He who finds a particular virtue an easy matter, ultimately laughs at it.
— from The Will to Power: An Attempted Transvaluation of All Values. Book I and II by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

But because Ridicule is not so delicate as Compassion, and because 7 the Objects that make us laugh are infinitely more numerous than those that make us weep, there is a much greater Latitude for comick than tragick Artifices, and by Consequence a much greater Indulgence to be allowed them.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

In Silesia the last sheaf is called the Old Woman or the Old Man and is the theme of many jests; it is made unusually large and is sometimes weighted with a stone.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer

And now [was] my understanding led again into the first [sight]; both keeping in mind.
— from Revelations of Divine Love by of Norwich Julian

The man upstairs looked as if he had been washed in blood.
— from Dracula's Guest by Bram Stoker

On the contrary, they are not fond of uniformity, because, under that pretext, many inroads have of late years been made upon laws and institutions which hitherto have worked well, and against which, intrinsically, it was impossible to bring any tangible ground of complaint.
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 66, No. 407, September, 1849 by Various

It seems to him afterward as so much utter loss, and is regretted as such.
— from Mental Philosophy: Including the Intellect, Sensibilities, and Will by Joseph Haven

When I returned home, she related to me the following circumstances: The cat, having hastily left the dining-room, went to the dog, and mewed uncommonly loud, and in different tones of voice; which the dog, from time to time, answered with a short bark.
— from Stories about Animals: with Pictures to Match by Francis C. (Francis Channing) Woodworth

Assessed, moreover, not according to the laws of reason, justice, and humanity, but in such a manner that the heaviest burdens fall upon the most useful, laborious, and interesting class of the nation, the small proprietors.
— from The Roman Question by Edmond About

At last when nearing Griswoldville, Frank, pointing to a large white house at some distance across the fields, said: “Now, right over there is where my uncle lives, and I believe I'll just run over and see him, and then walk into Griswoldville.”
— from Andersonville: A Story of Rebel Military Prisons by John McElroy

Emphasis is placed on the important subjects of military strategy and tactics, unity of effort, the chain of command, authority and responsibility, organization, mutual understanding, loyalty, and indoctrination.
— from Sound Military Decision by Naval War College (U.S.)

At the beginning of that month I had been wounded (a trifling scratch, cutting off my left upper eyelid, a bit of my cheek, and my under lip), and I was obliged to leave Biggs in command of my Irregulars, whilst I retired for my wounds to an English station at Furruckabad, alias Futtyghur—it is, as every twopenny postman knows, at the apex of the Dooab.
— from Burlesques by William Makepeace Thackeray

—Make a strong ley of pearlashes and soft water, and add as much unslaked lime as it will take up; stir it together, and then let it settle a few minutes; bottle it, and stop close; have ready some water to lower it as used, and scour the part with it.
— from Mrs. Hale's Receipts for the Million Containing Four Thousand Five Hundred and Forty-five Receipts, Facts, Directions, etc. in the Useful, Ornamental, and Domestic Arts by Sarah Josepha Buell Hale

The unamiable feelings manifested toward us by the people of Canada have had little influence on the question, unless, perhaps, they may conspire to make us look at it in the light of reason rather than of sentiment.
— from Charles Sumner: his complete works, volume 12 (of 20) by Charles Sumner