As I saw the last blue lines of my native land fade away like a cloud in the horizon, it seemed as if I had closed one volume of the world and its concerns, and had time for meditation, before I opened another.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving

This will account for the coalition betwixt my father and Dr. Slop, in the ensuing discourse, which went a little hard against my uncle Toby.—In what manner a plain man, with nothing but common sense, could bear up against two such allies in science,—is hard to conceive.—You may conjecture upon it, if you please,—and whilst your imagination is in motion, you may encourage it to go on, and discover by what causes and effects in nature it could come to pass, that my uncle Toby got his modesty by the wound he received upon his groin.—You may raise a system to account for the loss of my nose by marriage-articles,—and shew the world how it could happen, that I should have the misfortune to be called Tristram, in opposition to my father's hypothesis, and the wish of the whole family, Godfathers and Godmothers not excepted.—These, with fifty other points left yet unravelled, you may endeavour to solve if you have
— from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

"If I violate my oath," pursued the intrepid Baian, "may I myself, and the last of my nation, perish by the sword!
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

One who acts thus is no leader of men, no present help to his sovereign, no master of victory.
— from The Art of War by active 6th century B.C. Sunzi

We actually spoke about our prospects, in the light of my new appointmen
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

Si quis cordatus, facilis, lectorque benignus Huc oculos vertat, quae velit ipse legat; Candidus ignoscet, metuas nil, pande libenter, Offensus mendis non erit ille tuis, Laudabit nonnulla.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

The property of rivers, by the laws of most nations, and by the natural turn of our thought, Is attributed to the proprietors of their banks, excepting such vast rivers as the Rhine or the Danube, which seem too large to the imagination to follow as an accession the property of the neighbouring fields.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume

I consider the duty of a true Englishwoman is to do what honour she can to her native country; and that it would be a sin against the pious love I bear the land of my nativity, to confine the renown due to the Schemers within the small extent of this little island, which ought to be spread wherever men can sigh, or women wish.
— from Lady Mary Wortley Montague, Her Life and Letters (1689-1762) by Lewis Melville

"It ought to follow, then, that it matters not what is the object of belief, provided there is 'faith'; and this, if you observe: is very much what the language of Mr. Newman would imply, while it is the very essence of Mr. Parker's teaching."
— from The Eclipse of Faith; Or, A Visit to a Religious Sceptic by Henry Rogers

"The twentieth bottle launched, perhaps," said I, and he went on—"'For Godsake, if you find this, keep to the south-west—we are going that way, we think—we've fallen amongst regular Thugs, I fear—just from the folly of these three—(they're looking over my shoulder, though)—we are not ill-treated yet, but kept below and watched—yours in haste—' What this signature is I can't say for the life of me, Ned; no date either!" "Did the fellow think he was writing by post, I wonder," said I, trying to make it out.
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 66, No. 407, September, 1849 by Various

"And in return for the life of my Niphrata I will give a thousand jewels rare beyond all price to deck Nagaya's tabernacle!—and I will pour libations to the Sun for twenty days and nights, in token of my heart's requital for mercy well bestowed!"
— from Ardath: The Story of a Dead Self by Marie Corelli

Nay, reason rather says, as at one moment Some die, and some are born, so may their ghosts Without more cost serve the succeeding age: For (sure) they don't wear to be cast aside, But enter straight less or more noble bodies, According to desert of former deeds: The valiant into lions; coward minds Into weak hares; th' ambitious into eagles Soaring aloft; but the perverse and peevish Are next indeniz'd
— from A Select Collection of Old English Plays, Volume 12 by Robert Dodsley

Dear Sir, I received, in due time, your two favors of December the 2nd and February the 10th, and have to acknowledge for the ladies of my native State their obligations to you for the encomiums which you are so kind as to bestow on them.
— from Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 4 by Thomas Jefferson

I stand here, the last of my name, in our old house, wretched and in trouble.
— from The Squire: An Original Comedy in Three Acts by Arthur Wing Pinero

See, I've got a lot of money now.
— from Nelson the Newsboy; Or, Afloat in New York by Alger, Horatio, Jr.

The Methodist priest delivered a lecture on Monday night in favor of secret societies; he labored especially to make a good character for the Odd Fellows.
— from Birth of a Reformation; Or, The Life and Labors of Daniel S. Warner by A. L. (Andrew L.) Byers