In the matter of verbal exactness Mr. Howells has no superior, I suppose.
— from What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain

I am always worst in my own possession, and when wholly at my own disposition: accident has more title to anything that comes from me than I; occasion, company, and even the very rising and falling of my own voice, extract more from my fancy than I can find, when I sound and employ it by myself.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

“After having gratified the honest lawyer,” said he, “with a share of the unfortunate Fathom's spoils, and packed up all my own valuable effects, my new auxiliary Maurice and I posted to Harwich, embarked in the packet-boat, and next day arrived at Helvoetsluys; from thence we repaired to the Hague, in order to mingle in the gaieties of the place, and exercise our talents at play, which is there cultivated with universal eagerness.
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. (Tobias) Smollett

Captain Fitz-Marshall is a man of very engaging manners, and, I dare say, has many enemies.
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

and we'll ride down the murthering Orange villains, every man of them!”
— from Jack Hinton: The Guardsman by Charles James Lever

It was often made of very expensive materials, and long narrow strips of white cloth called tippets were added to the sleeves, reaching from the elbow to the knee.
— from A Handbook of Pictorial History by Henry W. Donald

The ugly scene lay in the mist of very early morning and the increasing daylight made its crudeness each moment more apparent.
— from Fairfax and His Pride: A Novel by Marie Van Vorst

With the exception of a man of very exalted merit, there are no Princes in Germany who are not of old family and high rank, with the appurtenant rights and privileges; therefore Princes have in that country the first rank immediately after the reigning houses.
— from Tour in England, Ireland, and France, in the years 1826, 1827, 1828 and 1829. with remarks on the manners and customs of the inhabitants, and anecdotes of distiguished public characters. In a series of letters by a German Prince. by Pückler-Muskau, Hermann, Fürst von

In Italy to-day the memory of Victor Emmanuel meets one on every hand, it was his fortunate fate to rise to every opportunity, and to grow in his people’s affection with each step he took.
— from Builders of United Italy by Rupert Sargent Holland

Then this simple girl believed in everybody; she was rather inclined to suppose of Mr Endicott that he was a man of very exalted mind.
— from The Athelings; or, the Three Gifts. Vol. 1/3 by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

Principis me obtulit vxorare, et magnis dotari possessionibus, dummodò Christianitati resignassem:
— from The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 08 Asia, Part I by Richard Hakluyt

Among the Eskimo of King William's Land I found the spear-handles made of driftwood thrown on the beach, the arms A A made of very elastic musk-ox horn, and the spikes of copper taken from the abandoned ships of Sir John Franklin's ill-fated expedition.
— from Along Alaska's Great River A Popular Account of the Travels of an Alaska Exploring Expedition along the Great Yukon River, from Its Source to Its Mouth, in the British North-West Territory, and in the Territory of Alaska by Frederick Schwatka

For, unless the sovereign, in spite of the intellectual disadvantages of his position, is a man of very enlarged mind, it must usually happen that he will reward, not those who are most able, but those who are most compliant; and that while he refuses his patronage to a profound and independent thinker, he will grant it to an author who cherishes ancient prejudices and defends ancient abuses.
— from History of Civilization in England, Vol. 2 of 3 by Henry Thomas Buckle