[The Chinese traveller, translated by M. Gueluy ( Desc. de la Chine occid. p. 53), speaks of Bolor, to the west of Yarkand, inhabited by Mahomedans who live in huts; the country is sandy and rather poor.
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Rustichello of Pisa

Why should he have put himself in such a ridiculous position?
— from The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Charles Dudley Warner

My uncle, who is really a Don Quixote in generosity, understanding that Lismahago’s real reason for leaving Scotland was the impossibility of subsisting in it with any decency upon the wretched provision of a subaltern’s half-pay, began to be warmly interested on the side of compassion.—He thought it very hard, that a gentleman who had served his country with honour, should be driven by necessity to spend his old age, among the refuse of mankind, in such a remote part of the world.—He discoursed with me upon the subject; observing, that he would willingly offer the lieutenant an asylum at Brambleton-hall, if he did not foresee that his singularities and humour of contradiction would render him an intolerable housemate, though his conversation at some times might be both instructive and entertaining: but, as there seemed to be something particular in his attention to Mrs Tabitha, he and I agreed in opinion, that this intercourse should be encouraged and improved, if possible, into a matrimonial union; in which case there would be a comfortable provision for both; and they might be settled in a house of their own, so that Mr Bramble should have no more of their company than he desired.
— from The Expedition of Humphry Clinker by T. (Tobias) Smollett

When the government, in order to remedy the inconveniencies of a dearth, orders all the dealers to sell their corn at what it supposes a reasonable price, it either hinders them from bringing it to market, which may sometimes produce a famine even in the beginning of the season; or, if they bring it thither, it enables the people, and thereby encourages them to consume it so fast as must necessarily produce a famine before the end of the season.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

And yet the figures of Insurance Societies and the utterances of Judges reassure us daily that our earthly paradise is still a rich preserve, where the wild raiders, Beauty and Passion, come stealing in, filching security from beneath our noses.
— from The Forsyte Saga, Volume I. The Man Of Property by John Galsworthy

At Nagoya, in an old house, I saw a remarkable partition of dark cedar, in which a circular window, five feet in diameter, was occupied by a panel of thin cedar, in which was a perforated design of waves; the drawing was of the most graceful description.
— from Japanese Homes and Their Surroundings by Edward Sylvester Morse

If ever I'm caught in such a ridiculous position as this, may I be— Mrs. G. ( goes to table ).
— from The Exhibition Drama Comprising Drama, Comedy, and Farce, Together with Dramatic and Musical Entertainments by George M. (George Melville) Baker

16 It succeeded a respectable pro-Canning and pro-Queen-Caroline weekly, to which Disraeli seems to have contributed as a lad also.
— from Disraeli: A Study in Personality and Ideas by Walter Sichel