And if the boy have not a woman’s gift To rain a shower of commanded tears, An onion will do well for such a shift, Which, in a napkin being close convey’d, Shall in despite enforce a watery eye.
— from The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare

After much good advice and other talk I home and danced with Pembleton, and then the barber trimmed me, and so to dinner, my wife and I having high words about her dancing to that degree that I did enter and make a vow to myself not to oppose her or say anything to dispraise or correct her therein as long as her month lasts, in pain of 2s.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

[207] The praise is doubtless extravagant, and the criticism somewhat intemperate; but when we have read "The Evening Star," "Memory," "Night," "Love," "To the Muses," "Spring," "Summer," "The Tiger," "The Lamb," "The Clod and the Pebble," we may possibly share Swinburne's enthusiasm.
— from English Literature Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English-Speaking World by William J. (William Joseph) Long

—This species is not used medicinally in the Philippines, but in India is given for its diuretic effect and has great repute in the treatment of genito-urinary diseases, dropsy and gonorrhœa.
— from The Medicinal Plants of the Philippines by T. H. (Trinidad Hermenegildo) Pardo de Tavera

By no means!’ ‘You may remember that the day I arrived in London, and found the house to which I drove, empty and deserted, I was directed by some of the neighbours to you, and waited upon you without stopping for rest or refreshment?’
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

[27] Of the Khairavi from Mandor we can only say that it appears to be a branch of the Pramaras (who reckoned Mandor one of the nine strongholds, ‘ Nau-kot ,’ under its dominion), established anterior to the Pariharas, who at this period had sovereignty in Kashmir.
— from Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 1 of 3 or the Central and Western Rajput States of India by James Tod

When his arrival was announced at the castle, Montoni did not believe, that he would have presumed to shew himself, unless he had meant to fulfil his engagement, and he, therefore, readily admitted him; but the enraged countenance and expressions of Morano, as he entered the apartment, instantly undeceived him; and, when Montoni had explained, in part, the motives of his abrupt departure from Venice, the Count still persisted in demanding Emily, and reproaching Montoni, without even naming the former stipulation.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

The text varies in different editions, and is obviously disturbed and corrupt to a great degree; it is commonly said to have been a juvenile essay of Homer's genius; others have attributed it to the same Pigrees mentioned above, and whose reputation for humour seems to have invited the appropriation of any piece of ancient wit, the author of which was uncertain; so little did the Greeks, before the age of the Ptolemies, know or care about that department of criticism employed in determining the genuineness of ancient writings.
— from The Odyssey by Homer

we have three days provisions only in Store and that of the most inferior dried Elk a little tainted.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark

But when he dies the ngai , being liberated, also incarnates itself in the bodies of the children; if there are several children it is divided equally among them.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim

Whenever I go out in the yard my feet always feel like they are twistin' over and I can't stop 'em; my legs and knees feel like somethin' is drawin' 'em, and my head starts swimmin'.
— from Slave Narratives: a Folk History of Slavery in the United States From Interviews with Former Slaves Georgia Narratives, Part 4 by United States. Work Projects Administration

"In disguise!" exclaimed Amzi.
— from The Days of Mohammed by Anna May Wilson

As I spoke I returned Miss O'Neil's letter to its decorated envelope, and replaced the two in the bag.
— from Against Odds: A Detective Story by Lawrence L. Lynch

But he took it in dead earnest, and honestly thinks we have a chance.
— from Doubloons—and the Girl by John Maxwell Forbes

It sparked, it ignited, it did everything a perfect automobile should do, just as a perfect automobile should do it.
— from The Adventures of a Suburbanite by Ellis Parker Butler

It is not till twenty that we learn to be in deadly earnest and to laugh.
— from The Story of an African Farm by Olive Schreiner

The spiritual influence is not so active with them, but they acknowledge that such influences do exist and their attitude is respectful to them, whereas before the establishment of the League they were contemptuous and scornful.
— from After Prison--What? by Maud Ballington Booth

I does 'em all in pencil, and puts a little color on their faces, but all the rest in pencil,—d'ye see?'—'Yes; but do you make a good living?'—'Well, not much of that; I used to earn a good deal more money when I did portraits at sixpence each than I do now.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 03, No. 19, May, 1859 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

And if over all who desert its entertainments in disgust either at their emptiness or their formality, society thus loses its salutary influence—if such not only fail to receive that moral culture which the company of ladies, when rationally regulated, would give them, but, in default of other relaxation, are driven into habits and companionships which often end in gambling and drunkenness; must we not say that here, too, is an evil not to be passed over as insignificant?
— from Essays on Education and Kindred Subjects Everyman's Library by Herbert Spencer