If a retreating army should strive to protect its bridges either by regular têtes de font , or at least by lines of redoubts to cover the rear-guard, it is natural, also, that the enemy pursuing should use every effort to destroy the bridges.
— from The Art of War by Jomini, Antoine Henri, baron de

Let be, let be.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

But I must wander many a mile ere I could stand beneath the shadow of even one primeval tree, much less be lost among the multitude of hoary trunks and hidden from the earth and sky by the mystery of darksome foliage.
— from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne

Little by little the Ice Bank was turning into an ice field again.
— from Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Seas: An Underwater Tour of the World by Jules Verne

Nature is content with little, grace with less, but lust with nothing.
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

That dark story of the past fades little by little every day, and there may come a time in which the shadow my lady's wickedness has cast upon the young man's life will utterly vanish away.
— from Lady Audley's Secret by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon

Some people said there wasn't a movement, some said there was and lots of people had ideas about what it was called: Xnet, Little Brothers, Little Sisters, and my personal favorite, the United States of America.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

The three then sat in a row before Yee, coming little by little closer and closer to him.
— from Korean Folk Tales: Imps, Ghosts and Faries by Yuk Yi

A la Bourse, les annonces ont des effets mesurables en millions de dollars ou d'euros et déclenchent des impacts économiques et humains parfois très violents: rachats, ventes, hausses et baisses des valeurs, licenciements.
— from Entretiens / Interviews / Entrevistas by Marie Lebert

To this conclusion the study of the social evolution of living beings leads me.
— from The Prolongation of Life: Optimistic Studies by Elie Metchnikoff

not amused By that old nurse-taught game which gave the sprites Each one his title and career,—confused Belief 't was all long over with the flights From earth to heaven of hero, sage, and bard, And bade them once more strive for Fame's award? IV New long bright life!
— from The Complete Poetic and Dramatic Works of Robert Browning Cambridge Edition by Robert Browning

Eric; or, Little by Little St. Winifred's; or, The World of School Julian Home: A Tale of College Life Stories from Waverley.
— from Peeps at Many Lands: Egypt by R. Talbot (Robert Talbot) Kelly

"For I must confess to you that this delicious Paris is not perfect; and I discover, little by little, the spots upon the sun.
— from Monsieur de Camors — Volume 3 by Octave Feuillet

He rarely spoke of the trouble that seemed far, far from his quiet, detached life, but lately he had shaken his head over it in a new way.
— from At the Crossroads by Harriet T. (Harriet Theresa) Comstock

And their own country, their dear, distant country, recaptured them little by little, seizing on their imaginations, and sending to them from afar her shapes, her sounds, her well-known prospects, her odors—odors of the green lands where the salt sea-air was blowing.
— from A Selection from the Writings of Guy De Maupassant, Vol. I by Guy de Maupassant

Miss Mackenzie, at the moment less brave, looked round aghast, but seeing that her hostess was in deep conference with her prime minister, she took heart of grace.
— from Miss Mackenzie by Anthony Trollope

But, little by little, a change came over her crying.
— from Maurice Guest by Henry Handel Richardson

So people on a steamer at sea talk and laugh carelessly, for all the world as though they were on dry land; but let only the slightest hitch occur, let the least sign be seen of anything out of the common, and at once on every face there comes out an expression of peculiar alarm, betraying the constant consciousness of constant danger.
— from Fathers and Children by Ivan Sergeevich Turgenev