In all the temples bright and fair As white clouds towering in the air, In streets, and where the cross-ways met, Where holy fig-trees had been set, In open square, in sacred shade, Where merchants' shops their wealth displayed, On all the mansions of the great, And householders of wealth and state, Where'er the people loved to meet, Where'er a tree adorned the street, Gay banners floated to the wind, And ribands round the staves were twined.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

She would have accused herself of weakness and ingratitude in thus suffering a sense of the various blessings she possessed to be overcome by that of a single misfortune, had this misfortune affected herself alone; but, when she had wept for Valancourt even as living, tears of compassion had mingled with those of regret, and while she lamented a human being degraded to vice, and consequently to misery, reason and humanity claimed these tears, and fortitude had not yet taught her to separate them from those of love; in the present moments, however, it was not the certainty of his guilt, but the apprehension of his death (of a death also, to which she herself, however innocently, appeared to have been in some degree instrumental) that oppressed her.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

It is amusing to see her occasionally return to her old ways and indulge in childish mirth and then suddenly check herself, with silent lips, downcast eyes, and rosy blushes; neither child nor woman, she may well partake of both.
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

I had often watched a large dog of ours eating his food; and I now noticed a decided similarity between the dog's way of eating, and the man's.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

There are in reality not only, as is so constantly assumed, two alternatives—town life and country life—but a third alternative, in which all the advantages of the most energetic and active town life, with all the beauty and delight of the country, may be secured in perfect combination; and the certainty of being able to live this life will be the magnet which will produce the effect for which we are all striving—the spontaneous movement of the people from our crowded cities to the bosom of our kindly mother earth, at once the source of life, of happiness, of wealth, and of power.
— from Garden Cities of To-Morrow Being the Second Edition of "To-Morrow: a Peaceful Path to Real Reform" by Howard, Ebenezer, Sir

Yet with all this 'rejoicing' probably not one of these papers would advocate placing the ballot in the hands of woman as the easiest, quickest and most efficient way of enabling her to secure not only this but other reforms.
— from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many From Her Contemporaries During Fifty Years by Ida Husted Harper

Nevertheless, on the second day, he thought of his young wife whom he had left without knowing if he should see her again, of his baby of six months old which she was suckling, and which he had not kissed for so many hours, of that beloved hearth, of which at certain moments one feels an absolute need to obtain a fleeting glimpse, he could no longer resist; arrest, Mazas, the cell, the hulks, the firing party, all vanished, the idea of danger was obliterated, he went home.
— from The History of a Crime The Testimony of an Eye-Witness by Victor Hugo

'I hope not,' said Eugene; 'my father having been a shipper of lime before me, and my grandfather before him—in fact we having been a family immersed to the crowns of our heads in lime during several generations—I beg to observe that if this missing lime could be got hold of without any young female relative of any distinguished gentleman engaged in the lime
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

She reached Rochester on the morning of election day, and went at once to the home of William and Mary Hallowell, that home whose doors never were closed to her, where for more than fifty years she was welcome day or night, where she always turned for advice, assistance and sympathy and ever found them in the fullest measure.
— from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many From Her Contemporaries During Fifty Years by Ida Husted Harper

When the two girls came downstairs, smiling, and with their arms about each other, Mr. Hepworth went to meet them, and drew Christine’s arm through his own with an unmistakable air of proprietorship.
— from Patty's Social Season by Carolyn Wells

The old dull round of things" shall be hewers of wood and drawers of water to the end of the days.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 14, No. 81, July, 1864 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

She wore a black jacket and skirt, well worn but in good preservation, a hat with red flowers, and grey woollen gloves; and any person of ordinary discernment would have guessed her occupation without a great deal of difficulty.
— from A Man from the North by Arnold Bennett

But the constant habit of wearing arms is probably only a substitute for the courage they do not possess.
— from Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa by David Livingstone

prohibited in France and in all Christian countries, and that it was only permitted in such haunts of wickedness as Monte Carlo."
— from Between the Dark and the Daylight by Richard Marsh

All other things had failed; his old habits of work and scheme, his successes, his ever-growing fortune, they were all as nothing.
— from Two Little Pilgrims' Progress: A Story of the City Beautiful by Frances Hodgson Burnett

The Chinaman seemed much relieved at the privilege accorded him of walking, and with his small bundle prepared to take his place in the procession.
— from Ben's Nugget; Or, A Boy's Search For Fortune by Alger, Horatio, Jr.