Though I'm a stay-at-home and most a quiet life enjoy, Polite to all and every (for I'm naturally coy),
— from Lysistrata by Aristophanes

First, the coast, extending for about 4400 or 4300 stadia, is burnt up with heat; it is sandy, producing little except palm trees, and terminates at the greatest river in those parts, the name of which is Oroatis.
— from The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3) Literally Translated, with Notes by Strabo

Let ’em prove their aspersions: I know my own innocence, and dare stand a trial.
— from The Way of the World by William Congreve

The monk very readily answered, 'Sir, I have not yet pertained long enough to the order of St. Benedict to have been able to learn every particular thereof, and you had not yet shown me that monks should make of women a means of mortification, [49] as of fasts and vigils; but, now that you have shown it me, I promise you, so you will pardon me this default, never again to offend therein, but still to do as I have seen you do.'
— from The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio by Giovanni Boccaccio

Those literary etherial people they are all.
— from Ulysses by James Joyce

En primer lugar ; en primer término ; ante todo .
— from Heath's Modern Language Series: The Spanish American Reader by Ernesto Nelson

It was the first London evening paper to appear regularly.
— from The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 Elia and The Last Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb

The fibres of the womb have gradually become accustomed to relax, and have borne the irritation longer and longer each pregnancy, till at last they have forborne to contract till the proper time.
— from The Matron's Manual of Midwifery, and the Diseases of Women During Pregnancy and in Childbed Being a Familiar and Practical Treatise, More Especially Intended for the Instruction of Females Themselves, but Adapted Also for Popular Use among Students and Practitioners of Medicine by Frederick Hollick

what blank surprise and mortification overspread their countenances—with the exception of the Marquis of Lansdowne—when the liberal Earl proceeded to administer a stern and forcible rebuke to Earl Grey for having risen to make such a speech as his, "after the ample, frank, and honourable manner in which the noble lord at the head of the Government had stated to the House the position in which he stood, and the circumstances under which he had been induced to undertake the great task of forming an Administration!...
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Vol. 71, No. 438, April 1852 by Various

But when the least estimate puts the age of the earth at only 10,000,000 years, while the longest makes it 6,000,000,000, it does seem as if it were hardly worth while to name any figures.
— from Animals of the Past by Frederic A. (Frederic Augustus) Lucas

"Do something—quickly," says Minnie, giving Randal a little energetic push that all but overturns the screen.
— from The Hoyden by Duchess

The deep [heard] him and [his] countenance was lightened; evil planned they against the gods.
— from Early Israel and the Surrounding Nations by A. H. (Archibald Henry) Sayce

Also, his restless training made it impossible for him to keep his mind long engaged; presently, the alphabet did a misty dance before his eyes.
— from Mashi, and Other Stories by Rabindranath Tagore

Under such circumstances, it becomes, more than ever, necessary to make prudent arrangements for the general safety, for amending the morals, and promoting the happiness of the People; by improved Laws, extending protection to all, and correcting those evils, which are felt as a burden upon the Community.
— from A Treatise on the Police of the Metropolis Containing a Detail of the Various Crimes and Misdemeanors by which Public and Private Property and Security are, at Present, Injured and Endangered: and Suggesting Remedies for their Prevention by Patrick Colquhoun

Take away the vices that sustain them as bandages sustain mummies, and they are no longer even phantoms ... they are nothing but dust ...
— from A Chambermaid's Diary by Octave Mirbeau

Idem ut secundum legem ejus per triumviros ager populo viritim divideretur egregie censuit.
— from A History of Rome During the Later Republic and Early Principate by A. H. J. (Abel Hendy Jones) Greenidge

From the centre beam hung a large rope, its lower end passing through a circular board, about the size of a round tea-table; four smaller ropes passed through holes near the edge of this round board, at equal distances, and were united with the large rope several yards above, thus forming four compartments, with the centre rope for a resting-place.
— from Godey's Lady's Book, Vol. 48, January, 1854 by Various