Poets of old date, being privileged with senses, had also enjoyed external Nature; but chiefly as we enjoy the crystal cup which holds good or bad liquor for us; that is to say, in silence, or with slight incidental commentary; never, as I compute, till after the "Sorrows of Werter" was there man found who would say: Come, let us make a description: Having drunk the liquor, Come, let us eat the glass.
— 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.

I could have been glad that of other infirmities age has to present long-lived men withal, it had chosen some one that would have been more welcome to me, for it could not possibly have laid upon me a disease for which, even from my infancy, I have had so great a horror; and it is, in truth, of all the accidents of old age, that of which I have ever been most afraid.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

—A single drop of blood too much or too little in the brain may render our life unspeakably miserable and difficult, and we may suffer more from this single drop of blood than Prometheus from his vulture.
— from The Dawn of Day by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

'Come, (said he) let us make a day of it.
— from Boswell's Life of Johnson Abridged and edited, with an introduction by Charles Grosvenor Osgood by James Boswell

On November 3, as she lies on her bed, Helen exclaims, ‘A white cat hath been long upon me and drawn my breath, and hath left in my mouth and throat so filthy a smell that it doth poison me!’
— from Demonology and Devil-lore by Moncure Daniel Conway

Let us fight, but let us make a distinction.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

It is a pleasing circumstance that such a body of men has risen in America, and whilst we hurl our thunders against her slavers, let us make a distinction between those who advocate slavery and those who oppose it.
— from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass

Domestic service is a social descent, and little under millinery and dressmaking is compatible with self-respect.
— from Tales of Mean Streets by Arthur Morrison

Let us meet at dinner-time at our usual place.
— from In the Reign of Terror: The Adventures of a Westminster Boy by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

[Pg 18] And if we value diligence and indefatigable industry; judgement, prudence, and foresight; economy and frugality; if we look upon modesty and diffidence as female ornaments; if we revere parental affection—of all these, and many more virtues, insects in their various instincts exhibit several striking examples, as you will see in the course of our correspondence.
— from An Introduction to Entomology: Vol. 1 or Elements of the Natural History of the Insects by William Kirby

Let us make a demonstration against the director; let us——' 'Who told you that?' sneered the orator.
— from Ghetto Comedies by Israel Zangwill

Mr. Darrel," cried Torry, getting on his short legs, "let us make a division of labour.
— from The Red-headed Man by Fergus Hume

Let us make a display of valour, and our enemies, seeing that we are neither weak nor faint-hearted, will soon change their opinion."
— from The Cid Campeador: A Historical Romance by Antonio de Trueba

Let us murmur a Doric prayer For the gift of love, For the gift of life, Oh Life!
— from Songs and Satires by Edgar Lee Masters

At that moment Jim cried, "Every man pull your pistol and shoot as loud as you can, and let us make a dash on them."
— from Capt. W. F. Drannan, Chief of Scouts, As Pilot to Emigrant and Government Trains, Across the Plains of the Wild West of Fifty Years Ago by William F. Drannan

Plays, three odd volumes of Anne Radcliffe's novels,—and if the old lady had never made our acquaintance, the inhabitants of the Faubourg Saint Jacques would never have known of the existence of 'Letters upon Mythology' and 'De Profundis,' two books I was heartless enough to sell, notwithstanding all their titles to my respect.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 12, No. 74, December, 1863 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various