Let me see that I excite the sympathy of some existing thing; do not deny me my request!”
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

The myth says that in each of the localities where he sojourned, he celebrated totemic ceremonies; they now repeat them in the same order in which they are supposed to have taken place originally.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim

[5] Note that in Spanish, much more strictly than in English, the agreement depends upon the grammatical construction rather than the meaning.
— from Heath's Modern Language Series: The Spanish American Reader by Ernesto Nelson

The sum is much smaller than I expected, and than the King needs; but is grounded upon Mr. Wren’s reading our estimates the other day of L270,000, to keep the fleete abroad, wherein we demanded nothing for setting and fitting of them out, which will cost almost L200,000, I do verily believe: and do believe that the King hath no cause to thank Wren for this motion.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

Bishop England, in his "Explanation of the Mass," says that in every ceremony we must look for three meanings: "the first, the literal, natural, and, it may be said, the original meaning; the second, the figurative or emblematic signification; and thirdly, the pious or religious meaning: frequently the two last will be found the same; sometimes all three will be found combined."
— from The Symbolism of Freemasonry Illustrating and Explaining Its Science and Philosophy, Its Legends, Myths and Symbols by Albert Gallatin Mackey

With these reflections I worked my mind up, not only to a resignation to the will of God in the present disposition of my circumstances, but even to a sincere thankfulness for my condition; and that I, who was yet a living man, ought not to complain, seeing I had not the due punishment of my sins; that I enjoyed so many mercies which I had no reason to have expected in that place; that I ought never more to repine at my condition, but to rejoice, and to give daily thanks for that daily bread, which nothing but a crowd of wonders could have brought; that I ought to consider I had been fed even by a miracle, even as great as that of feeding Elijah by ravens, nay, by a long series of miracles; and that I could hardly have named a place in the uninhabitable part of the world where I could have been cast more to my advantage; a place where, as I had no society, which was my affliction on one hand, so I found no ravenous beasts, no furious wolves or tigers, to threaten my life; no venomous creatures, or poisons, which I might feed on to my hurt; no savages to murder and devour me.
— from The Life and Adventures of Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe

The rain was pouring in torrents, and thick mists hid the summits of the mountains, so that I even saw not the faces of those mighty friends.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Monsieur Defarge's olfactory sense was by no means delicate, but the stock of wine smelt much stronger than it ever tasted, and so did the stock of rum and brandy and aniseed.
— from A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

And this is the more necessary as the Kula is concerned with the exchange of wealth and utilities, and therefore it is an economic institution, and there is no other aspect of primitive life where our knowledge is more scanty and our understanding more superficial than in Economics.
— from Argonauts of the Western Pacific An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea by Bronislaw Malinowski

So much so that if Emelyanoushka had gone away I should have felt that I had nothing to live for, I do believe....
— from Short Stories by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

erstanding, that he might smite, that is, execute it according to the will of his Father, upon and among the children of men.
— from Works of John Bunyan — Volume 01 by John Bunyan

I thought them equal to the largest trees I had ever seen; but upon considering, and roughly measuring some of them, I did not find one 7½ feet diameter; a small tree in comparison of those that some travellers have observed, and much smaller than I expected; for here every cause concurred that should make the growth of these large bodies excessive.
— from Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, Volume 3 (of 5) In the years 1768, 1769, 1770, 1771, 1772 and 1773 by James Bruce

"It is the most sporting thing I ever heard of in my life," said young Wilson.
— from The Green Flag, and Other Stories of War and Sport by Arthur Conan Doyle

Both animals are much smaller than in Europe.
— from The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India, Volume 3 by R. V. (Robert Vane) Russell

“By Heavens it’s the most singular thing I ever heard of.”
— from Ada, the Betrayed; Or, The Murder at the Old Smithy. A Romance of Passion by James Malcolm Rymer

San Domingo, Porto Rico, Santiago, Cartliagena, Florida, were sacked and destroyed, and the supplies drawn so steadily from the oppression of the Western World to maintain Spanish tyranny in Europe, were for a time extinguished.
— from History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce — Complete (1584-86) by John Lothrop Motley

The earth is a spheroid flattened at the poles and its polar diameter is about twenty-seven miles shorter than its equatorial diameter.
— from Astronomy for Young Folks by Isabel Martin Lewis

My dream of possessing "Pinnock" would now be realized, and that much sooner than I ever had imagined.
— from The Life of Roger Langdon, Told by himself. With additions by his daughter Ellen. by Ellen Langdon