Just as the wonder-working mantle of the Nautilus changes the material it absorbs from the water and makes it a part of itself, so the bits of knowledge one gathers undergo a similar change and become pearls of thought.
— from The Story of My Life With her letters (1887-1901) and a supplementary account of her education, including passages from the reports and letters of her teacher, Anne Mansfield Sullivan, by John Albert Macy by Helen Keller

I would instantly have withdrawn my arm: but it was held so tight I could not move it; and poor Mr. Brown was circumstanced in the same manner on the other side; for I heard him say, “Lord, Ma’am, there’s no need to squeeze one’s arm so!”
— from Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World by Fanny Burney

Maximin is a public enemy!
— 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

Sergeant Cuff finished the nail on which he was then at work, looked at it for a moment with a melancholy interest, and put up his penknife.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

“Why, hey-day!” cried the Captain, “what, is master in a passion?-well, don’t be angry:-come, he shan’t hurt you;-here, shake a paw with him:-why, he’ll do you no harm, man!-come, kiss and be friends!”
— from Evelina, Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World by Fanny Burney

However, Kimon took the island, as is written in my history of his Life, and making it a point of honour to discover his tomb, he chanced to behold an eagle pecking with its beak and scratching with its talons at a small rising ground.
— from Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch

Cursed be the day on which I gave away my innocence and peace!
— from The Adventures of Roderick Random by T. (Tobias) Smollett

Then turning toward the second musketeer, D’Artagnan said: “Monsieur du Verger, help me to place this man in a place of safety.”
— from Twenty Years After by Alexandre Dumas

But she was shocked at my carelessness, and justly angry with me for placing myself in a position, which, but for her interference, might have become a very disgraceful one.
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

One may venture, now-a-days, to express such a doubt, particularly as Madam Moon is a Pagan deity.
— from Canada and the Canadians, Vol. 1 by Bonnycastle, Richard Henry, Sir

“The Plant Investment Co., of which Mr. H. B. Plant is the head, and in which he has associated with him several sagacious millionaires, is a powerful corporation which was organized for co-operative investment in valuable southern railroad properties and advantageous control of the same.
— from The Life of Henry Bradley Plant Founder and President of the Plant System of Railroads and Steamships and Also of the Southern Express Company by G. Hutchinson (George Hutchinson) Smyth

Their room, with the lift of the ceiling emphasized by the confined space, was more engaging still: tall slatted doors opened on an iron railed balcony, the bath-room was like a tunnel on end, and the floor an expanse of polished mosaic in a pattern of yellow and grey.
— from Cytherea by Joseph Hergesheimer

And suddenly his name is found in a psalm of David's, who declares that the Messiah is a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedec, and again he is lost without leaving a trace.
— from The Cathedral by J.-K. (Joris-Karl) Huysmans

"Me, I am Pincus Levin, and you are leaving this by my wife last night," he said; "so I am coming to tell you I am agreeable to take Mr. Levin to Steuermann's place."
— from Abe and Mawruss: Being Further Adventures of Potash and Perlmutter by Montague Glass

We had ridden all the morning in a pelting rain, slashed by wet trees, plunging through bogs and sliding down ravines, and when we saw the valley just before us we raised a cheer.
— from The Trail of the Goldseekers: A Record of Travel in Prose and Verse by Hamlin Garland

"We would make it a partnership affair," replied the poor engineer, eagerly.
— from Aaron the Jew: A Novel by B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon

"Perhaps I am more in a position to say this than any of the rest of you, because all of you have some past association with Mrs. Burton; she was an intimate friend of your mothers.
— from The Camp Fire Girls Behind the Lines by Margaret Vandercook