What is filled with more real existence, and actually has a more real existence, is more really filled than that which is filled with less real existence and is less real?
— from The Republic by Plato

Her eyes were large blue wondering eyes, looking straight at you; her nose was unformed and snub, and her lips were red and dewy; she wore her hair, too, in little rows of curls, which heightened this appearance.
— from Cranford by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell

At least it resembles Illinois more than it does any other State of our Union, in that its length runs north and south, and its average length and width are nearer that of Illinois than any other.
— from The American Occupation of the Philippines 1898-1912 by James H. (James Henderson) Blount

One day, after the lapse of nearly a month, Adrian received a letter from a friend in London, requesting his immediate presence for the furtherance of some important object.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

I promised never to give a glance to Veronique, of whom I was already afraid, but I loved Rosalie and would have done anything to save her the least grief.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

[31] Let me now transport the reader to the citadel pinnacle of Kumbhalmer, [32] thence surveying the range running north to Ajmer, where, shortly after, it loses its tabular form, and breaking into lofty ridges, sends numerous branches through the Shaikhavati federation, and Alwar, till in low heights it terminates at Delhi.
— from Annals and Antiquities of Rajasthan, v. 1 of 3 or the Central and Western Rajput States of India by James Tod

Both his parents died young, but Marcus held them in loving remembrance.
— from Meditations by Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius

And when I looked round, everybody, even the village boys, were spellbound."
— from Brothers: The True History of a Fight Against Odds by Horace Annesley Vachell

"You have been playing the devil at a great rate," he said, "You have disobeyed your brother and your king; have disgraced yourself; have probably made trouble between us and France, for if Louis refuses to take you now I will cram you down his throat; and by your own story have led a good man to the block.
— from When Knighthood Was in Flower or, the Love Story of Charles Brandon and Mary Tudor the King's Sister, and Happening in the Reign of His August Majesty King Henry the Eighth by Charles Major

“Chaque année, dit l’Article 28 de ce Décret, les Commissaires de District dresseront dans les limites de l’Article 2 du présent Règlement (c’est-à-dire dans la limite de quarante heures de travail par mois par indigène), les rôles des prestations à fournir, en espèce et en durée de travail par chacun des indigènes résidant dans les territoires de leur district respectif.”
— from Correspondence and Report from His Majesty's Consul at Boma Respecting the Administration of the Independent State of the Congo [and Further Correspondence] by Roger Casement

On it lay Red Wull.
— from Bob, Son of Battle by Alfred Ollivant

Plant freely in light, rich soil, in a shady position or under trees.
— from Gardening for the Million by Alfred Pink