Then he went to the innkeeper, who opened his eyes very wide, and said, "I never expected to see thee alive again!
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Wilhelm Grimm

few verses touch their nicer ear; They scarce can bear their laureate twice a year; And justly Cæsar scorns the poet’s lays: It is to history he trusts for praise.
— from An Essay on Man; Moral Essays and Satires by Alexander Pope

We met only Mrs. Latouche and Miss East, and we are just now engaged to spend next Sunday evening at Mrs. L.'s, and to meet the D'Entraigues, but M. le Comte must do without Henry.
— from The Letters of Jane Austen Selected from the compilation of her great nephew, Edward, Lord Bradbourne by Jane Austen

Nobody envied the Secretary of Fine Arts, either his cabinet position or his portfolio.
— from The King in Yellow by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

It is possible that to-day the phenomenon is becoming rarer, and that Balzac, while no less admired, does not exercise the same fascinating influence.
— from Repertory of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A — Z by Anatole Cerfberr

The Kellynch property was good, but not equal to Sir Walter's apprehension of the state required in its possessor.
— from Persuasion by Jane Austen

This was not a serious matter; and he had not allowed any one to trouble himself about it, nor to dress it, nor even to see his hurt, not even Cosette.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

They tell a droll story of some one who met him in a crowd, and upon his offering to kiss him, could not escape the salute, “Master,” said he, “do you want to mouth every one you meet with in a hurry?” XXIV.
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius

Half-past six was no longer half-past six to these pilgrims from New England, the South, and the Mississippi Valley, it was “seven bells”; eight, twelve, and four o’clock were “eight bells”; the captain did not take the longitude at nine o’clock, but at “two bells.”
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

But here we may observe, that though the intercourse of different states be advantageous, and even sometimes necessary, yet it is nor so necessary nor advantageous as that among individuals, without which it is utterly impossible for human nature ever to subsist.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume

Wherupon you of your exceeding clemency, do offer your Maiesties ful consent, that the foresaid prohibition being released vntil the feast of Easter next ensuing, the said marchants of your dominions may in our territories, and our marchants likewise may in your realms (al molestations ceasing) exercise their woonted traffique: especially sithens in the mean season your royall wisdome hath determined to direct vnto vs your hono: ambassadors in friendly sort to treat and parle with vs as touching the pretended iniuries, so far forth as they may concerne your subiects.
— from The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation — Volume 05 Central and Southern Europe by Richard Hakluyt

To my mind there is no occupation so befitting an English gentleman as that of taking up arms against our natural enemies, the Spanish; and also it is quite clear to me that huge fortunes are to be won in this grand game of war; while you both know, as well as I, in what great need of money our house stands at present.
— from Across the Spanish Main: A Tale of the Sea in the Days of Queen Bess by Harry Collingwood

It had nothing else to show me.
— from The Sea and the Jungle by H. M. (Henry Major) Tomlinson

Robin checked his mare and waited till the other came near enough to speak.
— from Come Rack! Come Rope! by Robert Hugh Benson

My friends, for Verney, I feel that you are my friend, do not endeavour to shake my resolve.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Screaming cries came from the rolling mass, and soon we got near enough to see that a struggle was going on between two creatures who were mixed intimately; and finally saw that a large, well-fed Rat had been taken in charge by a lithe little Weasel.
— from Animal Life of the British Isles A Pocket Guide to the Mammals, Reptiles and Batrachians of Wayside and Woodland by Edward Step

When almost near enough to strike, she dived and rose again twenty feet down the stream; but the canoe was also riding with the current and each time she rose it was near.
— from Voices; Birth-Marks; The Man and the Elephant by Mathew Joseph Holt

Your desire to know more of the private life of this extraordinary man, is quite natural; but he has been so long before the public, that it is not easy to say anything new.
— from A Residence in France With an Excursion Up the Rhine, and a Second Visit to Switzerland by James Fenimore Cooper

Let me next endeavour to show what is that fault in States which is the cause of their present maladministration, and what is the least change which will enable a State to pass into the truer form; and let the change, if possible, be of one thing only, or, if not, of two; at any rate, let the changes be as few and slight as possible.
— from The Republic of Plato by Plato

“Nobody except the substitutes,” he said.
— from Baseball Joe, Captain of the Team; or, Bitter Struggles on the Diamond by Lester Chadwick