Mr Chuckster being roused, would probably have pursued this subject further, and in more emphatic language, but for a tap at the door, which seeming to announce the arrival of somebody on business, caused him to assume a greater appearance of meekness than was perhaps quite consistent with his late declaration.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

It gives them more force and influence; makes them appear of greater importance; infixes them in the mind; and renders them the governing principles of all our actions.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume

But with the words which are their life and whereby they find admission into me, themselves seek in my affections a place of some estimation, and I can scarcely assign them one suitable.
— from The Confessions of St. Augustine by Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo

I call the world a moral world, in so far as it may be in accordance with all the ethical laws—which, by virtue of the freedom of reasonable beings, it can be, and according to the necessary laws of morality it ought to be.
— from The Critique of Pure Reason by Immanuel Kant

As we have few acquaintances in Manila, let us enter the home of Capitan Tinong, the polite individual whom we saw so profusely inviting Ibarra to honor him with a visit.
— from The Social Cancer: A Complete English Version of Noli Me Tangere by José Rizal

Such is the subtle elasticity of the organ I treat of, that whether wielded in sport, or in earnest, or in anger, whatever be the mood it be in, its flexions are invariably marked by exceeding grace.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville

‘My grandmother, Marie Le Bras, had related to me that one evening an old fée arrived in my village, Kerouledic (Finistère), and asked for hospitality.
— from The Fairy-Faith in Celtic Countries by W. Y. (Walter Yeeling) Evans-Wentz

‘What is it, then? You promised I should know some time, and—’ ‘You shall know some time—but not now—my head aches terribly,’ she said, pressing her hand to her forehead, ‘and I must have some repose—and surely I have had misery enough to-day!’
— from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

I find this complaint to be rational and rightly apprehended: for, as I myself know by too certain experience, there is no so sweet consolation in the loss of friends as the conscience of having had no reserve or secret for them, and to have had with them a perfect and entire communication.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

Then the old man said, “You are five and I make six; split the log into six,” So they split it and he gave each a piece and told them to break them, and each easily snapped his stick; then the old man said “We are like the whole log: we have plenty of property and are strong and can overcome attack; but if we separate we shall be like the split sticks and easily broken.”
— from Folklore of the Santal Parganas by Cecil Henry Bompas

It was this offence, according to popular rumor, that brought things to a crisis in Mr. Fogg's family and induced Mrs. Fogg to seek to remove the heavy burden of woe imposed upon her by her husband.
— from Elbow-Room: A Novel Without a Plot by Charles Heber Clark

"This is so reasonable, and so much according to what I do myself, when I meet a stranger at sea," cried the captain, stretching forth both arms in a frank and inviting manner, "that none but a knave would object to it.
— from The Wing-and-Wing; Or, Le Feu-Follet by James Fenimore Cooper

She was a dear, good old lady, and with her my life passed most happily; my short visits home gave me little pleasure, for my mother was a very worldly, ambitious woman, and displayed but little tenderness for me, which, when contrasted with my aunt's fondness and indulgence, made me feel quite as a stranger in my family; and when Aunt Mary died, I wept as bitterly, and felt as lonely and bereft of friends, as though I did not possess a mother, father, and sisters.
— from Graham's Magazine Vol XXXIII No. 4 October 1848 by Various

and so you could see it a little better; it made me feel as if maybe it was symbolical—a sort of sign that the Church was going to keep the upper hand now, and snuff out all my beautiful civilization just like that.
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, Part 9. by Mark Twain

Better ten minutes with the whole attention of a fresh and interested mind given intelligently to a subject than ten hours of mere mechanical movement.
— from Voice Production in Singing and Speaking Based on Scientific Principles (Fourth Edition, Revised and Enlarged) by Wesley Mills

I held my tongue as long as I could, but now my father and I must have an explanation.
— from The Wooden Hand: A Detective Story by Fergus Hume

"My dear Herr von Wendenstein," said the pastor, "you well know the great esteem I have ever entertained for you and your family, and if my daughter has given you her heart, as a father and as a priest I must lay my hand upon your heads and bless you.
— from For Sceptre and Crown: A Romance of the Present Time. Vol. 2 (of 2) by Gregor Samarow