The poet, by a somewhat similar mistake, made prize of a great piece of ice which he found in a sunless chasm of the mountains, and swore that it corresponded in all points with his idea of the Great Carbuncle.
— from Twice Told Tales by Nathaniel Hawthorne

I remember myself that at five years I proposed to my comrades to hold my ankles so that I could reach for a ball from the second story of a house down to the court-yard.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross

One might almost say that in certain cities society has become a family affair.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post

When they heard this moan and saw that it came not across the seas, they were at first amazed and said it was not true; and then they were mad and said it should not be.
— from Darkwater: Voices from Within the Veil by W. E. B. (William Edward Burghardt) Du Bois

Whereupon Xenophon addressed the other generals: "I would advise, sirs, that we should detach one or more flying columns to support our main attack, so that in case of need at any point we may have reserves in readiness to assist our main body, and the enemy, in the confusion of battle, may find himself attacking the unbroken lines of troops not hitherto engaged.
— from Anabasis by Xenophon

Drumlanrig's haughty Grace, Discarded remnant of a race Once godlike—great in story; Thy forbears' virtues all contrasted, The very name of Douglas blasted, Thine that inverted glory! Hate, envy, oft the Douglas bore, But thou hast superadded more, And sunk them in contempt; Follies and crimes have stain'd the name, But, Queensberry, thine the virgin claim, From aught that's good exempt!
— from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Robert Burns

Is my arm shortened, that I cannot redeem?
— from Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal

This morning I attempted to persuade my wife in bed to go to Brampton this week, but she would not, which troubles me, and seeing that I could keep it no longer from her, I told her that I was resolved to go to Portsmouth to-morrow.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

At the end of the day come witnesses on behalf of Mr. Carcasse; but, instead of clearing him, I find they were brought to recriminate Sir W. Batten, and did it by oath very highly, that made the old man mad, and, I confess, me ashamed, so that I caused all but ourselves to withdraw; being sorry to have such things declared in the open office, before 100 people.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

More than ever I was congratulating myself on having had the sterling good sense to make all my arrangements so that I could press a button and set things moving at an instant's notice.
— from Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

And the announcement of a Classification of Things would, I believe, prepare most readers for an enumeration like those in natural history, beginning with the great divisions of animal, vegetable, and mineral, and subdividing them into classes and orders.
— from A System of Logic, Ratiocinative and Inductive (Vol. 1 of 2) by John Stuart Mill

As a cork held under water seems restless under the hand which holds it, and slips through the fingers to rise to the surface, thus there stirred in me a sentiment that I could neither overcome nor escape.
— from The Confession of a Child of the Century by Alfred de Musset

Both these manuscripts are spurious; though it concerns us for the present only to deal with the Second or earlier one:—Of the First or later one I will speak at the proper time.
— from Tacitus and Bracciolini. The Annals Forged in the XVth Century by John Wilson Ross

The whyche bees draweth the thynnest parte of the floures and partelye of the thickest and moost grosse and thereof maketh hony and waxe and also they make a substaunce that is called the honycombe.
— from The Old English Herbals by Eleanour Sinclair Rohde

The girl cracked a bottle of champagne over its bow and said in measured and serious tones: "I christen thee—' Kansas '!"
— from A Book Without a Title by George Jean Nathan

Father sent it to me to buy a horse with, but I guess a mule is good enough for me, and so the Indian chap can have it as well as not.
— from Campmates: A Story of the Plains by Kirk Munroe

Don't begrudge it to me, Aunt Sophia, that I came to see Aunt Barbara once more.
— from Ethelyn's Mistake by Mary Jane Holmes

We went to Monza, and saw the iron crown; and there I found the Magnolia grandiflora, which hitherto I had only known as a greenhouse plant, rising almost into a forest tree.
— from Personal Recollections, from Early Life to Old Age, of Mary Somerville by Mary Somerville

No, I haven't seen him lately, that is, for the last few weeks; but while I was out yender, just on t'other side of the ravine, whar the trail makes a sharp turn, I catched sight of one of the varmints stealin' along as though he was lookin' for somethin'.
— from Blazing Arrow: A Tale of the Frontier by Edward Sylvester Ellis

173).—The following figure (Fig. 81) gives the movements of a shoot during [page 210] 31 h. 40 m., and shows that it circumnutated.
— from The Power of Movement in Plants by Darwin, Francis, Sir