As he grew older his manner grew heavier; at dessert he cut the corks of the empty bottles; after eating he cleaned his teeth with his tongue; in taking soup he made a gurgling noise with every spoonful; and, as he was getting fatter, the puffed-out cheeks seemed to push the eyes, always small, up to the temples.
— from Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert

The swarthiness of his complexion showed that his face had long been acquainted with Transcaucasian suns, and the premature greyness of his moustache was out of keeping with his firm gait and robust appearance.
— from A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov

415 These brothers and sisters have different natures, and some of them God framed to rule, whom he fashioned of gold; others he made of silver, to be auxiliaries; others again to be husbandmen and craftsmen, and these were formed by him of brass and iron.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato

But if one of us would fight, Sir Damas would deliver all the rest.” “God of his mercy send you deliverance,” said King Arthur, and sat turning in his mind how all these things should end, and how he might himself gain freedom for so many noble hearts.
— from The Legends of King Arthur and His Knights by Knowles, James, Sir

The natural grace of her manners, the unequalled sweetness of her voice, her modest vivacity, her unstudied elegance, her expressive countenance, and intelligent eyes united to inspire him with pleasure and admiration, While the solidity and correctness of her remarks received additional beauty from the unaffected simplicity of the language in which they were conveyed.
— from The Monk: A Romance by M. G. (Matthew Gregory) Lewis

Sorrow and grief of heart Makes him speak fondly, like a frantic man; Yet he is come.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

There is none; but the noblest and greatest of harmonies may be truly said to be the greatest wisdom; and of this he is a partaker who lives according to reason; whereas he who is devoid of reason is the destroyer of his house and the very opposite of a saviour of the state: he is utterly ignorant of political wisdom.
— from Laws by Plato

Once on a time when the girl had gone out, her mother said, "Cook, little pot, cook."
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Wilhelm Grimm

Charles the Great, on his march north after defeating the Saracens at Saragossa, left Roland to bring up his rear-guard.
— from The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri: The Inferno by Dante Alighieri

[Pg 21] WOMAN'S RIGHTS Grave on her monumental pile; She won from vice, by virtue's smile, Her dazzling crown, her sceptered throne, Affection's wreath, a happy home; The right to worship deep and pure, To bless the orphan, feed the poor; Last at the cross to mourn her Lord, First at the tomb to hear his word; To fold an angel's wings below; And hover o'er the couch of woe; To nurse the Bethlehem babe so sweet, The right to sit at Jesus' feet; To form the bud for bursting bloom, The hoary head with joy to crown; In short, the right to work and pray, "To point to heaven and lead the way."
— from Poems by Mary Baker Eddy

Mr. de Sevelinges in his introduction to Botta's History, recites the private instructions given to Mr. Girard on his mission to the United States.
— from The Life of George Washington: A Linked Index to the Project Gutenberg Editions by John Marshall

“God of heaven, must the veil be forever on the face of Thy Israel?
— from Tarry thou till I come; or, Salathiel, the wandering Jew. by George Croly

No time was lost in accepting this invitation, and a guard of honour met us on the road.
— from The Highlands of Ethiopia by Harris, William Cornwallis, Sir

In the succeeding extract from another of Mr. Curtis's addresses, we have a free use of allegory as illustration: THE LEADERSHIP OF EDUCATED MEN There is a modern English picture which the genius of Hawthorne might have inspired.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by J. Berg (Joseph Berg) Esenwein

One only refused, and Balder was doomed, to the great grief of his mother, to rest in the infernal regions.
— from Heathen mythology, Illustrated by extracts from the most celebrated writers, both ancient and modern by Various

He knew that the marriage, which had placed the fortune of Lydia at the service of the development of the painter, had been the work of that enthusiasm at an epoch when Maitland, spoiled by the unwise government of his mother, and unappreciated by the public, was wrung by despair.
— from Cosmopolis — Complete by Paul Bourget

If one thinks much about a person, one may catch his gestures or his manner: is it not so?
— from Tomaso's Fortune and Other Stories by Henry Seton Merriman