He who can be proud of his enemies, who can be grateful to them for the obstacles they have put in his way; he who can regard his worst calamity as but the extra strain on the bow of his life, which is to send the arrow of his longing even further than he could have hoped;—this man knows no revenge, neither does he know despair, he truly has found redemption and can turn on the worst in his life and even in himself, and call it his best (see Notes on Chapter LVII.).
— from Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

That steam stretches and strains the solid rocks below, till they can bear no more, and snap, and crack, with frightful roar and clang; then out of holes and chasms in the ground rush steam, gases—often foul and poisonous ones—hot water, mud, flame, strange stones—all signs that the great boiler down below has burst at last.
— from Madam How and Lady Why; Or, First Lessons in Earth Lore for Children by Charles Kingsley

It is told of their frightful rage against Christianity, that on one occasion they took more than twenty Christian priests, stripped off their clothes, cut bloody crosses on their faces, breasts, bodies, and backs, and then tied them by their feet to the tails of their horses, which they drove round and round till their victims were dragged to death.'"
— from Pine Needles by Susan Warner

Until we hear more, I shall be inclined to set down all these rumours of wars to the time of year, and to the absence of any exciting questions (so far as foreign relations are concerned) to occupy men's minds.
— from Lord Lyons: A Record of British Diplomacy, Vol. 2 of 2 by Newton, Thomas Wodehouse Legh, Baron

Since the time when Napoleon I. fixed his head-quarters in Maria Theresa's favourite residence, and caused the "old guard" to parade in the spacious court of the castle, Hietzing had not been so animated or so full as in the autumn of 1866.
— from For Sceptre and Crown: A Romance of the Present Time. Vol. 2 (of 2) by Gregor Samarow

Accordingly, he led them through its famous rooms and corridors, turned on the electric light to show the pictures, and acted cicerone to the china and the books.
— from Sir George Tressady — Volume I by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.

Look at them: the one is as a strong, powerful, well-cared-for animal, his work but a pleasant exercise to him, and when it is over never following him into his rest; he eats the good of the land, and has what all seem to be in vain striving for, rest and contentment: the other, the master, has indeed his position, but that only multiplies his duties; he has wealth, but that proverbially only increases his cares and the mouths that are to consume it; it is he who has the air of a bondsman, and never, meet him when you may, seems wholly at ease and free from care.
— from The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Genesis by Marcus Dods

a secret society intended to renew the civil war “if it happened that occasion should offer for repressing and chastising them of the religion called Reformed.”
— from A Popular History of France from the Earliest Times, Volume 4 by François Guizot

I had a letter from Rose at Carlsbad, the other day; and—" The waiter came forward with a folded scrap of paper on his salver, which March knew must be from his wife.
— from Their Silver Wedding Journey — Complete by William Dean Howells