The sit-down supper at a ball is served exactly like a dinner—or a wedding breakfast; and the buffet supper of a dance is like the buffet of a wedding reception.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post

It sounded exactly like a pig being killed a quarter of a mile off.
— from The Railway Children by E. (Edith) Nesbit

Similarly, if I say, "Either love me or hate me," "Either call my theory true or call it false," your option is avoidable.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James

I shall be fifty years old by then, and sound and hearty still; I shall enjoy life after my own fashion.
— from Father Goriot by Honoré de Balzac

My original habits of frugality continuing, and my father having, among his instructions to me when a boy, frequently repeated a proverb of Solomon, "Seest thou a man diligent in his calling, he shall stand before kings, he shall not stand before mean men," I from thence considered industry as a means of obtaining wealth and distinction, which encourag'd me, tho' I did not think that I should ever literally stand before kings , which, however, has since happened; for I have stood before five , and even had the honor of sitting down with one, the King of Denmark, to dinner.
— from Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

If I should ever lose thee— Horrible thought!
— from Poems by Victor Hugo

I had pictured something rather different, and thought I should experience livelier impressions from the active theatre life of Rudolstadt, to which I felt strongly attracted.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner

“I can’t pretend that I shall ever like him,” said the lawyer.
— from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

As oft for one brief second The veil through which those infinite offers beckoned Has seemed to tremble, letting through Some swift intolerable view Of vistas past the sense of mortal seeing, So oft, as one whose stricken eyes might see In ferny dells the rustic deity, I stood, like him, possessed, and all my being, Flooded an instant with unwonted light, Quivered with cosmic passion; whether then On woody pass or glistening mountain-height I walked in fellowship with winds and clouds, Whether in cities and the throngs of men, A curious saunterer through friendly crowds, Enamored of the glance in passing eyes, Unuttered salutations, mute replies, — In every character where light of thine Has shed on earthly things the hue of things divine I sought eternal Loveliness, and seeking, If ever transport crossed my brow bespeaking Such fire as a prophetic heart might feel Where simple worship blends in fervent zeal, It was the faith that only love of thee Needed in human hearts for Earth to see Surpassed the vision poets have held dear Of joy diffused in most communion here; That whomsoe'er thy visitations warmed, Lover of thee in all thy rays informed, Needed no difficulter discipline To seek his right to happiness within Than, sensible of Nature's loveliness, To yield him to the generous impulses By such a sentiment evoked.
— from Poems by Alan Seeger

It’s all a howen to my having a twin brother, vich has wrongfully got into trouble, and vich is so exactly like me, that no one ever knows the difference atween us.’
— from In Jail with Charles Dickens by Alfred Trumble

“Yes, sir; in that case I shall equally lament my fate and yours, for both of us are deceived and deprived of sweet hopes.
— from Louisa of Prussia and Her Times: A Historical Novel by L. (Luise) Mühlbach

Adair (there was no clue to the personality except the handwriting) had sent in some essays (lost art!)
— from Strictly Business: More Stories of the Four Million by O. Henry

But the turbulent spirit excited by this distress did not now confine itself to single outbreaks of violence, but, under the guidance of some demagogues of a more methodical turn of mind than usual, developed itself in a systematic organization having for its object what they called "the people's charter," which aimed at a total revolution of the existing parliamentary system, with the avowed design that, when adopted, it should eventually lead to an entire reconstruction of the government.
— from The Constitutional History of England from 1760 to 1860 by Charles Duke Yonge

You must immediately repair to Fanny—tell her my affection is unabated—tell her I shall ever love her, and make her such pecuniary offers, as shall convince her of my esteem and affection; but we must meet no more.
— from The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor Vol I, No. 2, February 1810 by Samuel James Arnold

“Sparrow,” I said easily, “luck being with us as usual, I have fallen in with a party of rovers.
— from To Have and to Hold by Mary Johnston

The ill manners of turning up their bare backs to us gave us no great offence; neither did I know for certain whether that which would pass for the greatest contempt among us might be understood so by them or not; therefore, in return, I had only resolved to have fired four or five guns at them with powder only, which I knew would frighten them sufficiently: but when they shot at us directly with all the fury they were capable of, and especially as they had killed my poor Friday, whom I so entirely loved and valued, and who, indeed, so well deserved it, I thought myself not only justifiable before God and man, but would have been very glad if I could have overset every canoe there, and drowned every one of them.
— from The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe (1808) by Daniel Defoe

“And I,” said Ethel low and tremulously, “will pray, pray that, if the will of God be so, we may be speedily brought together; and prayer moves the Arm that moves the universe.”
— from Signing the Contract, and What It Cost by Martha Finley