I sat and pondered awhile, and then some thought occurred to me, and I made search of my portmanteau and in the wardrobe where I had placed my clothes.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker

Make him understand, that to acknowledge the error he shall discover in his own argument, though only found out by himself, is an effect of judgment and sincerity, which are the principal things he is to seek after; that obstinacy and contention are common qualities, most appearing in mean souls; that to revise and correct himself, to forsake an unjust argument in the height and heat of dispute, are rare, great, and philosophical qualities.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

This, with the other explanations, has made the work considerably larger; and by increasing its bulk has, I am afraid, added to its faults; so that notwithstanding all my attention, it may stand in need of a yet greater share of indulgence than it required at its first appearance.
— from The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. 01 (of 12) by Edmund Burke

This article, therefore, cost me so much painful attention, and my faults in it vexed me so much, and I made so little progress in amendment, and had such frequent relapses, that I was almost ready to give up the attempt, and content myself with a faulty character in that respect, like the man who, in buying an ax of a smith, my neighbour, desired to have the whole of its surface as bright as the edge.
— from Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin by Benjamin Franklin

Give me leave here to add Mithridate Mustard, although it may seem more properly by the name to belong to M, in the alphabet.
— from The Complete Herbal To which is now added, upwards of one hundred additional herbs, with a display of their medicinal and occult qualities physically applied to the cure of all disorders incident to mankind: to which are now first annexed, the English physician enlarged, and key to Physic. by Nicholas Culpeper

It seems he can't keep away from that man, and I must say Elder Malby is a wonder.
— from Story of Chester Lawrence Being the Completed Account of One who Played an Important Part in "Piney Ridge Cottage" by Nephi Anderson

“Then I plucked up heart somewhat, seeing that it was but a little maid of mortal mould; and I made shift to ask— “‘Who is thy father, fair child?’
— from Under the Flag of France: A Tale of Bertrand du Guesclin by David Ker

It forms about one-third of the stand in Palomar mountains, and is much scarcer in the Cuyamaca mountains.
— from American Forest Trees by Henry H. Gibson

In places, wild oats and mustard abounded, in many sections the mustard being as high as a man's head when on horseback, and so dense that a horse could be forced only a few feet through it.
— from Life of a Pioneer: Being the Autobiography of James S. Brown by James S. (James Stephens) Brown

I felt a wicked sensation dart through me that I had never before experienced, and instinctively my own eyes rested on the gun; the Colonel saw my face, and reached for his gun not a moment too soon; my self-possession came to me, and I merely said: "You're not driving a nigger now."
— from The Boy Spy A substantially true record of secret service during the war of the rebellion, a correct account of events witnessed by a soldier by Joseph Orton Kerbey

LXXIII " 'Tis now ten days," to him the Tartar said, "That thee I still have followed; so the fame Had stung me, and in me such longing bred, Which of thee to our camp of Paris came: When, amid thousands by thy hand laid dead, Scarce one alive fled thither, to proclaim The mighty havoc made by thy good hand, 'Mid Tremisena's and Noritia's band.
— from Orlando Furioso by Lodovico Ariosto