He read: “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.”
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

I fancy, indeed, that he never was liable to those fits of blind rage which deprive a man of all power of reflection.
— from The Possessed (The Devils) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

But, strange to say, I never felt inclined to hear the same opera again.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner

Now, it is clear that the book with the most mysterious, startling, or suggestive title, will always stand the best chance of being purchased by those who have no other criteria to guide them in their choice than the aspect of a title-page; and this explains why “Thus Spake Zarathustra” is almost always the first and often the only one of Nietzsche’s books that falls into the hands of the uninitiated.
— from Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

It is not that all large genera are now varying much, and are thus increasing in the number of their species, or that no small genera are now varying and increasing; for if this had been so, it would have been fatal to my theory; inasmuch as geology plainly tells us that small genera have in the lapse of time often increased greatly in size; and that large genera have often come to their maxima, declined, and disappeared.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin

I am the first in this house, when anything solid or useful is required.
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. (Hans Christian) Andersen

They also cast fire into the houses near the wall; and others were burned by the flames, which were carried with great fury from the magazines and the tower by the wind bearing in that direction.
— from The Anabasis of Alexander or, The History of the Wars and Conquests of Alexander the Great by Arrian

.—This gentleman is famous for his tail, which he uses for a ferule in thrashing his foes.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville

When, after a time, a flat in the house where Madame Rosset lived became vacant Madame Baron hastened to take it, in order to be near her friend and spend even more time with her than hitherto.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

She has given me a free outlook on life—" He stopped abruptly, for there was the sound of footsteps in the house, and after a minute or two, Patty and Gideon Vetch came out on the porch.
— from One Man in His Time by Ellen Anderson Gholson Glasgow

S. Corning Judd sought to serve his own ends by controlling the Sons of Liberty, and failing in this, he gave the cold-shoulder to his Brig.-General (Walsh), when, in consequence of executing the edicts of the order, he found himself a close prisoner for the horrid doctrine of secession; he must be tried and convicted, but the Grand Commander, S. Corning Judd, and the Supreme Commander, C.L. Vallandigham, and the Past Grand Commander, or Major-General, Amos Green, each, severally appear upon the stand against him, and they permitted to go scott free.
— from The Great North-Western Conspiracy in All Its Startling Details by I. Windslow Ayer

“Married women, also, from the fear of labor, from indisposition to have the care, the expense, or the trouble of children, or some other motive equally trifling and degrading, have solicited that the embryo should be destroyed by their medical attendant.
— from Moral Principles and Medical Practice: The Basis of Medical Jurisprudence by Charles Coppens

The real fact is, that he never did speak to her, or to any woman, anything beyond the merest commonplaces—a circumstance which made Charles very much doubt the truth of Ellen's statement—that the priest had caught them talking together in the wood.
— from Ravenshoe by Henry Kingsley

George had a shrewd idea that her neutrality covered a favourable inclination towards himself, and thanked her warmly for not ranking herself among his enemies.
— from Mr. Witt's Widow: A Frivolous Tale by Anthony Hope

How different they would have felt if they had not forgotten their work that unlucky morning.
— from The Pleasures of the Country: Simple Stories for Young People by Harriet Myrtle

History describes these furious bands, wandering along the banks of the Orontes and the Euphrates, dragging in their train a multitude of men and women that had fallen into their hands; a great number of waggons conveyed the spoils of the ravaged provinces they passed through.
— from The History of the Crusades (vol. 2 of 3) by J. Fr. (Joseph Fr.) Michaud

Peter, I suppose, had allowed his mind to be so completely occupied with the question of forgiving injuries, that he failed to follow his Teacher when the lesson glided into another theme.
— from The Parables of Our Lord by William Arnot

He fell into the hands of the enemy, who took him to their hospital at Bladensburg.
— from A History, of the War of 1812-15 Between the United States and Great Britain by Rossiter Johnson

The whole room wore the indescribable air that is only to be found in the house of a bachelor of comfortable means, good taste and a certain age.
— from The Passionate Elopement by Compton MacKenzie