Aristocratic institutions cannot subsist without laying down the inequality of men as a fundamental principle, as a part and parcel of the legislation, affecting the condition of the human family as much as it affects that of society; but these are things so repugnant to natural equity that they can only be extorted from men by constraint.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville

And you see now, Ernest, that the critic has at his disposal as many objective forms of expression as the artist has.
— from Intentions by Oscar Wilde

But to conceive a thing as free can be nothing else than to conceive it simply, while we are in ignorance of the causes whereby it has been determined to action (II.
— from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza

Mary did not even try to control her rage and humiliation.
— from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

1. Such as cool the heart in fevers, yet is not every thing that cooleth cordial, for lead is colder than gold, yet is not lead cordial as gold is, some hold it cordial by a hidden quality, others by reason.
— from The Complete Herbal To which is now added, upwards of one hundred additional herbs, with a display of their medicinal and occult qualities physically applied to the cure of all disorders incident to mankind: to which are now first annexed, the English physician enlarged, and key to Physic. by Nicholas Culpeper

They wisely adopted this plan of attack; but the execution was not equal to the conception.
— from The Art of War by Jomini, Antoine Henri, baron de

These were things he could not explain to the court—and not even to me; but I would have been little fitted for the reception of his confidences had I not been able at times to understand the pauses between the words.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

The group searched his face with curiosity, with anxiety even, but found no light there, no expression that they could read.
— from The Tragedy of Pudd'nhead Wilson by Mark Twain

She did not move, but looked frightened; she did not even try to comprehend his meaning, for her thoughts were in a whirl, as if at the approach of some great danger; so, after waiting for a few seconds, he went on: “You see, a farm without a mistress can never succeed, even with a servant like you.”
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

There is really no end to the consolations that women find in modern life.
— from The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde

He thinks that in 984 B.C. the literary capacity of China was not equal to the composition of such a sustained work as the Travels.
— from Ancient China Simplified by Edward Harper Parker

Nay, even the tipsy crew at Bacchus's affected to treat her name with scorn:—"The girl had made much noise about being called a trull, as if many a better than she wasn't one; and, after all, what was the prudish wench?
— from The Complete Prose Works of Martin Farquhar Tupper by Martin Farquhar Tupper

The Dutch authorities, on the other hand, hold that the Moors were Moslemin only by profession, that by birth they were descendants of a mean and detestable Malabar caste, who in remote times had been converted to Islam through intercourse with the Arabs of Bassora and the Red Sea; that they had frequented the coasts of India as seamen, and then infested them as pirates; and that their first appearance in Ceylon was not earlier than the century preceding the landing of the Portuguese.[2] 1: Trans. Roy.
— from Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History, Antiquities and Productions, Volume 1 by Tennent, James Emerson, Sir

Generations of fishermen had looked upon the yellowish-red limestone of the Perce Rock with a valorous eye, but it would seem that not even the tiny clinging hoof of a chamois or wild goat might find a foothold upon the straight sides of it.
— from The Battle of the Strong: A Romance of Two Kingdoms — Volume 6 by Gilbert Parker

I also dedicated a work in two books upon The Life of Solitude, [16] to Philip, now exalted to the Cardinal-bishopric
— from Petrarch, the First Modern Scholar and Man of Letters A Selection from His Correspondence with Boccaccio and Other Friends, Designed to Illustrate the Beginnings of the Renaissance by Francesco Petrarca

It is not expected that the children in the lowest grades will learn much of the science of color, but it is desirable that the teachers have such knowledge of it that they will not unconsciously convey to the children erroneous impressions which must be unlearned later in life.
— from Elementary Color by Milton Bradley

One is not enemy to the cold, as you are here.
— from The Wind Bloweth by Donn Byrne

Surely of nothing else than the crime of having escaped their attack.
— from Roman life in the days of Cicero by Alfred John Church

Diplomatic relations, questions of peace and war, the treaty-making power, were not entrusted to the Council, without the knowledge and consent of the States General, which body was to be convoked twice a year by the State Council.
— from History of the United Netherlands from the Death of William the Silent to the Twelve Year's Truce, 1584 by John Lothrop Motley