And so I did lay the law open to them, and rattle the Master Attendants out of their wits almost; and made the trial last till seven at night, not eating a bit all the day; only when we had done examination, and I given my thoughts that the neglect of the Gunner of the ship was as great as I thought any neglect could be, which might by the law deserve death, but Commissioner Middleton did declare that he was against giving the sentence of death, we withdrew, as not being of the Court, and so left them to do what they pleased; and, while they were debating it, the Boatswain of the ship did bring us out of the kettle a piece of hot salt beef, and some brown bread and brandy; and there we did make a little meal, but so good as I never would desire to eat better meat while I live, only I would have cleaner dishes.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

I quite agree that what mankind at large most lacks is criticism and caution, not faith.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James

"I have not beaten her, but just because she looked so strange I wanted to comb her hair with my hand; she, however, got away from me, and left me quite spitefully.
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Wilhelm Grimm

“These thoughts exhilarated me, and led me to apply with fresh ardour to the acquiring the art of language.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

If you are not prepared for a quarrel, you must give me at least my share.
— from Juliette Drouet's Love-Letters to Victor Hugo Edited with a Biography of Juliette Drouet by Louis Guimbaud

Up very early in the morning and landing my wife at White Friars stairs, I went to the Bridge and so to the Treasurer’s of the Navy, with whom I spake about the business of my office, who put me into very good hopes of my business.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

If I start to hold somebody's hand, they laugh at me, and let me, just as if it wasn't part of them.
— from This Side of Paradise by F. Scott (Francis Scott) Fitzgerald

Poi mi rivolsi a loro e parla' io, e cominciai: <martiri a lagrimar mi fanno tristo e pio.
— from Divina Commedia di Dante: Inferno by Dante Alighieri

if thou wilt love me, and let me be thy companion and playmate, and sit at thy table, and eat from thy little golden plate, and drink out of thy cup, and sleep in thy little bed,—if
— from Grimm's Fairy Stories by Wilhelm Grimm

La buena mujer lloró y suplicó, protestando que el extranjero 15 no podía ponerse en camino sin caer muerto a la media hora
— from Novelas Cortas by Pedro Antonio de Alarcón

Elizabeth was nearly sixteen, and when she saw him now in a pew a few seats ahead of her she made a little movement of astonishment.
— from The Wind Before the Dawn by Dell H. Munger

Despite my but too prying landlady, however, I got on very well by myself; and, like men who live alone, I became egotistic and lazy.
— from Harper's New Monthly Magazine, No. IX.—February, 1851.—Vol. II. by Various

Take also this here Hobson which sunk the Merrimac and Lindsey M. Garrison, who by resigning from the War Department come within an ace and a couple of pinochle decks thrown in of ruining Mr. Wilson's future prospects, Abe, and there was two fellers which used to get into the newspapers as regularly as Harry K. Thaw and Peruna, and yet, Abe, if any time during the past six months William J. Bryan, Lindsey M. Garrison, and this here Hobson would of been out riding together, and the automobile was to run over a cliff a hundred feet high onto a railroad track and be struck by the cannon-ball express, understand me, the most they could expect to see about it in the papers would be: NEWS IN BRIEF An automobile rolled over an embankment at Van Benschoten Avenue and 456th Street, the Bronx, landing in a railroad cut.
— from Worrying Won't Win by Montague Glass

For some time it seemed, though the citizens of Oakham had acquired a somewhat importunate appetite on the road, that no provisions were to be had for love or money; and, leaving Masters Smallit and Polty to settle that affair as they might, and get all ready against his return, Matthew Lakyn, with due reverence for the business with which he was intrusted, went out at once on feet, to deliver the letter to Sir Robert Cecil.
— from Arabella Stuart: A Romance from English History by G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James

But the dark clouds sail on, and envelop the crimson tints yet lingering and blushing on the lofty mountains, and like monstrous night-birds brood there in silent watch; and gradually the whole landscape—mountains and sky, convent and olive-trees, look gray and sad, and seem to melt away in the dim twilight.
— from Life in Mexico by Madame (Frances Erskine Inglis) Calderón de la Barca

The prayers and the chantings came up to me almost like mystic exhalations.
— from The Seven-Branched Candlestick: The Schooldays of Young American Jew by Gilbert W. (Gilbert Wolf) Gabriel

I knocked and called for admittance, but received no answer; and hearing the noise of churning going on within, “fast and furious,” the truth flashed across my mind; and lamenting my wife’s credulity, I retired to the garden to await the result.
— from The Irish Penny Journal, Vol. 1 No. 11, September 12, 1840 by Various

The next day Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore attended the Queen's Drawing-Room, accompanied by Sir George and Lady Carrol, Mr and Mrs Maynard, and Mr and Mrs Wire, all in their state carriages.
— from Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, Volume 1 (of 2) Comprising Their Life and Work as Recorded in Their Diaries, from 1812 to 1883 by Montefiore, Judith Cohen, Lady

"When they killed us all, and our cousins the Vartonians too, they cut and wounded me, and left me for dead.
— from By Far Euphrates: A Tale by Deborah Alcock