Prudence, supposing we were mortal, would be true wisdom, or, to be more explicit, would procure the greatest portion of happiness, considering the whole of life; but knowledge beyond the conveniences of life would be a curse.
— from A Vindication of the Rights of Woman With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects by Mary Wollstonecraft

" This looks as if his mental expression were Púlád-i-Hundwáni , rendered by an idiom like Virgil's pocula et aurum .
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 1 by Rustichello of Pisa

It may be doubted whether sudden and considerable deviations of structure, such as we occasionally see in our domestic productions, more especially with plants, are ever permanently propagated in a state of nature.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin

In the evening, Madame Montoni, who, during the day, had observed a sullen silence towards her husband, received visits from some Venetian ladies, with whose sweet manners Emily was particularly charmed.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

c. 54, p 345, 346] Eight days after this memorable event, which Pope Urban did not live to hear, the Latin chiefs proceeded to the election of a king, to guard and govern their conquests in Palestine.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

The glory of the Elizabethan drama dates from his Tamburlaine (1587), wherein the whole restless temper of the age finds expression: Nature, that framed us of four elements Warring within our breasts for regiment, Doth teach us all to have aspiring minds: Our souls--whose faculties can comprehend The wondrous architecture of the world, And measure every wandering planet's course, Still climbing after knowledge infinite, And always moving as the restless spheres-- Will us to wear ourselves and never rest.
— from English Literature Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English-Speaking World by William J. (William Joseph) Long

3 City of God, most glorious things Of thee abroad are spoke; 10 4 I mention Egypt, where proud Kings Did our forefathers yoke, I mention Babel to my friends, Philistia full of scorn, And Tyre with Ethiops utmost ends, Lo this man there was born: 5 But twise that praise shall in our ear Be said of Sion
— from The Poetical Works of John Milton by John Milton

These matutinal excursions were planned on the preceding evening.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

I can still recall my emotions when, paying my first visit after he had bars put on all the windows and attempting to thrust the head out in order to get a sniff of country air, I nearly fractured my skull on a sort of iron grille, as worn by the tougher kinds of mediaeval prison.
— from Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

In a letter, without a date, from the same amiable writer, the following account of her death is given:— "The circumstances attending this melancholy event were particularly distressing.
— from Memoirs of the Life of the Rt. Hon. Richard Brinsley Sheridan — Volume 02 by Thomas Moore

In general I feel nothing and await my end with patience.”
— from Frederic Chopin: His Life, Letters, and Works, v. 2 (of 2) by Maurycy Karasowski

Ned Chivers lived in it with his six months’ married bride, and as he was both a busy fellow and a gay one there were many evenings when pretty Letty Chivers sat alone until near midnight.
— from Midnight In Beauchamp Row 1895 by Anna Katharine Green

"I 'ate appearing afore them committees; last time I was down I called the lady 'Sir' and the gentleman 'Mum,' and my 'eart went pitter-patter in my breast so that you might have knocked me down with a feather.
— from Workhouse Characters, and other sketches of the life of the poor. by Margaret Wynne Nevinson

And Hiram, king of Tyre, sent also to Solomon “a cunning man, endued with prudence and understanding,—skilful to work in gold, and silver, in brass, in iron, in stone, in timber, in purple, in blue, and in fine linen, and in crimson; also to grave any manner of engraving, and to find out every device that might be put to him.”
— from The Royal Exchange and the Palace of Industry; or, The Possible Future of Europe and the World by Thomas Binney

The cost of the material employed was probably less than a hundred shillings.
— from Down Under with the Prince by Everard Cotes

The “ pègre ” ( thief ), or “ escarpe ” ( murderer ), who has been imprudent enough to allow himself to be “ paumé marron ” ( caught in the act ) whilst busy effecting a “ choppin ” ( theft ), or committing the more serious offence of “ faire un gas à la dure ” ( to rob with violence ), using the knife when “ lavant son linge dans la saignante ” ( murdering ), or yet the summary process of breaking into a house and killing all the inmates, “ faire une maison entière ,” will probably be taken by “ la rousse ” ( police ), first of all before the “ quart d’œil ” ( police magistrate ), from whose office he will be conveyed to the dépôt in the “ panier à salade ” ( prison van ), having perhaps in the meanwhile spent a night in the “ violon ” ( cells at the police station ).
— from Argot and Slang A New French and English Dictionary of the Cant Words, Quaint Expressions, Slang Terms and Flash Phrases Used in the High and Low Life of Old and New Paris by Albert Barrère

Not at all discouraged, Bert waited patiently until one of the mowers stopped to sharpen his scythe, and then stepping to him, asked, in his most engaging way: "Please, sir, won't you let me mow a little?"
— from Bert Lloyd's Boyhood: A Story from Nova Scotia by J. Macdonald (James Macdonald) Oxley

But this uncertainty of the future was as yet hidden from him, and the whole party proceeded to lunch, which, in consequence of much exhortation, with promises, and even threats, from Mr. Brandon and his friend, was, with the help of the omnipotent bitter beer of Tennant, by no means to be scorned in the wilderness.
— from A Colonial Reformer, Vol. 2 (of 3) by Rolf Boldrewood

My adventure unrolls before my eyes with perfect sharpness of outline; it is a piece of faery in which I am still taking part; I am still in the midst of lights, of gestures, of voices....
— from A Night in the Luxembourg by Remy de Gourmont