The man eagerly attended to his discourse, imagining that he was about to hear some great secrets.
— from Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch

Yield my boon, Till which I scarce can yield you all I am; And grant my re-reiterated wish, The great proof of your love: because I think, However wise, ye hardly know me yet.'
— from Idylls of the King by Tennyson, Alfred Tennyson, Baron

“I think,” he said, looking at her steadily, “that you could give me a pretty good notion of what’s going on if you liked.”
— from The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale by Joseph Conrad

Helen is invited to all the children's entertainments, and I take her to as many as I can.
— from The Story of My Life With her letters (1887-1901) and a supplementary account of her education, including passages from the reports and letters of her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, by John Albert Macy by Helen Keller

“Go to the ant; consider her ways, and be wise, which, having no guide, overseer, or ruler, provideth her meat in the summer and gathereth her food in the harvest.”
— from Baron Trump's Marvellous Underground Journey by Ingersoll Lockwood

[1524] to make it yellow, but by that means tarrying too long in the heat, she inflamed her head, and made herself mad.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

The tradition in Boston used to be, that some of the streets there followed the line of accidental cow-paths formed in the olden time in the uncleared bush; and no doubt other old American towns, like ancient European towns generally, exhibit, in the direction of their thoroughfares, occasionally, traces of casual circumstances in the history of the first settlers on their respective sites.
— from Toronto of Old Collections and recollections illustrative of the early settlement and social life of the capital of Ontario by Henry Scadding

In a word, I so plainly discovered the utmost affection in him to me, and a firm resolution in him, that I told him then and often after, that I would never send him away from me if he was willing to stay with me.
— from The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

He gave a private audience to the ambassadors, who, in the name of the senate and people, conjured him to deliver Rome from a detested tyrant; and without regarding the timid remonstrances of his council, he resolved to prevent the enemy, and to carry the war into the heart of Italy.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

We cannot afford to lose our alternative route to India and to throw these great territories into the hands of enemies, from which they would very probably pass into those of commercial rivals.
— from The Last Boer War by H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard

He's gone; and on his finger bears my signet, Which is to him a sceptre.
— from The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 5 Poetry by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron

They could hear a dove in the high trees near them, crooning a song of peace and infinite content.
— from Watersprings by Arthur Christopher Benson

Don’t you see that the water runs into the hole at such a rate that there’s a tree-mendous eddy that would sweep any man off his legs—” “But you’re goin’ to swim, you know,” interrupted his friend, “an’ have got to be off your legs anyhow!”
— from Charlie to the Rescue by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne

So Tutt, though hand and glove in his office with the most notorious of the elite of Longacre Square, came home to supper with the naiveté and innocence of a theological student for whom an evening at a picture show is the height of dissipation.
— from Tutt and Mr. Tutt by Arthur Cheney Train

His mother, Helvia, was a woman who, in the dignity of her life and the simplicity of her desires, set an example to the matrons of Rome, multitudes of whom, in the highest circles, lived in an atmosphere of daily intrigue and almost yearly divorce.
— from Darkness and Dawn; Or, Scenes in the Days of Nero. An Historic Tale by F. W. (Frederic William) Farrar

His object in forming this connection was to gain an opportunity of becoming acquainted with the duties of a gentleman’s servant, and in this he has succeeded.
— from Vivian Grey by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

Again, as formerly, did the Baron listen, lest a shot should tell of the discovery of the fugitive, whom in truth he cared for as little as for that other, and yet for whose safety he trembled.
— from Castle Hohenwald: A Romance by Adolf Streckfuss

If some endowed with strong Understandings as Men, abide not in the harmonious State, in which we love our Neighbours as ourselves , but walk in that Spirit in which the Children of this World are wise in their Generation; these by the Strength of Contrivance may sometimes gather great Treasure, but the Wisdom of this World is Foolishness with God; and if we gather Treasures in Worldly Wisdom, we lay up Treasures for ourselves ; and great Treasures managed in any other Spirit, than the Spirit of Truth, disordereth the Affairs of Society, for hereby the good Gifts of God in this outward Creation are turned into the Channels of Worldly Honour, and frequently applied to support Luxury, while the Wages
— from The Journal, with Other Writings of John Woolman by John Woolman

Sir J. E. Smith tells us that the beaus of Italy are accustomed in an evening to adorn the heads of the ladies with these artificial diamonds, by sticking them into their hair; and a similar custom, as I have before informed you [691] , prevails amongst the ladies of India.
— from An Introduction to Entomology: Vol. 2 or Elements of the Natural History of the Insects by William Kirby