Suppose the height of the wall to be given by one of the conspirators within, the measurement required for the ladders is evident; for example, if the height of the wall is ten feet or any other unit, the ladders must be full twelve; and the interval between the wall and the foot of the ladder must be half the length of the ladder, that the ladders may not break under the weight of those mounting if they are set farther away, nor be too steep to be safe if set nearer the perpendicular.
— from The Histories of Polybius, Vol. 1 (of 2) by Polybius

His Stay was not long in England , for whilst he was paying his first Visits to his Friends in Devonshire , he heard of the Misfortune of some of his Companions, that is, of their being taken and committed to Bristol Goal; and there being good Reason for his apprehending Danger from a Wind that blew from the same Quarter, he mov’d off immediately to Topsham , the nearest Port, and there shipp’d himself with one Captain Wadham , for a Voyage to Newfoundland , and home again; which, by the way, Mr. Phillips never design’d to perform, or to see England any more.
— from A General History of the Pyrates: from their first rise and settlement in the island of Providence, to the present time by Daniel Defoe

Do just as you please, but if you do send him one, let it be the last in E flat; they have voices enough for anything, and a great many people will be assembled at that time; they even write for them to come from a distance, for it is their greatest festival.
— from The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Volume 01 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

For this reason, because, as the law is not an evil when it increases the lust of those who sin, so neither is death a good thing when it increases the glory of those who suffer it, since either the former is abandoned wickedly, and makes transgressors, or the latter is embraced for the truth's sake, and makes martyrs.
— from The City of God, Volume I by Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo

There is not so agonizing a feeling in the whole 5 catalogue of human suffering as the first conviction that the heart of the being whom we most tenderly love is estranged from us.
— 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.

Here again, at least in England, freedom of alienation seems to have grown up by gradually increased latitude in the choice of successors.
— from The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes

ANT: Idle, indiligent, lazy, indolent, easy, facile, light, feasible, simple.
— from A Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and Antonyms or, Synonyms and Words of Opposite Meaning by Samuel Fallows

Amidst these enormities, in how much fear and apprehension, as well as odium and detestation, he lived, is evident from many indications.
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius

right on the threshold!--hear him ask what street the new British Bank is in--as if that were what he came for--and then bounce into his boat and skurry away with his coward heart in his boots!--see him come sneaking around the corner again, directly, with a crack of the curtain open toward the old gentleman’s disappearing gondola, and out scampers his Susan with a flock of little Italian endearments fluttering from her lips, and goes to drive with him in the watery avenues down toward the Rialto.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

After Elidore had lived in Elfinland for some time, the King permitted him one moonlit night to go alone through the dark passage to visit his mother.
— from The Book of Elves and Fairies for Story-Telling and Reading Aloud and for the Children's Own Reading by Frances Jenkins Olcott

They go to the hearts of loving women, they alienate dear children; they injure the man after life is ended, for they leave poisoned wounds in the hearts of those who loved him best—fears for his eternal happiness—dread of the Divine displeasure.
— from The Warfare of Science by Andrew Dickson White

The soil, which consists of decomposed lava, is extremely fertile, although of course large tracts of land are covered by recent lavas, or by those which decompose slowly.
— from Etna: A History of the Mountain and of its Eruptions by G. F. (George Farrer) Rodwell

Min May 80 65 June 76 63 July 78 56 August 80 54 September 83 65 October 92 70 Under the peculiar circumstance of the thermometer being placed on a sandbank in the sun during the hot days in October, it rose to 178 degrees of Fahrenheit, whilst the lowest it ever fell to was up in the hills, in July, when it was 2 degrees below freezing just before sunrise.
— from Journals of Australian Explorations by Francis Thomas Gregory

Outside, agricultural labour in every form, from ploughing to cattle rearing.
— from South America To-day A Study of Conditions, Social, Political and Commercial in Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil by Georges Clemenceau

David lived in exile for some time in godly company, having collected round him every one that was in distress, and every one that was in debt, and every one that was discontented.
— from Theological Essays by Charles Bradlaugh

"I WOULD not have become a priest had I lived in Europe, for I never had or could have any strong attrait for sacerdotal functions.
— from Life of Father Hecker by Walter Elliott

I knew it then by the way she kissed me, and I don’t think in all my life I ever felt anything softer than the soft, soft cheek which was pressed against mine.
— from Dumps - A Plain Girl by L. T. Meade

I sort of glossed her over in this letter I enclose for you to forward so that it will have the Enderby postmark.
— from Elsie Marley, Honey by Joslyn Gray