The grave of the captain killed at Tonquin had no mourner on its marble slab, no flowers, no wreath.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

And when I came to inquire into the prevailing spirit of the clergy I found that most of its members seemed to retire of their own accord from the exercise of power, and that they made it the pride of their profession to abstain from politics.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville

'You have made a poor marriage of it, my sweet wife,' said Eugene.
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

The minority of instructed minds scattered through the local constituencies would unite to return a number, proportioned to their own numbers, of the very ablest men the country contains.
— from Considerations on Representative Government by John Stuart Mill

But, again, to lay down absolutely that the laws of any community ought to express the will of the majority of its members seems incompatible with the view so vigorously maintained by Socrates and his most famous disciples, that laws ought to be made by people who understand law-making.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick

That the extent of a poetical work is, ceteris paribus, the measure of its merit, seems undoubtedly, when we thus state it, a proposition sufficiently absurd—yet we are indebted for it to the Quarterly Reviews.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe, The Raven Edition Table Of Contents And Index Of The Five Volumes by Edgar Allan Poe

Congress began to prepare for the worst, although many of its members still listened to the syren song of peace.
— from A Biography of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence, and of Washington and Patrick Henry With an appendix, containing the Constitution of the United States, and other documents by L. Carroll (Levi Carroll) Judson

{ 250} When walking along the street, thinking of the blue sky or the fine spring weather, I may either smile at some grotesque whim which occurs to me, or I may suddenly catch an intuition of the solution of a long-unsolved problem, which at that moment was far from my thoughts.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James

The grounds were accordingly measured off in military style, and tents pitched in systematic order.
— from The History of the Fifty-ninth Regiment Illinois Volunteers by David Lathrop

President Amadou Toumani TOURE (since 8 June 2002) head of government: Prime Minister Ousmane Issoufi MAIGA (since 30 April 2004) cabinet: Council of Ministers appointed by the prime minister elections: president elected by popular vote for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 12 May 2002 (next to be held April 2007); prime minister appointed by the president election results: Amadou Toumani TOURE elected president; percent of vote - Amadou Toumani TOURE 64.4%, Soumaila CISSE 35.6% Malta chief of state: President Edward FENECH ADAMI (since 4 April 2004) head of government: Prime Minister Lawrence GONZI (since 23 March 2004) cabinet: Cabinet appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister elections: president elected by the House of Representatives for a five-year term (eligible for a second term); election last held 29 March 2004 (next to be held by April 2009); following legislative elections, the leader of the majority party or leader of a majority coalition is usually appointed prime minister by the president for a five-year term; the deputy prime minister is appointed by the president on the advice of the prime minister election results: Eddie FENECH ADAMI elected president; House of Representatives vote - 33 out of 65 votes Marshall Islands chief of state:
— from The 2007 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Though well supplied with rivers in most of its main sections, it is generally dry.
— from Steep Trails California, Utah, Nevada, Washington, Oregon, the Grand Canyon by John Muir

'Donna Luisa is not tired; she is made of iron,' murmured Signora Gallenga, wife of the Secretary-General of Finance, coughing slightly and smoothing her pointed, Chinese eyebrows.
— from The conquest of Rome by Matilde Serao