There were but two exceptions to this keen Skirmish of wits o'er the departed; one Aurora, with her pure and placid mien; And Juan, too, in general behind none In gay remark on what he had heard or seen, Sate silent now, his usual spirits gone:
— from Don Juan by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron

But now I greet round their green beds in the yerd; It brak the sweet heart o' my faithful and dame,— There'll never be peace till Jamie comes hame.
— from Poems and Songs of Robert Burns by Robert Burns

My prudence consists in avoiding and going without, not in the inventing of means and methods, not in adroit steering, not in gentle repairing.
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson

I ought, perhaps, to have made more progress than this; but, as the luncheon-time drew near, I grew restless and unsettled, and felt unable to fix my attention on work, even though that work was only of the humble manual kind.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The colours are too dark, the figures are not sufficiently rounded, nor in good relief; the draperies in no way resemble stuffs.
— from Candide by Voltaire

Nadisiutsuhan ku sa Tabuan, apan gamay ra ang ákung napalit, I got rid of eighteen pesos, but I bought very little.
— from A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan by John U. Wolff

Hitag-anan nákung ikaw tung nagmaskara, I guessed right that you were the one wearing a mask.
— from A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan by John U. Wolff

tahùtáhù n idle gossip, reports passed around to instigate a quarrel.
— from A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan by John U. Wolff

The coroner’s office is also one which not infrequently gives rise to scandals.
— from Chicago, Satan's Sanctum by L. O. Curon

"To one who considers coolly on the subject," he remarked, "it will appear that human nature in general really enjoys more liberty at present in the most arbitrary government of Europe than it ever did during the most flourishing period of ancient times."
— from The Idea of Progress: An Inguiry into Its Origin and Growth by J. B. (John Bagnell) Bury

Then, when sentence of banishment was pronounced on the Bishop, he saw him off, and, returning home, wrote and published some verses on “The Banishment of Cicero,” in which, of course, the Bishop was Cicero, and George I. Clodius, concluding: “Let Clodius now in grandeur reign, Let him exert his power, A short-lived monster in the land, The monarch of an hour; Let pageant fools adore their wooden god, And act against their senses at his nod.
— from Some Eccentrics & a Woman by Lewis Melville

It is on this account that, in ancient pictures, Saint Nicholas is generally represented with two naked children in a tub.”
— from Glimpses of Nature, and Objects of Interest Described, During a Visit to the Isle of Wight Designed to Assist and Encourage Young Persons in Forming Habits of Observation by Mrs. (Jane) Loudon

"My name is George Robbins, and I'm a good deal farther back; and, as you can see, I'm down on my luck.
— from Stories That End Well by Octave Thanet

Luther's elevated mind did not indeed give room to narrow prejudices against those flowers of life, with which a kind Creator has adorned this earth.
— from Historical View of the Languages and Literature of the Slavic Nations With a Sketch of Their Popular Poetry by Talvj

My next in gorgeous robes arrayed, Is queen of all her kind, Where Nature’s touch is most displayed
— from Merry's Book of Puzzles by J. N. (John Newton) Stearns

"No; I guessed right away," I answered.
— from The Long Day: The Story of a New York Working Girl, as Told by Herself by Dorothy Richardson

If a soul turns to the future for consolation in a sad or wearied or disappointed present, it is in religion that hope and strength are sometimes found; but if it is a retrospective nature—and the poetical nature is generally retrospective, because poetry is concerned with the beauty of actual experience and actual things, rather than with the possible and the unknown—then it finds its medicine for the dreariness of life in memory.
— from Joyous Gard by Arthur Christopher Benson