“No, it is the will, not the power to dance which is wanting, and to refuse to do so, unless for a really good reason, is not the part of a well-bred man.
— from The Gentlemen's Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness Being a Complete Guide for a Gentleman's Conduct in All His Relations Towards Society by Cecil B. Hartley

A great revolution is never the fault of the 5 people, but of the government.
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

We all, with Goethe, recognize in nature the great means of repose for the soul.
— from Human, All Too Human: A Book for Free Spirits by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

No one who comes to me and says, ‘Give me a hundred thousand roubles, and I will grow rich in no time,’ do I believe, for he is likely to meet with failure rather than with the success of which he is so assured.
— from Dead Souls by Nikolai Vasilevich Gogol

And though the state was satisfied with a consul as leader against the Tiburtian enemy, the alarm created by the Gauls rendered it necessary that a dictator should be appointed.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy

The grand rehearsal is not to take place till the 27th—N. B., my birthday—and the opera itself on the 29th.
— from The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Volume 01 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

If a supply of Greek reed is not to be had, gather slender marsh reeds, and make them up with silk cord into bundles all of the same thickness and adjusted to the proper length, provided that the bundles are not more than two feet long between any two knots.
— from The Ten Books on Architecture by Vitruvius Pollio

`Touching thy lettre, thou art wys y-nough, I woot thow nilt it digneliche endyte; As make it with thise argumentes tough; 1025 Ne scrivenish or craftily thou it wryte; Beblotte it with thy teres eek a lyte; And if thou wryte a goodly word al softe, Though it be good, reherce it not to ofte.
— from Troilus and Criseyde by Geoffrey Chaucer

At Mollendo the landing is generally very rough and the rollers very heavy till you get right in near the jetty; sometimes passengers have to be lowered down in baskets and occasionally they cannot be landed at all, but on this occasion the sea was calm.
— from Adventures in Bolivia by C. H. (Cecil Herbert) Prodgers

The greatest rivers in Norway take a more eastern course, and often make their way from the Norwegian highlands through the richly-wooded lowlands of Sweden to the Baltic.
— from An Account of the Danes and Norwegians in England, Scotland, and Ireland by Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae

A good reader is never troubled by notes at the bottom of the page.
— from Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 6 by Charles Herbert Sylvester

Where good rice is not to be obtained, oatmeal or bread, allowing for the moisture which the last contains, may be substituted.
— from The Dog by W. N. (William Nelson) Hutchinson

3. I am persuaded that a sea-venture with Christ maketh great riches: is not the ship of our King Jesus coming home, and shall not we get part of the gold?
— from Letters of Samuel Rutherford (Third Edition) by Samuel Rutherford

He could boast of having most of the Old Testament by heart, making a prayer or "asking a blessing" of one hour's duration in the delivery; and by these virtues, and others he knew how to practise, every person who lived in his house, or came within the influence of his zeal, was sure "to get religion in no time.
— from The Cross and the Shamrock Or, How To Defend The Faith. An Irish-American Catholic Tale Of Real Life, Descriptive Of The Temptations, Sufferings, Trials, And Triumphs Of The Children Of St. Patrick In The Great Republic Of Washington. A Book For The Entertainment And Special Instructions Of The Catholic Male And Female Servants Of The United States. by Hugh Quigley

A great responsibility is necessarily thrown upon subordinates, but responsibility stimulates the right kind of an officer.
— from Manual of Military Training Second, Revised Edition by James A. (James Alfred) Moss