What the particular virtue of this exact number may be it is hard to determine, unless it be on account of the value of the number three, which is by nature perfect, and the first of odd numbers, the first also of plurals, and containing within itself all the elements of the qualities of number.
— from Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch

Frightful to all men is Death; from of old named King of Terrors.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle

Upon this Cortes reviewed the whole of his troops, and we found, including all the officers, drummers and pipers, without father Olmedo, our numbers amounted to 260 men, among whom were five cavalrymen, a few crossbow-men, less musketeers, and two artillerymen.
— from The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2) Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain. by Bernal Díaz del Castillo

yer fond of oysters?' 'Not overmuch,' replied Charlotte.
— from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Mr. Winkle looked somewhat stern at this interruption, and Mr. Pickwick angrily requested his attendant not to jest with one of the best feelings of our nature; to which Sam replied, ‘That he wouldn’t, if he was aware on it; but there were so many on ‘em, that he hardly know’d which was the best ones
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Research in the Field of Original Nature Valuable materials for the study of human nature have been accumulated in archaeology, ethnology, and folklore.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. (Ernest Watson) Burgess

It was one of the regiments to which Pershing said in December: "Men, I am authorized by Congress to tell you all that our people back in the States are mightily glad and proud at the way the soldiers have conducted themselves while in Mexico, and I, General Pershing, can say with pride that a finer body of men never stood under the flag of our nation than we find here tonight."
— from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois

[includes commonness due to frequency of occurrence] — N. habit, habitude; assuetude|, assuefaction|, wont; run, way.
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget

The mills of God must take their own time: no hope or faith of ours, no struggle or labour even can hurry them.
— from Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Essay by Immanuel Kant

The practice of virtue is only difficult from our own negligence; were we always discreet, we should seldom have occasion for any painful exertion of it; we are captivated by desires we might readily surmount, give into temptations that might easily be resisted, and insensibly get into embarrassing, perilous situations, from which we cannot extricate ourselves but with the utmost difficulty; intimidated by the effort, we fall into the abyss, saying to the Almighty, why hast thou made us such weak creatures?
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Meanwhile, I think the only thing left for us is to push on until we find some arbutus berries and blackberries for our own nourishment, and some grass for our mules, and, being thus refreshed, to lie down upon a bed of leaves.”
— from The Miracle of the Great St. Nicolas 1920 by Anatole France

So that I could now have warranted her the first of our Navy to break the line, if rigged according to my directions, and with me for her master.
— from The Maid of Sker by R. D. (Richard Doddridge) Blackmore

The active and careless character of his pursuits may be collected from an extract from one of numerous letters to his mother:—‘I have been out hunting, and like it very much—it makes me un peu sauvage , to be sure.
— from Cruikshank's Water Colours by William Harrison Ainsworth

Before that there were two flocks on the farm, one of nine birds and one of sixteen.
— from In Pastures Green by Peter McArthur

The influence of this poetry is of a pure and ennobling character; never ministering to false or unhealthy sensibility, it refreshes the better feelings of our nature; inspiring a tranquil confidence in the on-goings of the Universe, with whose most beautiful manifestations we are brought into such intimate communion.
— from Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. XI.—April, 1851—Vol. II. by Various

Thus having lived to the fiftieth year of my age, and the fortieth of my coming thither, at which time I ſent for all of them to bring their children, and there were in number deſcended from me by theſe four Women, of my Children, Grand-children, and great Grand-children, five hundred ſixty five of both ſorts, I took off the Males of one Family, and married them to the Females of another, not letting any to marry their ſiſters, as we did formerly out of neceſſity, ſo bleſſing God for his Providence and goodneſs, I diſmiſt them, I having taught ſome of my children to read formerly, for I had left ſtill the Bible, I charged it ſhould be read once a moneth at {{15 }} a general meeting: At laſt one of my Wives died being ſixty eight years of age, which I buried in a place, ſet out on purpoſe, and within a year after another, ſo I had none now left but my Maſters Daughter, and we lived together twelve years longer, at length ſhe died alſo, ſo I buried her alſo next the place where I purpoſed to be buried my ſelf, and the tall Maid my firſt Wife next me on the other ſide, the Negro next without her, and the other Maid next my Maſters Daughter.
— from The Isle Of Pines (1668) and An Essay in Bibliography by Worthington Chauncey Ford by Henry Neville

Along with this reaching out for current issues, the library continues, slowly but persistently, to add to its files of old newspapers.
— from The Wisconsin Magazine of History, Volume 1, 1917-1918 by Various

Who can satisfy himself with mere empirical knowledge in all the cosmological questions of the duration and of the quantity of the world, of freedom or of natural necessity, since every answer given on principles of experience begets a fresh question, which likewise requires its answer and thereby clearly shows the insufficiency of all physical modes of explanation to satisfy reason?
— from Kant's Prolegomena to Any Future Metaphysics by Immanuel Kant

Nothing but the strong fulfilment of our naval programme can create for us that importance upon the free-world-sea which it is incumbent upon us to demand.
— from The Great Illusion A Study of the Relation of Military Power to National Advantage by Norman Angell

We must learn to interpret the heart and our native instincts as truthfully as we do external nature, for our happiness in life depends quite as largely upon bringing our beliefs into harmony with the deeper feelings of our nature as it does upon the ability to adapt ourselves to our physical environment.
— from Youth: Its Education, Regimen, and Hygiene by G. Stanley (Granville Stanley) Hall