In answer to this, Motecusuma said he was quite willing to assemble all the grandees of his empire, and deliberate the matter with them: and after the space of ten days the greater part of the caziques from the surrounding districts assembled together, with the exception, however, of the cazique of Matlaltzinco, who was a near relation of Motecusuma, and considered a man of uncommon bravery; at least his demeanour and bodily frame fully bespoke it, and he was looked upon as Motecusuma's successor to the throne of Mexico.
— from The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2) Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain. by Bernal Díaz del Castillo

" "Drowne," said the true artist, grasping the carver fervently by the hand, "you are a man of genius!" As Copley departed, happening to glance backward from the threshold, he beheld Drowne bending over the half-created shape, and stretching forth his arms as if he would have embraced and drawn it to his heart; while, had such a miracle been possible, his countenance expressed passion enough to communicate warmth and sensibility to the lifeless oak.
— from Mosses from an Old Manse, and Other Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

return Footnote 8: was return Footnote 9: The Tragedy of Phædra and Hippolitus , acted without success in 1707, was the one play written by Mr. Edmund Smith, a merchant's son who had been educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, and who had ended a dissolute life at the age of 42 (in 1710), very shortly before this paper was written.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

No touch of sin would linger upon the hands with which he would elevate and break the host; no touch of sin would linger on his lips in prayer to make him eat and drink damnation to himself not discerning the body of the Lord.
— from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

and he might have learned it of Socrates, who, advising his disciples to be solicitous of their health as a chief study, added that it was hard if a man of sense, having a care to his exercise and diet, did not better know than any physician what was good or ill for him.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

Light multiplied his enjoyments, and darkness diminished them.
— from The Symbolism of Freemasonry Illustrating and Explaining Its Science and Philosophy, Its Legends, Myths and Symbols by Albert Gallatin Mackey

As belief is an act of the mind arising from custom, it is not strange the want of resemblance should overthrow what custom has established, and diminish the force of the idea, as much as that latter principle encreases it.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume

The march was opened by the military officers at the head of their troops: they were followed in long order by the magistrates and ministers of the civil government: the person of the emperor was guarded by his eunuchs and domestics, and at the church door he was solemnly received by the patriarch and his clergy.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

It sought to free itself, but he was strong in his entreaty, and detained it.
— from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Of his end and death he could learn no particulars, nor would he have ascertained it or known of it, if good fortune had not produced an old physician for him who had in his possession a leaden box, which, according to his account, had been discovered among the crumbling foundations of an ancient hermitage that was being rebuilt; in which box were found certain parchment manuscripts in Gothic character, but in Castilian verse, containing many of his achievements, and setting forth the beauty of Dulcinea, the form of Rocinante, the fidelity of Sancho Panza, and the burial of Don Quixote himself, together with sundry epitaphs and eulogies on his life and character; but all that could be read and deciphered were those which the trustworthy author of this new and unparalleled history here presents.
— from The History of Don Quixote, Volume 1, Complete by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

It mattered little to them that for a long course of years England had been the { 8} aggressor, and that Philip had exhausted all diplomatic and conciliatory means, including even secret murder, and the subornation of treason, in England, to arrive at a peaceful modus vivendi .
— from The Year after the Armada, and Other Historical Studies by Martin A. S. (Martin Andrew Sharp) Hume

Petrarch, the first scholar of the Revival, held him in high esteem, and drew from him much of his uncommon learning.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 05, No. 27, January, 1860 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

Happy effects are deliberately sought for.
— from A Hundred Years Hence: The Expectations of an Optimist by T. Baron Russell

I reprint here a circular, which is issued by Mr. Boissiere, and parts of a private note from him, in which, in March, 1874, he gave me some particulars of the progress of his enterprise: "A domain of more than three thousand acres, purchased about four years ago, and then called the 'Kansas Co-operative Farm,' but since named 'Silkville,' from the fact that the weaving of silk-velvet ribbons is one of its branches of industry, and silk-culture is contemplated, for which ten thousand mulberry-trees are now thriftily growing, having had two hundred and fifty acres subjected to cultivation, and several preliminary buildings erected upon it, it is now thought expedient to inform those who wish to take part in the associative enterprise for which the purchase was made, that the Subscribers, as its projectors, will be prepared to receive persons the ensuing spring, with a view to their becoming associated for that purpose.
— from The Communistic Societies of the United States From Personal Visit and Observation by Charles Nordhoff

If it was not for mother, I declare I’d wash my hands of her entirely, and do the best I could for myself.”
— from Proverb Stories by Louisa May Alcott

Two poor fellows had been killed, and fifteen mules were either dead or had to be shot; three men of the Army Service Corps were injured, one with a badly broken leg, and the others with concussion, &c., and two black mule-drivers had each a dreadfully smashed up arm.
— from A Nurse's Life in War and Peace by E. C. (Eleanor Constance) Laurence

She did not quite understand, and she was far from knowing that this cynic humor expressed a deadlier pessimis
— from Their Silver Wedding Journey — Complete by William Dean Howells

The king could not restrain his emotion, and D’Artagnan, even, was overcome.
— from Louise de la Valliere by Alexandre Dumas

We begin to comprehend the great problems of human existence and development; our science touches the infinitely removed, and apprehends the mysteries of macrocosmic organism: but we have lost the art of painting; for, when Eugene Delacroix died, the last painter (visible above the man) who understood Art as Titian understood it, and painted with such eyes as Veronese's, passed away, leaving no pupil or successor.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 74, December, 1863 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

Formerly these were subject to breakage, but improved methods have eliminated all danger in this direction.
— from Motors by James Slough Zerbe