There are four natures out of which the body is compacted, earth and fire and water and air, and the unnatural excess or defect of these, or the change of any of them from its own natural place into another, or—since there are more kinds than one of fire and of the other elements—the assumption by any of these of a wrong kind, or any similar irregularity, produces disorders and diseases; for when any of them is produced or changed in a manner contrary to nature, the parts which were previously cool grow warm, and those which were dry become moist, and the light become heavy, and the heavy light; all sorts of changes occur.
— from Timaeus by Plato

But above my expectation most, the eldest Marshall did do her part most excellently well as I ever heard woman in my life; but her voice not so sweet as Ianthe’s; but, however, we came home mightily contented.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

He said, "It matters not where you live, but how you live."
— from Complete Prose Works Specimen Days and Collect, November Boughs and Goodbye My Fancy by Walt Whitman

The young gentleman, his friend, overjoyed as he was at a passage that had late befallen him, could not forbear to tell it his nearest neighbour.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce

It was not long before his wealth was greater than it had ever been before.
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Wilhelm Grimm

From thence having led back his victorious army, and being a man highly distinguished by his exploits, and one who could place them in the best light, went in state to the capitol, carrying before him, suspended on a frame curiously wrought for that purpose, the spoils of the enemy's general, whom he had slain, and there after he had laid them down at the foot of an oak held sacred by the shepherds, together with the offering, he marked out the bounds for a temple of Jupiter, and gave a surname to the god: "Jupiter Feretrius," he says, "I, king Romulus, upon my victory, present to thee these royal arms, and to thee I dedicate a temple within those regions which I have now marked out in my mind, as a receptacle for the grand spoils, which my suc [Pg 17] cessors, following my example, shall, upon their killing the kings or generals of the enemy, offer to thee."
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy

On one side of it was the terrible piece of ground in dispute, where Mr. Boythorn maintained a sentry in a smock-frock day and night, whose duty was supposed to be, in cases of aggression, immediately to ring a large bell hung up there for the purpose, to unchain a great bull-dog established in a kennel as his ally, and generally to deal destruction on the enemy.
— from Bleak House by Charles Dickens

There is too long a lecture by half: sell him if thou wilt; if thou won’t, don’t let the man lose more time.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

Musadieu pronounced the blonde Marquise de Lochrist incomparably charming, while Bertin esteemed as a beauty Madame Mandeliere, with her brunette complexion, low brow, her dusky eyes and somewhat large mouth, in which her teeth seemed to sparkle.
— from Strong as Death by Guy de Maupassant

I understand that he never met the Countess, though he had an interview with the Count not long before his death.
— from The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story by Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White

A sorry time it was; but sorrier days were to come, for they who plan things decided that Jim Lee, because he was an Indian, was not the proper person to take care of one who was dearer than all life to him.
— from Mary Lee the Red Cross Girl by Helen Hart

She had written an evasive reply, after a delay, an answer to his last letter begging her to come to him....
— from Mightier than the Sword by Alphonse Courlander

Never in his life before had he given a thought to his color.
— from A Little Dusky Hero by Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa) Comstock

It was the first time that Johnny had ever slept anywhere, excepting underground, and as he lay blinking his eyes, it seemed very strange and rather nice, too.
— from The Adventures of Johnny Chuck by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess

The endearments attached to that beloved and significant appellation are fled with departed time, and Bethlehem no longer beholds her in a situation to command respect, to excite envy, or to purchase attention.
— from Female Scripture Biography, Volume I by F. A. (Francis Augustus) Cox

As to himself, in all this heroism, he had gone so little beyond his natural disposition, that had it not been for the éclat of his glory in the eyes, the gestures, and the acclamations of every one, he would never have imagined that he had done a sublime action.
— from History of the Expedition to Russia Undertaken by the Emperor Napoleon in the Year 1812 by Ségur, Philippe-Paul, comte de

If a servant trod on him by accident, he had the man flogged, and took pleasure in hearing him cry out under the lashes, but he never laughed.
— from The Legend of Ulenspiegel, Volume 1 (of 2) And Lamme Goedzak, and their Adventures Heroical, Joyous and Glorious in the Land of Flanders and Elsewhere by Charles de Coster

Now this last barrier has been almost swept away.
— from The Unpopular Review Vol. I January-June 1914 by Various