And men said us, that in an isle beyond that were giants of greater stature, some of forty-five foot, or of fifty foot long, and, as some men say, some of fifty cubits long.
— from The Travels of Sir John Mandeville by Mandeville, John, Sir

And for the Sadducees, they take away fate, and say there is no such thing, and that the events of human affairs are not at its disposal; but they suppose that all our actions are in our own power, so that we are ourselves the causes of what is good, and receive what is evil from our own folly.
— from Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus

“This,” says Mr. Franklin, presenting me to the great traveller, “is Gabriel Betteredge, the old servant and friend of our family of whom I spoke to you just now.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

For a long time the seeds went to waste but industry has learned to obtain from them a brownish-red oil which is used as a substitute for olive oil, from which it is hard to distinguish it, if the latter is adulterated by mixing the two; for both have the same density and a very similar odor and taste.
— from The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by T. H. (Trinidad Hermenegildo) Pardo de Tavera

Thus, therefore, the floor of our familiar room has become a neutral territory, somewhere between the real world and fairy-land, where the Actual and the Imaginary may meet, and each imbue itself with the nature of the other.
— from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

she was going to exclaim; but she presently found that it was a family of old friends, who were coming, like herself, by particular desire, to help Mr. Weston's judgment; and they were so very closely followed by another carriage of cousins, who had been entreated to come early with the same distinguishing earnestness, on the same errand, that it seemed as if half the company might soon be collected together for the purpose of preparatory inspection.
— from Emma by Jane Austen

And this social disposition is so scrupulously maintained, that two persons who lived in the most intimate correspondence at Bath or Tunbridge, shall in four-and-twenty hours so totally forget their friendship, as to meet in St. James's Park, without betraying the least token of recognition; so that one would imagine these mineral waters were so many streams issuing from the river Lethe, so famed of old for washing away all traces of memory and recollection.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. (Tobias) Smollett

The Gaze of the Soul Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith.
— from The Pursuit of God by A. W. (Aiden Wilson) Tozer

In early youth each stands at the parting of the way and chooses; he bears his gift for others or for himself.
— from Trooper Peter Halket of Mashonaland by Olive Schreiner

In a letter of July 31st, Sir J.D. Hooker wrote, "You must not suppose me to be a champion of continental connection, because I am not agreeable to trans-oceanic migration...either hypothesis appears to me well to cover the facts of oceanic floras, but there are grave objections to both, botanical to yours, geological to Forbes'.")
— from More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1 A Record of His Work in a Series of Hitherto Unpublished Letters by Charles Darwin

There was also consideration had of the Flemings, so that they were released of all such summes of monie as they were by any bonds indangered to paie by forfeiture, or otherwise, for any matter before that time vnto the crowne of France.
— from Chronicles of England, Scotland and Ireland (2 of 6): England (11 of 12) Edward the Third, Who Came to the Crowne by the Resignation of His Father Edward the Second by Raphael Holinshed

But its 220 greatest glory is that of which Micah prophetically speaks, “And thou Bethlehem Ephratah, who art little among the thousands of Judah, out of thee shall he come forth that is to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.”
— from Helon's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Volume 1 (of 2) A picture of Judaism, in the century which preceded the advent of our Savior. by Friedrich Strauss

If I made no money, and had to wear my old gloves (I had fortunately a good stock gathered from one of Frank Leslie’s debtors), and had to sail rather close to the wind, I still found the sailing very pleasant, and the wind fair and cool, though I was pauper in ære .
— from Memoirs by Charles Godfrey Leland

"Let others be carried away by strange doctrines and false prophets, if they will," he declared; "as for me and my household, we will cling to the true faith of our fathers."
— from Joel: A Boy of Galilee by Annie F. (Annie Fellows) Johnston

It is the second Defender of the faith of our Forefathers.
— from History of Linn County Iowa From Its Earliest Settlement to the Present Time [1911] by Luther Albertus Brewer

But who, after seeing four out of five of the American plays that are produced upon Broadway, could possibly tell in a single sentence what they were about?
— from The Theory of the Theatre, and Other Principles of Dramatic Criticism by Clayton Meeker Hamilton

Affairs were looking bad for them, even when "Pan" ran out and west with no enemy ahead but with four of them clinging to her flanks and tail and pumping quick bursts at her; but just here came in those two Flights of our fighting scout Squadrons—quite accidentally so far as they knew, actually of set design and as part of the ordered scheme.
— from Air Men o' War by Boyd Cable