Foreigners like Humboldt came to France "to breathe the air of liberty and to assist at the obsequies of despotism."
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. (Ernest Watson) Burgess

Some one was there already, for Lucy heard the words: “A lady to wait, sir.”
— from A Room with a View by E. M. (Edward Morgan) Forster

reat my experience of fashionable life had been, was lost in admiration of my daring and energy, when I confided to him my intention of marrying the greatest heiress in England.
— from Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackeray

I also esteem those that were born and bred up in that our former liberty happy men, and that those men are worthy of no less esteem than the gods themselves who have given us a taste of it in this age; and I heartily wish that this quiet enjoyment of it, which we have at present, might continue to all ages.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

If thy revengeful heart cannot forgive, Lo here I lend thee this sharp-pointed sword; Which if thou please to hide in this true breast
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

"If," said she, emphatically, "if I liked Dr. John till I was fit to die for liking him, that alone could not license me to be otherwise than dumb—dumb as the grave—dumb as you, Lucy Snowe—you know it—and you know you would despise me if I failed in self-control, and whined about some rickety liking that was all on my side."
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë

After the entries in the Abbey Registers is this note: “These four last Honble Persons dyed in his Majy’s service against the Dutch, excepting only that ST Ed Br received his death’s wound at sea, but dyed here at home” (Chester’s “Westminster Abbey Registers,” p. 162).
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

If we had been rich enough to find legal help, what would have been the result?
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Latian king, unless he shall submit, Own his old promise, and his new forget; Let him, in arms, the pow’r of Turnus prove, And learn to fear whom he disdains to love.
— from The Aeneid by Virgil

The fields and hills were covered with green instead of white; fluttering leaves had taken the place of snow-covered sprays and sparkling icicles; and for the keen north and brisk northwester, soft summer airs were blowing.
— from The Wide, Wide World by Susan Warner

There is one great, one simple principle, which, if firmly laid hold of, and if made the great central principle in one's life, around which all others properly arrange and subordinate themselves, will make that life a grand success, truly great and genuinely happy, loved and blessed by all in just the degree in which it is laid hold upon,—a principle which, if universally made thus, would wonderfully change this old world in which we live,—ay, that would transform it almost in a night, and it is for its coming that the world has long been waiting; that in place of the gloom and despair in almost countless numbers of lives would bring light and hope and contentment, and no longer would it be said as so truly to-day, that "man's inhumanity to man, makes countless thousands mourn"; that would bring to the life of the fashionable society woman, now spending her days and her nights in seeking for nothing but her own pleasure, such a flood of true and genuine pleasure and happiness and satisfaction as would make the poor, weak something she calls by this name so pale before it, that she would quickly see that she hasn't known what true pleasure is, and that what she has been mistaking for the real, the genuine, is but as a baser metal compared to the purest of gold, as a bit of cut glass compared to the rarest of diamonds, and that would make this same woman who scarcely deigns to notice the poor woman who washes her front steps, but who, were the facts known, may be living a much grander life, and consequently of much more value to the world than she herself, see that this poor woman is after all her sister, because child of the same Father; and that would make the humble life of this same poor woman beautiful and happy and sweet in its humility; that would give us a nation of statesmen in place of, with now and then an exception, a nation of politicians, each one bent upon his own personal aggrandizement at the expense of the general good; that would go far, ay, very far toward solving our great and hard-pressing social problems with which we are already face to face; that, in short, would make each man a prince among men, and each woman a queen among women.
— from What All The World's A-Seeking The Vital Law of True Life, True Greatness Power and Happiness by Ralph Waldo Trine

Wives refused to be comforted for loved husbands torn from their bosoms.
— from A Soldier's Experience; or, A Voice from the Ranks Showing the Cost of War in Blood and Treasure. A Personal Narrative of the Crimean Campaign, from the Standpoint of the Ranks; the Indian Mutiny, and Some of its Atrocities; the Afghan Campaigns of 1863 by T. (Timothy) Gowing

The deputies chosen to superintend the task set to work at once, and by night the most destitute were safe under the first large hospital tent.
— from The Bride of the Nile — Volume 10 by Georg Ebers

Her first love, her first lover ... her brave young champion in life's battle.
— from The Song of Songs by Hermann Sudermann

Rose now waited not for assistance, but followed her aunt with a haste that proved fear lent her strength in despite her long fast.
— from Jack Tier; Or, The Florida Reef by James Fenimore Cooper

Very carefully, as if from long habit of avoiding painful movement, he rolled to his left side and braced one hand against the floor.
— from D-99: a science-fiction novel by H. B. (Horace Bowne) Fyfe

On one memorable evening his love for Lucy had tempted him.
— from The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope