He was now, with his old friends, in the state of a poor disbanded officer after a peace, or rather a wounded soldier after a battle; like an old favourite of a cunning Minister after the job is over, or a decayed beauty to a cloyed lover in quest of new game, or like a hundred such things that one sees every day.
— from The History of John Bull by John Arbuthnot

For answer Mr Mulligan, in a gale of laughter at his smalls, smote himself bravely below the diaphragm, exclaiming with an admirable droll mimic of Mother Grogan (the most excellent creature of her sex though ’tis pity she’s a trollop): There’s a belly that never bore a bastard.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce

The occasional emergence of an Equilateral from the ranks of his serf-born ancestors is welcomed, not only by the poor serfs themselves, as a gleam of light and hope shed upon the monotonous squalor of their existence, but also by the Aristocracy at large; for all the higher classes are well aware that these rare phenomena, while they do little or nothing to vulgarize their own privileges, serve as a most useful barrier against revolution from below.
— from Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions (Illustrated) by Edwin Abbott Abbott

“But, master, He is a God of love, and He sends these sort of misfortunes, not because He hates us, but because He loves us, and wishes us to think of Him, and trust to Him.”
— from Taking Tales: Instructive and Entertaining Reading by William Henry Giles Kingston

"I trust that the day's entertainment will include something more than a glimpse of Lady Angela," he said, with a low bow.
— from The Betrayal by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim

“He who gave us prudence will guard our lives and honour,” said the prince; and without further parley they rode on, after Lareyn’s guidance.
— from Household stories from the Land of Hofer; or, Popular Myths of Tirol by Rachel Harriette Busk

[175] Then he heard a clang and flapping, As of many wings assembling, Heard a screaming and confusion, As of birds of prey contending, Saw a gleam of light above him, Shining through the ribs of Nahma, Saw the glittering eyes of sea-gulls, Of Kayoshk, the sea-gulls, peering, Gazing at him through the opening, Heard them saying to each other, "'Tis our brother, Hiawatha!"
— from The Story of Hiawatha, Adapted from Longfellow by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

'Well—she needn't go on like a housemaid,' said her sister.
— from The Ivory Gate, a new edition by Walter Besant

Elements of discord are found in the social system which would soon effect its ruin were they not counteracted by other influences, and the body politic goes on like a heavy, shackly, lumbering van, which every moment threatens a crashing, crumbling fall, yet goes on still tottering, owing to the original goodness of its construction.
— from The Middle Kingdom, Volume 1 (of 2) A Survey of the Geography, Government, Literature, Social Life, Arts, and History of the Chinese Empire and its Inhabitants by S. Wells (Samuel Wells) Williams

The occasional emergence of an Isosceles from the ranks of his serf-born ancestors, is welcomed not only by the poor serfs themselves, as a gleam of light and hope shed upon the monotonous squalor of their existence, but also by the Aristocracy at large; for all the higher classes are well aware that these rare phenomena, while they do little or nothing to vulgarise their own privileges, serve as a most useful barrier against revolution from below.
— from Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin Abbott Abbott

"You never could have loved her as I loved her," gasped out Leo, as he staggered for support against the garden wall.
— from Tales of the Wonder Club, Volume II by M. Y. Halidom

The great gospel of love and hope shines out from these splendid pages....
— from Victorian Literature: Sixty Years of Books and Bookmen by Clement King Shorter