What oftenest offends me at the houses of married persons where I visit, is an error of quite a different description;—it is that they are too loving.
— from The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 Elia and The Last Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb

“If this person Noble,” said Mr. Dilworthy, in a little speech at a dinner party given him by some of his admirers, “merely desired to sacrifice me.—I would willingly offer up my political life on the altar of my dear State’s weal, I would be glad and grateful to do it; but when he makes of me but a cloak to hide his deeper designs, when he proposes to strike through me at the heart of my beloved State, all the lion in me is roused—and I say, Here I stand, solitary and alone, but unflinching, unquailing, thrice armed with my sacred trust; and whoso passes, to do evil to this fair domain that looks to me for protection, must do so over my dead body.”
— from The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today by Charles Dudley Warner

“Leaving the coast, I reached the hamlet, which was hemmed in by great trees, and I presented myself at the house of Mother Lecacheur.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

Let him woo some Achaean girl far away among his own folk; let maidenhood be mine and the home of my parents.
— from The Argonautica by Rhodius Apollonius

He who goes into a crowd must now go one way and then another, keep his elbows close, retire or advance, and quit the straight way, according to what he encounters; and must live not so much according to his own method as to that of others; not according to what he proposes to himself, but according to what is proposed to him, according to the time, according to the men, according to the occasions.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

For thus saith the Lord: Whoever will keep my Sabbath, and choose the things that please me, and take hold of my covenant; even unto them will I give in mine house a place and a name better than that of sons and of daughters: I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off."
— from Pascal's Pensées by Blaise Pascal

Semyon Ivanovitch recommended you on the ground that you may be able to assist me in a delicate and very important matter affecting the happiness of my life.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

The reader must make himself acquainted with the general style of composition that was at that time deemed poetry, in order to understand and account for the effect produced on me by the Sonnets, the Monody at Matlock, and the Hope, of Mr. Bowles; for it is peculiar to original genius to become less and less striking, in proportion to its success in improving the taste and judgment of its contemporaries.
— from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Let the lot of bitter poverty be mine, and the hand of man blight every hope of earthly enjoyment, and I would prefer it to the condition of any man who lives at ease, and shares in every fancied pleasure, that the toil, the sweat, and blood of slaves can procure.
— from A Woman's Life-Work — Labors and Experiences of Laura S. Haviland by Laura S. (Laura Smith) Haviland

No time, however, was now to be lost; and, getting into the saddle as speedily as possible, I put myself at the head of my men and of the horse arquebusiers, and dashed down into the enemy's camp at full speed.
— from The Man-at-Arms; or, Henry De Cerons. Volumes I and II by G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James

I marched once more at the head of my clubs to Finsbury Fields, and there I saw Captain Merriman—drat him!—with his vile lips at a maiden’s ear.
— from Sir Ludar A Story of the Days of the Great Queen Bess by Talbot Baines Reed

I've locked my imagination away in some garret of my mind and the house of my thoughts is very quiet.
— from Living Bayonets: A Record of the Last Push by Coningsby Dawson

The best and holiest of mankind have always felt this most; and the habit of measuring their attainments by the faithfulness and knowledge, the virtue and power which is in God, has impressed some of the greatest minds and purest souls with such humility, that to men without insight it has [223] seemed mere affectation.
— from The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Deuteronomy by Andrew Harper

Then she recognised me, and took hold of my hand, regarding me with the sweet smile with which I was so familiar.
— from The Little Savage by Frederick Marryat

She was a distinguished member of the Cleon, a small society which met at the houses of members for the purpose of discussing social questions.
— from The Prophet's Mantle by E. (Edith) Nesbit

"Took hold of you?" "Yes—he somehow got close to me and took hold of me—" "By the waist?" "Yes," said Eleanor shuddering.
— from Barchester Towers by Anthony Trollope