Further, it is characteristic of the Great-minded man to ask favours not at all, or very reluctantly, but to do a service very readily; and to bear himself loftily towards the great or fortunate, but towards people of middle station affably; because to be above the former is difficult and so a grand thing, but to be above the latter is easy; and to be high and mighty towards the former is not ignoble, but to do it towards those of humble station would be low and vulgar; it would be like parading strength against the weak.
— from The Ethics of Aristotle by Aristotle

To this Ladies’ Seminary, then, Richard Swiveller hied, with designs obnoxious to the peace of the fair Sophia, who, arrayed in virgin white, embellished by no ornament but one blushing rose, received him on his arrival, in the midst of very elegant not to say brilliant preparations; such as the embellishment of the room with the little flower-pots which always stood on the window-sill outside, save in windy weather when they blew into the area; the choice attire of the day-scholars who were allowed to grace the festival; the unwonted curls of Miss Jane Wackles who had kept her head during the whole of the preceding day screwed up tight in a yellow play-bill; and the solemn gentility and stately bearing of the old lady and her eldest daughter, which struck Mr Swiveller as being uncommon but made no further impression upon him.
— from The Old Curiosity Shop by Charles Dickens

He made similar inquiries about his grandfather, mother, sisters, and brothers.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

To the dread rattling thunder Have I given fire, and rifted Jove's stout oak With his own bolt; the strong-bas'd promontory Have I made shake, and by the spurs pluck'd up The pine and cedar.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

How My Sea Adventure Began HERE was no return of the mutineers—not so much as another shot out of the woods.
— from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

Where his admiration and his sympathy are awakened, he sees noble aims and great achievements, worthy of being minutely studied and brought vividly before later generations.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana

Mowgli would laugh and answer: “I have the Pack and I have thee; and Baloo, though he is so lazy, might strike a blow or two for my sake.
— from The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

I have heard of a clergyman who made such a bet, and who lost it, and who paid it, and who got the bishopric.
— from The Virginians by William Makepeace Thackeray

We managed to cook a meal somehow, and Birdie got the stove going afterwards, but it was quite useless to try and warm the place.
— from The Worst Journey in the World Antarctic 1910-1913 by Apsley Cherry-Garrard

I never got so far as that, however; and the only fact that showed me I had made any impression upon her, beyond the pleasure she always manifested when I appeared on the Monday, was, that, whereas all my linen had been very badly washed at first, a decided improvement took place after a while, beginning with my surplice and bands, and gradually extending itself to my shirts and handkerchiefs; till at last even Mrs Pearson was unable to find any fault with the poor old sleepy woman's work.
— from Annals of a Quiet Neighbourhood by George MacDonald

There is the splendid Tower Bridge that we read of before; there is the gray, glittering river; and there are many ships and barges floating up and down on the water.
— from The Children's Book of London by G. E. (Geraldine Edith) Mitton

Had the landlords of Ireland paid attention to these and other matters that directly involve their own welfare and independence, as well as those of their neglected tenantry, they would not be, as they now are, a class of men, some absolutely bankrupt, and more on the very eve of it; and all this, to use a commercial phrase painfully appropriate,—because they neglect their business.
— from The Emigrants Of Ahadarra The Works of William Carleton, Volume Two by William Carleton

So when Amphion[1] bade the lyre To more majestic sound aspire, Behold the madding throng, In wonder and oblivion drown'd, To sculpture turn'd by magic sound And petrifying song.
— from The Poems of Jonathan Swift, D.D., Volume 1 by Jonathan Swift

The hair is more sensibly affected by the action of the climate than the skin.
— from The Native Races [of the Pacific states], Volume 1, Wild Tribes The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 1 by Hubert Howe Bancroft

I told him that I would give him every assistance in my power, and to this purpose bid him lay hold; but in a few moments he was torn from my side, and by his shrieks I judge was soon demolished.
— from Travels Through the Interior Parts of North America, in the Years 1766, 1767 and 1768 by Jonathan Carver