" "Yes, I know," said the stork-papa; "but to-morrow I can easily place myself on the edge of the open cupola, when the learned and wise men assemble to consult on the state of the sick man; perhaps they may come a little nearer to the truth."
— from Fairy Tales of Hans Christian Andersen by H. C. (Hans Christian) Andersen

I cannot easily persuade myself that Epicurus, Plato, and Pytagoras, have given us their atom, idea and numbers, for current pay.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

He did every thing I wished, and I found, upon getting up, that I could easily pass my head and neck through the aperture.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition Table Of Contents And Index Of The Five Volumes by Edgar Allan Poe

Having been thus harassed in my thoughts, my old pilot, to whom I communicated everything, pressed me earnestly not to go by sea, but either to go by land to the Groyne, and cross over the Bay of Biscay to Rochelle, from whence it was but an easy and safe journey by land to Paris, and so to Calais and Dover; or to go up to Madrid, and so all the way by land through France.
— from The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

But if this second definition helps nothing towards laying a foundation for Ethics, if it cannot even pass muster as its leading principle, that is, as an adequate and direct summary of ethical precepts; it has nevertheless the merit of containing a fine aperçu of moral psychology, for it marks egoism by an exceedingly characteristic token, which is quite worth while being here more closely considered.
— from The Basis of Morality by Arthur Schopenhauer

My standing in drawing at the Military Academy had never been so high as to warrant the belief that I could ever prove myself an expert, but a few practical lessons in that line were impressed on me there, and I had retained enough to enable me to make rough maps that could be readily understood, and which would be suitable to replace the erroneous skeleton outlines of northern Mississippi, with which at this time we were scantily furnished; so as soon as possible I compiled for the use of myself and my regimental commanders an information map of the surrounding country.
— from Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, General, United States Army — Volume 1 by Philip Henry Sheridan

But I begin to be ashamed of this jocoseness when I call to mind on what day I am writing—the day which, combined with the succeeding one, the 1st of January, I consider, except perhaps my birthday, as the most important of the whole year.
— from Private Papers of William Wilberforce by William Wilberforce

I can even perceive myself over my partner's shoulder as I dance.
— from Nancy: A Novel by Rhoda Broughton

"I know not how I can ever prove my gratitude,—and for last night."
— from Captain Ravenshaw; Or, The Maid of Cheapside. A Romance of Elizabethan London by Robert Neilson Stephens

As regards prayers for the sick, if any medical fact can be considered to stand firm, it is that in certain environments prayer may contribute to recovery, and should be encouraged as a therapeutic measure.
— from The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature by William James

I know I am not too good to do it, as I thought I was before; but I have felt so dreadfully ever since I did it, I don't think I could ever punish myself so again."
— from Jessie's Parrot by Joanna H. (Joanna Hooe) Mathews

"Oh, in that case I can easily postpone my statement.
— from Dawn by H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard

From the very instant of its first existence, the mind is constantly exhibiting phenomena more and more complex,—sensations, thoughts, emotions, all mingling together, and almost every feeling modifying, in some greater or less degree, the feelings that succeed it;—and as, in chemistry, it often happens, that the qualities of the separate ingredients of a compound body are not recognizable by us, in the apparently different qualities of the compound itself,—so, in this spontaneous chemistry of the mind , the compound sentiment, that results from the association of former feelings, has, in many cases, on first consideration, so little resemblance to these constituents of it, as formerly existing in their elementary state, that it requires the most attentive reflection to separate, and evolve distinctly to others, the assemblages which even a few years may have produced.
— from Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind (Vol. 1 of 3) by Thomas Brown

Wednesday .—Our factotum has gone into town, and we are left in charge, E—— parlour-maid, Mr. B—— scullery-man, and I cook.
— from A Lady's Life on a Farm in Manitoba by M. G. C. (Mary Georgina Caroline) Hall

Why, I don’t believe I could even pull my sword out of its sheath!”
— from Crown and Sceptre: A West Country Story by George Manville Fenn