All the little duties were faithfully done each day, and many of her sisters' also, for they were forgetful, and the house seemed like a clock whose pendulum was gone a-visiting.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The man that hath no music in himself, Nor is not mov'd with concord of sweet sounds, Is fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils; The motions of his spirit are dull as night, And his affections dark as Erebus.
— from The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare

A Caffre man, on his side, may not mention the name of his mother-in-law, nor may she pronounce his; but he is free to utter words in which the emphatic syllable of her name occurs.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer

“My lovely friend,” said Isabella, whose heart was too honest to resist a kind expression, “it is you that Theodore admires; I saw it; I am persuaded of it; nor shall a thought of my own happiness suffer me to interfere with yours.”
— from The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole

But in every respect, as she saw more of her, she approved her, and was confirmed in all her kind designs.
— from Emma by Jane Austen

If we did come to an explanation together, and if you suspected me of having some bad motive, and denied it all, how could I win upon you to trust me, unless I had the nightgown to produce?
— from The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins

Mr Quilp, without changing his position further than to turn over a little more on his side and rest his chin on his hand, proceeded to make himself acquainted with its contents.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

In this expedition we encountered but few persons, for the most part Arabs on foot, who passed almost without looking at us, and sometimes a Moor on horseback, some personage important either for his wealth or his office, accompanied by a troop of armed followers, who looked contemptuously at us as they passed.
— from Morocco, Its People and Places by Edmondo De Amicis

And it is interesting to find that Hawthorne—somewhat as Scott drew from the local repertory of his countrymen's nomenclature—found many of his surnames among those of the settlers of New England.
— from A Study of Hawthorne by George Parsons Lathrop

"And to make others happy, Sandy," she added, in a wistful, tremulous way, as though her heart were full.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 16, No. 98, December, 1865 A Magazine of Literature, Science, Art, and Politics by Various

General Pleasonton had but recently been relieved, and many of his staff-officers were still on duty at the headquarters awaiting the arrival of the permanent commander.
— from Personal Memoirs of P. H. Sheridan, General, United States Army — Complete by Philip Henry Sheridan

She amused me much by plunging headlong into some theological difficulties,—which reminded me of how she (aged 6!) used to harass you about the Trinity.
— from The Life of Sophia Jex-Blake by Graham Travers

When she had pinned it on she bent mockingly over her sister, who sat on the bed.
— from Project Gutenberg Complete Works of Winston Churchill by Winston Churchill