he exclaimed to King Cildadan, here Sir is one of the good men of the earth.—Who is he?—Don
— from Amadis of Gaul, Vol. 3 of 4. by Vasco de Lobeira

We, meanwhile, lay off the low, palm-fringed beach, our crew lying on their oars, or giving way just enough to keep the boat's head to the breakers.
— from Drift from Two Shores by Bret Harte

A great variety of species, of different orders and genera, are employed to keep them within due limits.
— from An Introduction to Entomology: Vol. 1 or Elements of the Natural History of the Insects by William Kirby

For a League being a connexion of men by Covenants, if there be no power given to any one Man or Assembly, (as in the condition of meer Nature) to compell them to performance, is so long onely valid, as there ariseth no just cause of distrust: and therefore Leagues between Common-wealths, over whom there is no humane Power established, to keep them all in awe, are not onely lawfull, but also profitable for the time they last.
— from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

Partridge will see to getting the best collateral they have, and we'll feed them just enough to keep their doors open."
— from The Apple of Discord by Earle Ashley Walcott

There are many readers who are of so little natural imagination, or who have cultivated it so little, that it is a conscious and often a fatiguing effort to keep to the mood of these greater authors.
— from Talks on the study of literature. by Arlo Bates

His father could not have dreamed of such a future as came to his son, but he was wise enough to know that the boy might do more and better than he had done, and he sent him, when eleven years old, to the free school of the Royal Academy to study drawing; and very soon the works of the father showed the gain which the son had made, for his designs were those now used by the old wood-carver.
— from A History of Art for Beginners and Students: Painting, Sculpture, Architecture by Clara Erskine Clement Waters

The net is trawled with the tide a little faster than it is running, so that sufficient resistance is encountered to keep the net extended.
— from The Fishing Industry by William E. (William Edward) Gibbs

You are woman enough to know that most men crush their brides in their arms and take a thousand.
— from The Harvester by Gene Stratton-Porter

Its quasi-independence led to emulation by the other great departments of the State and though their success was not so marked, it was sufficient in all to render the government incredibly cumbersome and inefficient and to paralyze its action by wasting its strength in efforts to keep the peace between the rival and warring bodies.
— from A History of the Inquisition of Spain; vol. 1 by Henry Charles Lea