The sable troops, along the narrow tracks, Scarce bear the weighty burthen on their backs: Some set their shoulders to the pond’rous grain; Some guard the spoil; some lash the lagging train; All ply their sev’ral tasks, and equal toil sustain.
— from The Aeneid by Virgil

In the classical period of Greek and Latin antiquity the reign of kings was for the most part a thing of the past; yet the stories of their lineage, titles, and pretensions suffice to prove that they too claimed to rule by divine right and to exercise superhuman powers.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer

The addition of a single group of strings will add lustre to a passage for wind instruments.
— from Principles of Orchestration, with Musical Examples Drawn from His Own Works by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov

c. 27) speaks in high, but indefinite terms of the emperor, cum copiisinnumerabilbus: like the Apulian poet, (l. iv.
— 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

I have learned to act prudently.
— from A Doll's House : a play by Henrik Ibsen

L. Lex citius tolerare vult privatum damnum quam publicum malum —The law will sooner tolerate a private loss than a public evil. Coke.
— 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.

The twelfth article of the new Echota treaty of December 29, 1835, provides for a pro rata apportionment to such Cherokee as desire to remain in the East, and continues: [ 228 ] “Such heads of Cherokee families as are desirous to reside within the states of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama, subject to the laws of the same, and who are qualified or calculated to become useful citizens, shall be entitled, on the certificate of the commissioners, to a preemption right to one hundred and sixty acres of land, or one quarter section, at the minimum Congress price, so as to include the present buildings or improvements of those who now reside there; and such as do not live there at present shall be permitted to locate within two years any lands not already occupied by persons entitled to preemption privilege under this treaty,” etc.
— from Myths of the Cherokee Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology by James Mooney

But let this all pass; you only wrote it in a moment of irritation [see No. 74].
— from The Letters of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart — Volume 01 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

He said that he had established a weekly conveyance of letters to all parts of the Commonwealth and that with the receipts from private letters he had paid all the postmasters except those on the Dover road.
— from The History of the British Post Office by Joseph Clarence Hemmeon

But I can't believe that you repudiate this contract," said Larry, tapping a paper with his forefinger.
— from The Forbidden Way by George Gibbs

The persecuted and yet singularly tolerated Bravo, was slowly pacing the flags on his way to the appointed place, unwilling to anticipate the moment, when a laquais thrust a paper into his hand, and disappeared as fast as legs would carry him.
— from The Bravo: A Tale by James Fenimore Cooper

The Marshal answered, that he thanked the Archbishop for the interest he took in the Theatre Italien, and in Madame la Caille, who was a very useful person at that theatre; that, nevertheless, she had a bad voice; but that the recommendation of the Archbishop was to be preferred to the greatest talents, and that the demi-part was granted."] He granted one of an hundred louis to a pretty woman, who was very poor, and who assumed an illustrious name, to which she had no right.
— from Court Memoirs of France Series — Complete by Various

Next night we rode back by moonlight with matter for a year of laughter, singing like two Arabian poets praises of dark and fair, challengeing one to rival the other.
— from The Adventures of Harry Richmond — Volume 4 by George Meredith

The sentiment that is expressed, however, seems to be this:— Much love to a particular object makes the act of seeking or praying for it to be loved more.
— from The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning by Hugh Binning

So I beg you earnestly to let the affair proceed exactly as it would have done if I had no thoughts of coming to England; and if it be really desired to show me consideration , the greatest favour that can be conferred on me would be not to take notice of any such personal considerations.
— from Letters of Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy from 1833 to 1847 by Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy

In quiet times like these a poor boy can’t look over the wall where one might have stolen a horse, ay, or a dozen horses, when there was something else to think about!’
— from Chantry House by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

But the landscape does not yield its infinite variety to the first nor to the second glance; the agitation of the first outlook gives place to a deep, calm joy; the eager desire to possess on the instant what has been won by long toil and patience is followed by a quiet mood which banishes all thought of self, and waits upon the hour and the scene for the revelation they will make in their own good time.
— from Under the Trees and Elsewhere by Hamilton Wright Mabie

Then comes a pressure of the tiny hand, an appealing glance into the bright eyes, a whispered word, and unless your enslaver does not really care for you--in which case nothing but your vanity suffers--your fate is sealed, and the chances are that you wake up next morning to find that, for the sake of an hour's foolish romance, you have bound yourself for life to a person for whom in your heart, you don't care the price of a box of cigars."
— from A Secret of the Sea: A Novel. Vol. 1 (of 3) by T. W. (Thomas Wilkinson) Speight