Columella, who reports this judgment of Democritus, does not controvert it, but proposes a very frugal method of inclosing with a hedge of brambles and briars, which he says he had found by experience to be both a lasting and an impenetrable fence; but which, it seems, was not commonly known in the time of Democritus.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Their hands are folded upon their knees in token of weariness and their eyes are darkened for the errors of men go up before them for ever as dark vapours.
— from A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce

He wanted to write to beg his mother, for the sake of the merciful God in whom she believed, that she would give shelter and bring a little warmth and kindness into the life of the unhappy woman who, by his doing, had been disgraced and was in solitude, poverty, and weakness, that she would forgive and forget everything, everything, everything, and by her sacrifice atone to some extent for her son’s terrible sin.
— from The Duel and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Hendon gave him a sign, and he did not pursue his question, but went on with his budget— “The late King is to be buried at Windsor in a day or two—the 16th of the month—and the new King will be crowned at Westminster the 20th.”
— from The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain

But knowledge isn't to be got with paying sixpence, let me tell you.
— from Adam Bede by George Eliot

"Well, right in the beginning," I said, "I should like to know if the woman loved the man—" She stared at me and then she stood up.
— from The Gay Cockade by Temple Bailey

“God knows I trust Lise to you with all my heart, and it's no matter her sending for you on the sly, without telling her mother.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

You will know it by a remarkable knot in the wood, and by its being the next board, except one, to the wainscot, which fronts the door.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

This, of course, was nonsense; but it was proof to the unhappy Hook that Peter did not know in the least who or what he was, which is the very pinnacle of good form.
— from Peter Pan by J. M. (James Matthew) Barrie

Now, inly delighted with desire, My body knows itself to be nought else But thy heart's worship of me; and my soul Therein is sunlight held by warm gold air.
— from Emblems Of Love by Lascelles Abercrombie

It is true he wrote at first: "I have brought Gluck over to our side, and even if he is not quite sincere, he has to keep it to himself, for his patrons are also ours;" but later he says, in plain language: "So far, all the composers, with Gluck as their leader, have left no stone unturned to hinder the progress of this opera."
— from Life of Mozart, Vol. 1 (of 3) by Otto Jahn

N——, July 12, 19—. Dear Mrs. Madden:— I should have been delighted to accept your kind invitation to stay with you for a few days, but I have arranged to go down to Newport on Friday next, with my sister-in-law, which will, I am sorry to say, prevent my coming to you just now.
— from The New Century Standard Letter-Writer Business, Family and Social Correspondence, Love-Letters, Etiquette, Synonyms, Legal Forms, Etc. by Alfred B. Chambers

Most people talk at their children whenever they begin to talk to them, and thus, without knowing it, they nauseate their children with their conversation altogether.
— from Bunyan Characters (1st Series) by Alexander Whyte

It was just as well, since clear-seed fruit, peeled, shrinks unconscionably—to small scrawny knots, inclined to be sticky—though it is but just [242] to add, that in cooking, it comes back to almost its original succulence.
— from Dishes & Beverages of the Old South by Martha McCulloch-Williams

Kitty, in the freshest of morning dresses, was sitting on his bed like a perching bird, waiting impatiently till his eyes should open and she could ask him his opinion on her dress for the ball.
— from The Marriage of William Ashe by Ward, Humphry, Mrs.

That is going rather far, and I hardly subscribe to it, but I think they should be kept in their place.”
— from Shadow Mountain by Dane Coolidge

Desmond appointed Kilmacthomas in the County of Waterford as the place of meeting, and professed perfect confidence in the Earl and readiness to be guided by him.
— from Ireland under the Tudors, with a Succinct Account of the Earlier History. Vol. 2 (of 3) by Richard Bagwell

As a sequel to this peace, Henri II. held a great tournament at Paris, at which he was accidentally slain by a Scottish knight in the lists.
— from Court Memoirs of France Series — Complete by Various