And he asserts that this which is said about Mars is not less false than what is said about the three goddesses, to wit, Juno, Minerva, and Venus, whose contest for the palm of beauty, before Paris as judge, in order to obtain the golden apple, is not only related, but is celebrated in songs and dances amid the applause of the theatres, in plays meant to please the gods who take pleasure in these crimes of their own, whether real or fabled.
— from The City of God, Volume II by Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo

And although, when will or intellect be granted, an infinite number of results may follow, yet God cannot on that account be said to act from freedom of the will, any more than the infinite number of results from motion and rest would justify us in saying that motion and rest act by free will.
— from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza

"Madame Carr evidently thinks her guests are in need of refreshment after these wearying musical performances," replied Calvert, laughing, "and as we are too numerous to be entertained in the dining-room, supper is to be served here.
— from Calvert of Strathore by Abbe Carter Goodloe

Thus we have gone through the opinions of anatomists and physicians on the subject of generation; and it now only remains for me to recount what I have been enabled to draw from my own researches and experiments, and it will then be seen whether my system is not infinitely more agreeable to Nature than any of those I have given an account of.
— from Buffon's Natural History, Volume 03 (of 10) Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c. by Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de

But the Spirit within each of us has our interests at heart and is desirous of our best good, and is not only ready but willing to take us by the hand and lead us on.
— from A Series of Lessons in Raja Yoga by William Walker Atkinson

Action Is Nature at Work in Man: the Whole Universe Is the Scene of Action Genuine action is necessarily ordered, rhythmical, systematic and directed towards some aim.
— from The China of Chiang K'ai-Shek: A Political Study by Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger

To my great astonishment Ikonin not only read off some of the Latin, but even managed to construe a few lines to the professor’s prompting.
— from Youth by Tolstoy, Leo, graf