For it is generally said that Humility prescribes a low opinion of our own merits: but if our merits are comparatively high, it seems strange to direct us to have a low opinion of them.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick

But as to his manners and conscience, he infinitely surpassed all men who ever undertook the management of affairs; for in this one thing, which ought chiefly to be considered, which alone truly denotes us for what we are, and which alone I make counterbalance all the rest put together, he comes not short of any philosopher whatever, not even of Socrates himself.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

Yet some feelings, though not deeper or more passionate, are more tender than others; and often, when I walk at this time in Oxford Street by dreamy lamplight, and hear those airs played on a barrel-organ which years ago solaced me and my dear companion (as I must always call her), I shed tears, and muse with myself at the mysterious dispensation which so suddenly and so critically separated us for ever.
— from Confessions of an English Opium-Eater by Thomas De Quincey

It was not my cue to betray undue bashfulness at such a moment, and as for any scruples on the subject of misleading a confiding heart, I should as soon have thought of feeding an anaconda or a boa constrictor with angle-worms.
— from The Chainbearer; Or, The Littlepage Manuscripts by James Fenimore Cooper

With a strong tide and a fair wind we were soon clear of the Scheldt, and the next morning a cutter hove in sight.
— from Peter Simple; and, The Three Cutters, Vol. 1-2 by Frederick Marryat

Whether is it the rod or the mother's kiss that makes a child hate its sin most?
— from Expositions of Holy Scripture: St. Luke by Alexander Maclaren

"He will," Mildred answered chokingly; "He is so kind, so full of compassion; His tender mercies are over all his works!"
— from Mildred at Roselands A Sequel to Mildred Keith by Martha Finley

Another famous missionary traveller, Père Vial, who led Colquhoun out of his difficulty in that journey "Across Chryse," which Colquhoun describes as a "Journey of Exploration" (though it was through a country that had been explored and accurately mapped a century and a half before by Jesuit missionaries), and conducted him in safety to Bhamo in Burma, has often been in Yunnan City, and is a possible successor to the Bishopric.
— from An Australian in China Being the Narrative of a Quiet Journey Across China to Burma by George Ernest Morrison

Admiral W. T. Sampson, U. S. N., Commanding Fleet before Havana: Admiral—But for the introduction kindly proffered by our mutual acquaintance Captain Harrington, I should scarcely presume to address you.
— from Our War with Spain for Cuba's Freedom by Trumbull White

`He found a bed of clay near the river this morning,' said his mother, `and came home in such a mess, I had regularly to scrape his clothes and wash him thoroughly!'
— from Swiss Family Robinson by Johann David Wyss

"He found a bed of clay near the river this morning," said his mother, "and came home in such a mess, I had regularly to scrape his clothes and wash him thoroughly!"
— from The Swiss Family Robinson; or, Adventures on a Desert Island by Johann David Wyss