Quod ubi peregrinus esset ingressus, uxorem tubicinis obviam euntem aspicit; illico cursum flectit, metuens ne nasus suus exploraretur, atque ad diversorium regressus est—exuit se vestibus; braccas coccineas sericas manticæ imposuit mulumque educi jussit.
— from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

And here I shall observe, that, as in the former the painter seems to have the advantage; so it is in the latter infinitely on the side of the writer; for the Monstrous is much easier to paint than describe, and the Ridiculous to describe than paint.
— from Joseph Andrews, Vol. 1 by Henry Fielding

Although I do not doubt that isolation is of considerable importance in the production of new species, on the whole I am inclined to believe that largeness of area is of more importance, more especially in the production of species, which will prove capable of enduring for a long period, and of spreading widely.
— from On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Darwin

But the majority is more engaged in business than in study—in political and commercial interests than in philosophical speculation or literary pursuits.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 2 by Alexis de Tocqueville

Moreover, I must explain what I mean by a mother and that explanation follows.]
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

And first of all, indeed, light was made by the word of God, and God, we read, separated it from the darkness, and called the light Day, and the darkness Night; but what kind of light that was, and by what periodic movement it made evening and morning, is beyond the reach of our senses; neither can we understand how it was, and yet must unhesitatingly believe it.
— from The City of God, Volume I by Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo

But I must say that when I was going on with a story in the dark that night, Mr. Mell’s old flute seemed more than once to sound mournfully in my ears; and that when at last Steerforth was tired, and I lay down in my bed, I fancied it playing so sorrowfully somewhere, that I was quite wretched.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

To what Disease in the Naturall Body of man, I may exactly compare this irregularity of a Common-wealth, I know not.
— from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

The conservator never ceased urging me to be careful when he saw me mix them up too much in my efforts to compare them.
— from Rembrandt by Jozef Israëls

Perhaps this American woman, equipped with a masculine intellect, masculine energy, and a masculine voice would have put through her will, had not Ingigerd's heavy sleep defied all the noise about her, even the shaking to which she had been subjected.
— from Atlantis by Gerhart Hauptmann

To make it more easy, observe why I pressed you to your vow before I took mine; and pardon my sincerity, and
— from Letters of Abelard and Heloise To which is prefix'd a particular account of their lives, amours, and misfortunes by Héloïse

His only accomplice was one who could never give him away, and the grotesque, inconceivable nature of the device only served to make it more effective.
— from The Hound of the Baskervilles by Arthur Conan Doyle

I didn't hear what was said, but when we had separated, or the jug had been emptied, Lanyard took me to one side and muttered in my ear, in a half-drunken way, in great confidence that: "I've told the old man that you and I were Confederate prisoners, and gave him a hint that we would be glad to get a lunch."
— from The Boy Spy A substantially true record of secret service during the war of the rebellion, a correct account of events witnessed by a soldier by Joseph Orton Kerbey

It is more suggestive, more intangible, more elusive—that is to say, its Eastern medley of a population is so, and its crumbling tapia-walled houses are so—than any other Moorish city.
— from In the Tail of the Peacock by Isabel Savory