How or by what means—for I scorn to sully her cause by falsehood or deceit—I do not know; at present I do not know, but I am not alone or single-handed in this business.
— from Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens

One Sunday afternoon, while I was at San Diego, an Indian was sitting on his horse, when another, with whom he had had some difficulty, came up to him, drew a long knife, and plunged it directly into the horse's heart.
— from Two Years Before the Mast by Richard Henry Dana

Again, to mark the nice distinction between two persons actuated by the same vice or folly is another; and, as this last talent is found in very few writers, so is the true discernment of it found in as few readers; though, I believe, the observation of this forms a very principal pleasure in those who are capable of the discovery; every person, for instance, can distinguish between Sir Epicure Mammon and Sir Fopling Flutter; but to note the difference between Sir Fopling Flutter and Sir Courtly Nice requires a more exquisite judgment: for want of which, vulgar spectators of plays very often do great injustice in the theatre; where I have sometimes known a poet in danger of being convicted as a thief, upon much worse evidence than the resemblance of hands hath been held to be in the law.
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

"If I do make it my choice, then you shall know; at present I dare not speak, even think of it."
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

If Panormus, Cyprus or Paphos hold thee, Either home of Gods or the island temple, Hark again and come at my invocation, Goddess benefic; Come thou, foam-born Kypris, and pour in dainty Cups of amber gold thy delicate nectar, Subtly mixed with fire that will swiftly kindle Love in our bosoms; Thus the bowl ambrosial was stirred in Paphos For the feast, and taking the burnished ladle, Hermes poured the wine for the Gods who lifted Reverent beakers;
— from The Poems of Sappho: An Interpretative Rendition into English by Sappho

He applied his fingers to the knob, and pressed it down forcibly.
— from The Monk: A Romance by M. G. (Matthew Gregory) Lewis

"Why, then, I am partly in starched cambric, good mouse, if you must know, and partly in damask, and partly in taffeta of popinjay blue.
— from Judith Shakespeare: Her love affairs and other adventures by William Black

But next to London comes Sussex, I've seen 'em handsome enough in Kent and passable in Devonshire, but Sussex girls beat the best.
— from The Garden of Memories by Henry St. John Cooper

When you came here some time ago with the commission to engage Krethi and Plethi, I did not at all like the idea; I thought, however, that as you were coming here at all events, you could not through politeness decline this service.
— from Letters of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy from 1833 to 1847 by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

"Oh! never let him know how deep the brow "He kist at parting is dishonored now;— "Ne'er tell him how debased, how sunk is she.
— from The Complete Poems of Sir Thomas Moore Collected by Himself with Explanatory Notes by Thomas Moore

But I was also taken into interrogations again, and then I was confronted with other Norwegians, people I knew and people I did not know; and the most of them were badly treated.
— from Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremburg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946, Volume 6 by Various

She seizes the knife and puts it down again.
— from Woman on Her Own, False Gods and The Red Robe Three Plays By Brieux by Eugène Brieux

20 .—The threaded shuttle. Tie the long end of the wool to the first pin at the lower left-hand corner of the loom, on the long line, making a tight knot and pushing it down close to the board ( Fig. 21 ).
— from Indoor and Outdoor Recreations for Girls by Lina Beard