It is desirable that every advancement should there appear to be the result of some effort; so that no greatness should be of too easy acquirement, and that ambition should be obliged to fix its gaze long upon an object before it is gratified.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 2 by Alexis de Tocqueville

"Why does that 'Charley' make a fuss, Insulting gentlemen like us, Thinking to carry all before him— Tip it him on the nob, and floor him!
— from Gallery of Comicalities; Embracing Humorous Sketches by Robert Cruikshank

The front edge of a plate covered with a colored layer of glue is now, glue side down, placed upon the front edge of a gelatine plate, while the back edge of the former is gradually lowered until the glue plate lies firmly upon the gelatine plate.
— from Glue, Gelatine, Animal Charcoal, Phosphorous, Cements, Pastes and Mucilages by F. (Ferdinand) Dawidowsky

He longed to breathe the large airs of the ocean, to feel the sting of the salt spray, and to reach the places blazoned so bravely forth in gold letters upon the sterns below him.
— from The Princess Galva: A Romance by David Whitelaw

Enough of moonlight fell through the branches overhead so that they could see the forms of the trees that grew in the gorge; and the moon itself was so low in the west that its rays slanted under the bridge and touched with a ghostly light the dead top of a great basswood which forked its giant limbs upward like beckoning arms.
— from The Last Three Soldiers by W. H. (William Henry) Shelton

A wood fire roared in a cobblestone fireplace, its gleam lighting up walls hung with leather skins and gay Indian blankets and festooned with sprays of bittersweet.
— from The Camp Fire Girls' Larks and Pranks; Or, The House of the Open Door by Hildegard G. Frey

How far it goes, let us not be too sure.
— from Studies in Literature by John Morley

There is nothing like it in all Europe for its great length, uninterrupted fertility, and varied resources, and consequent power to support an immense population.
— from Personal Memoirs of a Residence of Thirty Years with the Indian Tribes on the American Frontiers by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

'It is hereby notified,' said the document, 'to all burghers that if after this date they voluntarily surrender they will be allowed to live with their families in Government laagers until such time as the guerilla warfare now being carried on will admit of their returning safely to their homes.
— from The Great Boer War by Arthur Conan Doyle

The fraud itself grew less ugly and more harmless every instant.
— from The Giant's Robe by F. Anstey