In his hand he had the umbrella I knew so well, and I was already flustered and drew myself up like a schoolboy, expecting my father to begin hitting me with it, but he noticed my glance at the umbrella and most likely that restrained him.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Without a moment's hesitation or self-distrust, he volunteered to lead the army against the Christians; and so successful was the raid he made upon Leon, and so liberal was his largesse to the soldiery, that he returned to Cordova, not only triumphant—a civilian general—but also the idol of the army.
— from The Moors in Spain by Stanley Lane-Poole

In the first place, the vast expenditures of the war, the inflation of prices, and the depreciation of currency, leading up to a complete instability of the unit of value, have made us lose all sense of number and magnitude in matters of finance.
— from The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes

The non-conventional and deviating people, who are so often productive and inventive, must no longer be sacrificed: it must never again be considered as a disgrace to depart from morality either in actions or thought; many new experiments must be made upon life and society, and the world must be relieved from a huge weight of bad conscience.
— from The Dawn of Day by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Under any circumstances it would have been an unwelcome alliance; but to have it so clandestinely formed, and such a period chosen for its completion, placed Julia's feelings in a most unfavourable light, and severely aggravated the folly of her choice.
— from Mansfield Park by Jane Austen

The slim, perhaps too waisted, figure bore a thin hawk-like 24 face, which with its perfectly poised mixture of ferocity and courtesy would have carried its fortunate owner as easily into the heart of any schoolboy as into the boudoir of the most unattainable lady; and sweeping moustachios somehow added prominence to the long, delicate, very arched nose—surely the nose of a Roman person, I ventured to myself at the end of my long glance.
— from The Romantic Lady by Michael Arlen

"The old woman keeps her mewed up like a singing-bird," said the second; "and if a fellow wants speech of her, it's as much as his crown is worth; for Dame Elsie has a strong arm, and her distaff is known to be heavy."
— from Agnes of Sorrento by Harriet Beecher Stowe

I can’t lend thee a hinch,” cried Bob; “they be squazing me up like a squatting match.”
— from Alice Lorraine: A Tale of the South Downs by R. D. (Richard Doddridge) Blackmore

This memorial, as it now stands in its solid oaken case, with its heavy folios, each bearing on its back the imprint of the American eagle, forms a most unique library, a singular monument of an international expression of a moral idea.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 63, January, 1863 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

"I die in my uniform like a soldier," she said to her lawyer.
— from Mare Nostrum (Our Sea): A Novel by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez

"I never knowed what he meant, no more than that pint-pot; but Mr. 'Ume laughed and says, 'Don't be a fool, Dale,' and told me that Mr. Bannister couldn't ride no more than a tailor—so he said—and wanted a steady, quiet 'orse.
— from A Change of Air by Anthony Hope

Some of it is sweet and some is bitter; some of it makes us laugh and sing and dance; and some makes us curse and swear and bellow out, as when one is lashed to the hatches and the cat falls on his naked back.
— from For Faith and Freedom by Walter Besant

I'll dress Mary up like a squaw, and you can walk in together."
— from High Life in New York A series of letters to Mr. Zephariah Slick, Justice of the Peace, and Deacon of the church over to Weathersfield in the state of Connecticut by Ann S. (Ann Sophia) Stephens