Then quickly was I snatched up by my Guide: Even as a mother when, awaked by cries, She sees the flames are kindling at her side, Delaying not, seizes her child and flies; 40 Careful for him her proper danger mocks, Nor even with one poor shift herself supplies.
— from The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: The Inferno by Dante Alighieri

Sir, she said, I have ridden long and many a day with this shield many ways, and for this cause I am come to your court: there was a good knight that ought this shield, and this knight had undertaken a great deed of arms to enchieve it; and so it misfortuned him another strong knight met with him by sudden adventure, and there they fought long, and either wounded other passing sore; and they were so weary that they left that battle even hand.
— from Le Morte d'Arthur: Volume 1 by Malory, Thomas, Sir

Grover Butterbaugh, the eminent wholesaler of plumbers' supplies, chuckled, “Wonder you mix with common folks, after holding Eathorne's hand!”
— from Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis

A sum of French money, therefore, containing an equal weight of pure silver, is more valuable than a sum of English money containing an equal weight of pure silver, and must require more bullion, or other commodities, to purchase it.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Now, it may be asked, What remedy do we propose for the evils which our public school system has already produced?
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 14, October 1871-March 1872 A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science by Various

The face, hands and feet were covered with ivory, the pupils of the eyes were of precious stone, while the rest of the image was embossed or inlaid with gold—amounting to upwards of forty talents (about £150,000)—which could be taken off when required.
— from Greece Painted by John Fulleylove; described by J.A. McClymont by J. A. (James Alexander) M'Clymont

To her mind, the relaxing of one's creed spelt ruin, the doorway of the church Episcopal was but the outer portal of the Church of Rome and, like all elderly women of puritanic stock who have spent their lives in a Protestant community, Mrs. Brenton looked on Rome as the last station but one upon the broad road to hell.
— from The Brentons by Anna Chapin Ray

These advance expeditions were only partly successful, however, owing to storms having rendered the moonlight of little service.
— from The Siege and Conquest of the North Pole by George Bryce

These are merits of the greatest importance in favour of the whitethorn, which will ever make this the best hedge-row plant, as if we succeed to a whitethorn fence, which has been trimmed and kept within due bounds, there is no difficulty in continuing the process; and so if the hedge be left to grow tall and wild it may be cut out either wholly or partially, some stems cut half through—as in the process of plashing —laid down, and so a secure though not so tall a fence be formed, that will only grow thicker year by year.
— from Science and Practice in Farm Cultivation by James Buckman

In this commandment the wife is put on an equality with other property, so under certain conditions the husband could put away his wife, but the wife could not put away her husband.
— from The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Volume VIII. Interviews by Robert Green Ingersoll

Bodies very rich in either nitrogen or hydrogen are best mixed with about an equal weight of pure sugar before triturating them with the soda-lime.
— from Cooley's Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume II by Richard Vine Tuson