The many instances of forged miracles, and prophecies, and supernatural events, which, in all ages, have either been detected by contrary evidence, or which detect themselves by their absurdity, prove sufficiently the strong propensity of mankind to the extraordinary and the marvellous, and ought reasonably to beget a suspicion against all relations of this kind.
— from An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding by David Hume

Nature provided me with as perfect a digestive apparatus, mental and physical, as she ever turned out of her workshop; my stomach and brain are set in the most perfect equipoise possible to conceive, and up and down they went and still go with measured movement, absorbing and assimilating all that is poured into them without friction or stoppage.
— from Confessions of a Young Man by George Moore

She however shows great mildness and prudence, and such extraordinary tact and good-breeding in all she says and does, that one is constrained to think her more amiable than history represents her.
— from Tour in England, Ireland, and France, in the years 1826, 1827, 1828 and 1829. with remarks on the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and anecdotes of distiguished public characters. In a series of letters by a German Prince. by Pückler-Muskau, Hermann, Fürst von

just as the cricket had chirped and the birds had sung, so did this brook murmur and prattle and sing ever of the king, the king, the king.
— from A Little Book of Profitable Tales by Eugene Field

When the “reception” was over and the company was breaking up into groups and moving about, Philip again sought Evelyn.
— from That Fortune by Charles Dudley Warner

Slackening the reins for an instant, and then jerking them with force, may also produce a similar effect: but, if the latter mode be adopted, the rider must take care that the horse, by stopping suddenly, do not bring her on his neck, or throw her over his head.
— from The Young Lady's Equestrian Manual by Anonymous

They found, therefore, that the only effective way of increasing the power of the telescope was by increasing its focal length so as to reduce the dispersing action as much as possible, and so enlarging the size of the 81 actual image to be viewed, without at the same time increasing the angular deviation of the rays transmitted through the edges of the lens.
— from Stargazing: Past and Present by Lockyer, Norman, Sir

Lyon, though a very rough specimen of democracy, was by no means a contemptible man, and, politics aside, showed energy and character in his subsequent career.
— from The Life of Albert Gallatin by Henry Adams

With a sort of flourish of the broom at the papers and bits of excelsior that were still an eyesore about, Nancy at length managed to “make a path,” as she expressed it, through the kitchen.
— from Nancy Brandon by Lilian Garis

He made a collection of them, and, for one map alone, paid a sum equivalent to five hundred and fifty-five dollars.
— from Famous Discoverers and Explores of America Their Voyages, Battles, and Hardships in Traversing and Conquering the Unknown Territories of a New World by Charles H. L. (Charles Haven Ladd) Johnston