A man before all—myself, typical, before all. Give me the pay I have served for, Give me to sing the songs of the great Idea, take all the rest, I have loved the earth, sun, animals, I have despised riches, I have given aims to every one that ask'd, stood up for the stupid and crazy, devoted my income and labor to others, Hated tyrants, argued not concerning God, had patience and indulgence toward the people, taken off my hat to nothing known or unknown, Gone freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young, and with the mothers of families, Read these leaves to myself in the open air, tried them by trees, stars, rivers, Dismiss'd whatever insulted my own soul or defiled my body, Claim'd nothing to myself which I have not carefully claim'd for others on the same terms, Sped to the camps, and comrades found and accepted from every State, (Upon this breast has many a dying soldier lean'd to breathe his last, This arm, this hand, this voice, have nourish'd, rais'd, restored, To life recalling many a prostrate form;) I am willing to wait to be understood by the growth of the taste of myself, Rejecting none, permitting all. (Say O Mother, have I not to your thought been faithful?
— from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

“Well, my Holly,” she continued, “and so those people of mine have found a prophet, a false prophet thou sayest, for he is not thine own, and, indeed, I doubt it not.
— from She by H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard

They’re crocuses an’ snowdrops, an’ these here is narcissuses,” turning to another patch, “an here’s daffydowndillys.
— from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

If a soldier has fought a good many campaigns, he is not to be blamed if he retires to ease and tranquillity.
— from Boswell's Life of Johnson Abridged and edited, with an introduction by Charles Grosvenor Osgood by James Boswell

For honor is not the opinion people have of particular qualities which a man may happen to possess exclusively: it is rather the opinion they have of the qualities which a man may be expected to exhibit, and to which he should not prove false.
— from The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer: the Wisdom of Life by Arthur Schopenhauer

judging by the manner in which he speaks, is it possible that he is not telling the truth?
— from The Imaginary Invalid by Molière

It mattered not whether she were angel or demon; he was irrevocably within her sphere, and must obey the law that whirled him onward, in ever-lessening circles, towards a result which he did not attempt to foreshadow; and yet, strange to say, there came across him a sudden doubt whether this intense interest on his part were not delusory; whether it were really of so deep and positive a nature as to justify him in now thrusting himself into an incalculable position; whether it were not merely the fantasy of a young man's brain, only slightly or not at all connected with his heart.
— from Mosses from an Old Manse, and Other Stories by Nathaniel Hawthorne

and I did meet my cozen Dr. Tom Pepys, and there a great many and some high words on both sides, but I must confess I was troubled; first, to find my cozen Roger such a simple but well-meaning man as he is; next to think that my father, out of folly and vain glory, should now and then (as by their words I gather) be speaking how he had set up his son Tom with his goods and house, and now these words are brought against him—I fear to the depriving him of all the profit the poor man intended to make of the lease of his house and sale of his owne goods.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

But it is impossible that God should ever be the end, if He is not the beginning.
— from Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal

I reply, this cannot be, for then why does Mars shine with his wonted rednesse, when he is neere the Moone?
— from The Discovery of a World in the Moone Or, A Discovrse Tending To Prove That 'Tis Probable There May Be Another Habitable World In That Planet by John Wilkins

Mr. S. urged that these were certainly peculiar and pressing cases, and that it would be highly impolitic not to protect such people.
— from Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 1 (of 16) by United States. Congress

And, since he is now the head of the De Peyster family, the first thing he did on hearing the news was to arrange by cable to have your body sent here."
— from No. 13 Washington Square by Leroy Scott

On the following morning, shortly after daybreak, Rebolledo Williams began his preparations for a further bombardment of Iquique; but, just as he was on the point of opening fire, the Blanco Encalada’s yeoman of signals presented himself with a report that the Chilian gunboat Magellanes —a vessel of 772 tons displacement and of eleven knots speed—had just made her appearance in the bay, coming up from the southward, and flying the signal, “Have important news to communicate.”
— from Under the Chilian Flag: A Tale of War between Chili and Peru by Harry Collingwood

Every night-time before he goes to sleep he listens for the footsteps of his groom and if he is not there he signifies his disapproval by pawing, whinneying, etc., and generally keeps it up until Jasper returns and talks to him.
— from The Story of Captain, the Horse with the Human Brain by George Wharton James

Is this becoming, to strike him when he is not touching thee?
— from Four Arthurian Romances by Chrétien, de Troyes, active 12th century

"Only the eyes have I not touched," the Veronese explained; "for thou hast made them more soulful than even unto me they seemed, and thus have I read thy secret."
— from A Golden Book of Venice by Turnbull, Lawrence, Mrs.

No, nor Hector is not Troilus in some degrees.
— from The History of Troilus and Cressida by William Shakespeare

Have I not told you my name?
— from Two Women or One? From the Mss. of Dr. Leonard Benary by Henry Harland