empeño m obligation, eagerness, determination ( en, de , to); strong desire.
— from Doña Perfecta by Benito Pérez Galdós

To thy thinking she is a most loathsome creature; and as when a country fellow discommended once that exquisite picture of Helen, made by Zeuxis, [5406] for he saw no such beauty in it; Nichomachus a lovesick spectator replied, Sume tibi meos oculos et deam existimabis , take mine eyes, and thou wilt think she is a goddess, dote on her forthwith, count all her vices virtues; her imperfections infirmities, absolute and perfect: if she be flat-nosed, she is lovely; if hook-nosed, kingly; if dwarfish and little, pretty; if tall, proper and man-like, our brave British Boadicea; if crooked, wise; if monstrous, comely; her defects are no defects at all, she hath no deformities.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

He wuz laughin’ an’ talkin’ low like to my Missy an’ she wuz laughin’ an talkin’ back at ‘im. I seed ‘em bof wid my own eyes des ez plain
— from The Traitor: A Story of the Fall of the Invisible Empire by Dixon, Thomas, Jr.

Fundamental concerns in India include the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife, all this despite impressive gains in economic investment and output.
— from The 2003 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

“The family at Castlewood have done far more for me than my own ever did,” Esmond said.
— from Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges by William Makepeace Thackeray

The accidents of fortune are so very variable, and its mutations such matters of every day experience, that a more fluctuating or uncertain standard of station could not possibly have been chosen.
— from Graham's Magazine, Vol. XXXV, No. 3, September 1849 by Various

ye maun leave port and punch to the like o’ us, it’s claret that’s fit for you lairds; and, I dare say, nane of the folk ye speak so much o’ ever drank either of the twa.”
— from The Antiquary — Complete by Walter Scott

Despite impressive gains in economic investment and output, India faces pressing problems such as the ongoing dispute with Pakistan over Kashmir, massive overpopulation, environmental degradation, extensive poverty, and ethnic and religious strife.
— from The 2007 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency