The spring which moved my energies lay far away beyond seas, in an Indian isle.
— from Villette by Charlotte Brontë

Thus rendered up this man of God his blessed soul into the hands of his merciful Father, and to his most dear Saviour Jesus Christ, whom he most entirely loved, faithfully and earnestly preached, obediently followed in living, and constantly glorified in death.
— from Fox's Book of Martyrs Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs by John Foxe

who does more earnestly long for a change than he that is uneasy in his present circumstances?
— from Utopia by More, Thomas, Saint

“You are such a good mother,” exclaimed Lady Firebrace, “and such a good friend!
— from Sybil, Or, The Two Nations by Disraeli, Benjamin, Earl of Beaconsfield

I might add that the circle of idiots and geniuses must be made extremely large, for average people are very few in number, and the increase in intellectual training has made no statistical difference on the curve of crime.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross

The most extravagant list for a bride who is to "go out" continually in New York or Newport, would perhaps include a dozen evening dresses, two or three evening wraps, of varying weights.
— from Etiquette by Emily Post

The soul becomes a mere ens logicum; for, as a real separable being, it would be more worthless and ludicrous than the Grimalkins in the cat-harpsichord, described in the Spectator.
— from Biographia Literaria by Samuel Taylor Coleridge

I was—in those days—rather a nice fellow, rather shy— taste for grey in my clothes, weedy little moustache, face "interesting," slight stutter which I had caught in my early life from a schoolfellow.
— from The Country of the Blind, and Other Stories by H. G. (Herbert George) Wells

And besides, if a man sets out to hate all the miserable creatures he meets, he will not have much energy left for anything else; whereas he can despise them, one and all, with the greatest ease.
— from The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Studies in Pessimism by Arthur Schopenhauer

They gathered a whole basketful of mushrooms; even Lily found a birch mushroom.
— from Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

A nest of tuneful persons, to my eye Like "four and twenty Blackbirds in a pye; II.
— from The Works of Lord Byron. Vol. 6 by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron

Looking down a long slope I saw that in a deep valley beyond it the snow had disappeared, so I thought to try and get down there, out of the horrible whiteness which froze my body and burnt my eyes like fire, and there lie down and die at once.
— from The White Hecatomb, and Other Stories by W. C. (William Charles) Scully

Miss Emery left for a time, and then returned to play Hero and other parts.
— from The Story of My Life: Recollections and Reflections by Ellen Terry

I dismounted to see what it was, and found my enemy lying fast asleep on the very edge of the cliff.
— from Reading Made Easy for Foreigners - Third Reader by John Ludwig Hülshof

Before the "Majestic" left the Mersey, that his mind might be alert on arrival at New York, he had measured with tape line the promenade deck of the steamer, and resolved to make enough laps for a mile, both before and after each meal, a walk of six miles per day, or a total of forty-eight miles for the voyage.
— from The Harris-Ingram Experiment by Charles E. (Charles Edward) Bolton

Furnivall, Frederick James , English barrister, born at Egham, in Surrey; devoted to the study of Early and Middle English Literature; founder and director of numerous societies for promoting the study of special works, such as the Early English Text, Chaucer, Ballad, and New Shakespeare Societies, and editor of publications in connection with them; was in his early days a great authority on boating and boat-building; b . 1825.
— from The Nuttall Encyclopædia Being a Concise and Comprehensive Dictionary of General Knowledge by P. Austin Nuttall

The snow-plumed Angel of the North Has dropped his icy spear; Again the mossy earth looks forth, Again the streams gush clear.
— from The Frost Spirit, and other poems Part 1 From Volume II of The Works of John Greenleaf Whittier by John Greenleaf Whittier