Therefore, Glaucon, I said, whenever you meet with any of the eulogists of Homer declaring that he has been the educator of Hellas, and that he is profitable for education and for the ordering of human things, and that you should take him up again and again and get to know him and regulate your whole life according to him, we may love and honour those who say these things—they are excellent people, as far as their lights extend; and we are ready to acknowledge that Homer is the greatest of poets and first of tragedy writers; but we must remain firm in our conviction that hymns to the gods and praises of famous men are the only poetry which ought to be admitted into our State.
— from The Republic by Plato

It is but an hour ago, replied Yorick, since the corporal was examined in the latter, and passed muster with great honour.
— from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

I have always respected you, and... and have never brought myself to speak to you in such a tone, but your behaviour... your last action...” The father looked out of the window and did not speak.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Go to, then, my friend, said he, and relate your matter unto me from point to point, according to the real truth, or else, by cock’s body, if I find you to lie so much as in one word, I will make you shorter by the head, and take it from off your shoulders to show others by your example that in justice and judgment men ought to speak nothing but the truth.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

And as she did not stir nor answer, the same power moved my lips in spite of me and I said, "I, who am unworthy of the lightest of your thoughts, I who abuse hospitality and repay your gentle courtesy with bold presumption, I love you."
— from The King in Yellow by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

We have a rendezvous, you remember, at the Place Royale.”
— from Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas

Keep it in your hand and rest your hand on your knee.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

What in the name of wonder, are you going about, jumping over my master's hedges, and running your lines cross his grounds?
— from The History of John Bull by John Arbuthnot

Finally, that some substantiality, and no empty simulacrum of a formula, would have been the result realised by him: a result you could have loved, a result you could have hated; by no likelihood, a result you could only have rejected with closed lips, and swept into quick forgetfulness for ever.
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle

Sweet is the odour of the morning's flower, And rich in melody her accents rise; Yet dearer to my soul the shadowy hour, At which her blossoms close, her music dies— For then, while languid nature droops her head, She wakes the tear 'tis luxury to shed.
— from Poems (1786), Volume I. by Helen Maria Williams

‘If he were younger, it might be cruel, but as it is—harkee, Mr. Bray, he’ll die soon, and leave her a rich young widow!
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

I thank Heaven that I did so; for from this hour I shall honor and regard you as a brother."
— from Joseph II. and His Court: An Historical Novel by L. (Luise) Mühlbach

I know very little of the world, and perhaps you are better fitted to advise me in its affairs than I am qualified to give advice to you; but I am very sincere, and I have a reason (you have not forgotten it) for loving you.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

The doctor, perceiving the painful effect this scene had produced upon Madame George, said to her, "Happily, madame, we are going to find Morel, and, if my hopes are realized, your heart will expand with joy on seeing this excellent man restored to the tenderness of his wife and daughter."
— from Mysteries of Paris — Volume 03 by Eugène Sue

I honor and respect you, in case you have properly represented everything to me.
— from A Successful Shadow; Or, A Detective's Successful Quest by Old Sleuth

she has beauty enough to call in question her wit or virtue, and her form would make a starved hermit a ravisher; yet her virtue and conduct would preserve her from the subtle lust of a pampered prelate.
— from William Wycherley [Four Plays] by William Wycherley

I should be much interested in hearing and reading your remarks upon that society.
— from Correspondence & Conversations of Alexis de Tocqueville with Nassau William Senior from 1834 to 1859, Volume 2 by Nassau William Senior