But, indeed, it is nonsense to talk about injuring no one but yourself: it is impossible to injure yourself, especially by such acts as we allude to, without injuring hundreds, if not thousands, besides, in a greater or less, degree, either by the evil you do or the good you leave undone.’
— from The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

Every permission, therefore, of evil, whether in a greater or less degree, every misfortune and calamity that happens to us, must, from this point of view, be regarded either as a well-merited punishment or as a severe trial, as a wholesome pang and conflict or as a painful transition to a higher degree of perfection.
— from The philosophy of life, and philosophy of language, in a course of lectures by Friedrich von Schlegel

One of the best is to describe how you saved his life in the Bush in ’82; or he saved yours; and then you go on: “Little did either of us anticipate in those far-off days that Fougasse was destined to become . . .”
— from Drawn at a Venture: A Collection of Drawings by Fougasse

All music is, in a greater or less degree, essentially dramatic.
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 54, No. 333, July 1843 by Various

In the third place we must exhibit to the understanding the instances in which that nature, which is the object of our inquiries, is present in a greater or less degree, either by comparing its increase and decrease in the same object, or its degree in different objects; for since the form of a thing is its very essence, and the thing only differs from its form as the apparent from the actual object, or the exterior from the interior, or that which is considered with relation to man from that which is considered with relation to the universe; it necessarily follows that no nature can be considered a real form which does not uniformly diminish and increase with the given nature.
— from Novum Organum; Or, True Suggestions for the Interpretation of Nature by Francis Bacon

On such occasions, Craig, who was a practised motorist, would drive, and the pair would go on long day excursions towards Yarmouth, or Hunstanton, or inland to Holt or Norwich.
— from The Place of Dragons: A Mystery by William Le Queux

Extension Hem and Tucks Thin gowns of lawn, dimity, etc., can be lengthened with a faced or extension hem, the line of sewing to be covered with feather stitch or any of the fancy stitches of white or colored thread.
— from Textiles and Clothing by Kate Heintz Watson

There is a light that illumines, in greater or less degree, every soul that cometh into the world; but the Gift of the Holy Ghost, imparted by the laying on of hands of one divinely authorized to bestow it, is a special endowment, and only those having membership in the Church of Christ can possess it.
— from Saturday Night Thoughts A Series of Dissertations on Spiritual, Historical, and Philosophic Themes by Orson F. (Orson Ferguson) Whitney