If she had held it open a little longer, I believe I should have begged a piece of bread; for I was now brought low.
— from Jane Eyre: An Autobiography by Charlotte Brontë

The ex-Tycoon's government had arranged to have a huge hotel built for the accommodation of foreign visitors, and the owners would have liked to let it, but it seemed unlikely that any foreigner would undertake to run such an establishment on his own account, and I advised that they should engage a man from Yokohama to act as steward for the proprietors, make out the visitors' bills and purchase the necessary wines and provisions.
— from A Diplomat in Japan The inner history of the critical years in the evolution of Japan when the ports were opened and the monarchy restored, recorded by a diplomatist who took an active part in the events of the time, with an account of his personal experiences during that period by Ernest Mason Satow

Moreover, there was my swag; I should perish of cold and hunger if I left it, but I should certainly be drowned if I attempted to carry it across the river.
— from Erewhon; Or, Over the Range by Samuel Butler

I'm truly glad you liked it, but I shall never make another, unless you think I'd better.
— from Work: A Story of Experience by Louisa May Alcott

“Anyway,” said Tommy, trying to cheer himself, “I shall see the chief—the mysterious Mr. Brown and with a bit of luck in bluffing I shall see the mysterious Jane Finn also.
— from The Secret Adversary by Agatha Christie

“If I were forced to confine myself to an intellectual life I believe I should go out of my mind.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

He had always liked it, but it seemed that now he was seeing it for the first time.
— from Martin Eden by Jack London

"There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries; And we must take the current when it serves, Or lose our ventures." "'Tis never offered twice; seize, then, the hour When fortune smiles, and duty points the way; Nor shrink aside to 'scape the specter fear, Nor pause, though pleasure beckon from her bower; But bravely bear thee onward to the goal."
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden

There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

What the d——l have ladies to do living in barracks, I say.
— from The Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 of 2 Reminiscences of seventeen years in the service abroad and at home by William Maginn

It was a strange locality to live in, but it suited Colwyn.
— from The Hand in the Dark by Arthur J. (Arthur John) Rees

"I have never boarded and don't know how I'd like it, but it seems to me the best thing for us to do would be to board when we first get [276] there, and then if we can't stand it, take a little flat and keep house, or rather, flat."
— from A House Party with the Tucker Twins by Nell Speed

There is a tide in the affairs of men, Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune; 220 Omitted, all the voyage of their life Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
— from The New Hudson Shakespeare: Julius Cæsar by William Shakespeare

He's doing more than any man to kill the old employer and to turn the owners of capital into mere idle butterflies, or, if you like it better, into swine wallowing in luxury, living on dividends.
— from The Workingman's Paradise: An Australian Labour Novel by John Miller

"Do you think you would like it better if she came?"
— from The Call of the Blood by Robert Hichens

Good night to the Season!—another Will come with its trifles and toys, And hurry away, like its brother, In sunshine, and odour, and noise.
— from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 10, No. 269, August 18, 1827 by Various