Now there was then a great number of false prophets suborned by the tyrants to impose on the people, who denounced this to them, that they should wait for deliverance from God; and this was in order to keep them from deserting, and that they might be buoyed up above fear and care by such hopes.
— from The Wars of the Jews; Or, The History of the Destruction of Jerusalem by Flavius Josephus

For instance, if any preposterous bill were brought forward, for giving poor grubbing devils of authors a right to their own property, I should like to say, that I for one would never consent to opposing an insurmountable bar to the diffusion of literature among the people ,—you understand?—that the creations of the pocket, being man’s, might belong to one man, or one family; but that the creations of the brain, being God’s, ought as a matter of course to belong to the people at large—and if I was pleasantly disposed, I should like to make a joke about posterity, and say that those who wrote for posterity should be content to be rewarded by the approbation of posterity; it might take with the house, and could never do me any harm, because posterity can’t be expected to know anything about me or my jokes either—do you see?’
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

To be a queen in bondage is more vile Than is a slave in base servility; For princes should be free.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

This deep religious fatalism, painted so beautifully in "Uncle Tom," came soon to breed, as all fatalistic faiths will, the sensualist side by side with the martyr.
— from The Souls of Black Folk by W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois

, begin, S; feng , pt. s. began, MD; feng on , S; veng , S2; feng , pl. , S2.—AS.
— from A Concise Dictionary of Middle English from A.D. 1150 to 1580 by A. L. (Anthony Lawson) Mayhew

This is why still remaineth the dark king Out in the night, and never having power To bring his robe back to its first pure state, But feeling at each step a blood-drop fall, Wanders eternally 'neath the vast black heaven.
— from Poems by Victor Hugo

my uncle Toby and the corporal began to run their first parallel.—I beg I may not be interrupted in my story, by being told, That the first parallel should be at least three hundred toises distant from the main body of the place,—and that I have not left a single inch for it;—for my uncle Toby took the liberty of incroaching upon his kitchen-garden, for the sake of enlarging his works on the bowling-green, and for that reason generally ran his first and second parallels betwixt two rows of his cabbages and his cauliflowers; the conveniences and inconveniences of which will be considered at large in the history of my uncle Toby's and the corporal's campaigns, of which, this I'm now writing is but a sketch, and will be finished, if I conjecture right, in three pages (but there is no guessing)—The campaigns themselves will take up as many books; and therefore I apprehend it would be hanging too great a weight of one kind of matter in so flimsy a performance as this, to rhapsodize them, as I once intended, into the body of the work—surely they had better be printed apart,—we'll consider the affair—so take the following sketch of them in the mean time.
— from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

But the third said, "Silver and gold do not move me, I will not renounce my chance of fortune, perhaps something better still will be given me."
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Wilhelm Grimm

2. Maccaroni soup; stewed rock-fish; boiled ham; brown fricassee; veal rissoles; chicken rice pudding; larded sweetbreads; asparagus loaves; asparagus omelet; French spinach; French peas; stewed beets—Rhubarb cups; transparent pudding; charlotte russe; lemon ice-cream.
— from Miss Leslie's Lady's New Receipt-Book, 3rd ed. A Useful Guide for Large or Small Families, Containing Directions for Cooking, Preserving, Pickling... by Eliza Leslie

ur knowledge of this plot, if the knowledge you already possess, or may further possess, should bring harm to you!
— from Traitor and True: A Romance by John Bloundelle-Burton

When work stopped at noon he heard a few pistol shots, but was told on inquiring that it was only one or two of the men shooting at a mark.
— from Brandon of the Engineers by Harold Bindloss

The following points should be considered: 1.
— from Ontario Teachers' Manuals: Nature Study by Ontario. Department of Education

However, Pierre's favourite promenade soon became the new quay of the Tiber beyond the Palazzo Boccanera.
— from The Three Cities Trilogy: Rome, Volume 3 by Émile Zola

Lots should be drawn as to which of the four players should be the first to throw the hoop.
— from Indian Games and Dances with Native Songs by Alice C. (Alice Cunningham) Fletcher

The fish has a curious habit of coming to the surface of the water, and there floating perfectly still, back downward, the entire belly-surface dry.
— from A Year at the Shore by Philip Henry Gosse

Manak Chand was so alarmed at the fighting powers shown by the English in these two affairs, that, leaving only a garrison of five hundred men at Calcutta, he retired with his army to join the nabob at Moorshedabad.
— from With Clive in India; Or, The Beginnings of an Empire by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty