No man can force the harp of his own individuality into the people's heart; but every man may play upon the chords of the people's heart, who draws his inspiration from the people's instinct.
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

It is designed a character of perfect simplicity; and as the goodness of his heart will recommend him to the good-natured, so I hope it will excuse me to the gentlemen of his cloth; for whom, while they are worthy of their sacred order, no man can possibly have a greater respect.
— from Joseph Andrews, Vol. 1 by Henry Fielding

They would have perished utterly, had not Marcus Calpurnius, serving as military tribune, matched the catastrophe by his cleverness.
— from Dio's Rome, Volume 1 (of 6) An Historical Narrative Originally Composed in Greek during the Reigns of Septimius Severus, Geta and Caracalla, Macrinus, Elagabalus and Alexander Severus: and Now Presented in English Form by Cassius Dio Cocceianus

Though I did not much care for this arrangement, I was too amorous to raise any objection at a moment when I thought my triumph was at hand; but I was astonished when the mother asked me if I would like to pay the hundred guineas in advance.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

Lady Bellaston was of this intrepid character; but let not my country readers conclude from her, that this is the general conduct of women of fashion, or that we mean to represent them as such.
— from History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding

Perhaps it is not merely common, but universal.
— from What Is Man? and Other Essays by Mark Twain

From the position occupied by Garland's brigade, therefore, no movement could be made against the defences of San Antonio except to the front, and by a narrow causeway, over perfectly level ground, every inch of which was commanded by the enemy's artillery and infantry.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. (Ulysses Simpson) Grant

— N. middle course, midcourse; mean &c. 29 middle &c. 68; juste milieu[Fr], mezzo termine[It], golden mean, [obs3][Grk], aurea mediocritas[Lat].
— from Roget's Thesaurus by Peter Mark Roget

'Cold night, Mrs. Corney,' said this young gentleman, as the matron entered.
— from Oliver Twist by Charles Dickens

Quando fu hora de meſſa andaſſemo in terra forſe cinquanta huomini nõ armati la ꝓſo na ma cõ le altre nr̃e arme et meglio veſtite q̃ poteſſemo Jnanzi que aruaſſemo aLa riua cõ li bateli forenno ſcaricati sej pezi de bombarde in ſegnio de pace ſaltaſſemo in terra li
— from The Philippine Islands, 1493-1898, Volume 33, 1519-1522 Explorations by early navigators, descriptions of the islands and their peoples, their history and records of the Catholic missions, as related in contemporaneous books and manuscripts, showing the political, economic, commercial and religious conditions of those islands from their earliest relations with European nations to the close of the nineteenth century by Antonio Pigafetta

Ungrateful and perfidious as that sleek tiger before her had often proved himself, though no man could less deserve one kindly sentiment in a female heart, though she knew that he cared nothing for her, still it was pleasing to know that he cared for nobody else, that he was sitting in the same room; and Arabella Crane felt that, if that existence could continue, she could forget the past and look contented towards the future.
— from What Will He Do with It? — Complete by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

Juan Fernandez itself was not more cut off from men and women.
— from Armorel of Lyonesse: A Romance of To-day by Walter Besant

No ministry could hope to retain power if it surrendered the claim to take seamen found under a neutral flag.
— from Sea Power in its Relations to the War of 1812 Volume 1 by A. T. (Alfred Thayer) Mahan

I want to be the first to break the news To Egerton and the Governor; want to say: 'I have the honor to report to you, Your Excellency, And it gives me pleasure to announce to you Upon the occasion of the opening Of your new mansion, Colonel Egerton, This bit of news, sir, from the military,
— from The Americans by Edwin Davies Schoonmaker

And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
— from An Examination of the Testimony of the Four Evangelists, by the Rules of Evidence Administered in Courts of Justice With an Account of the Trial of Jesus by Simon Greenleaf

"You are not in England now, Mr. Commendone," the priest replied; "but you are in the dominion of His Most Catholic Majesty; you are not accused of any crime against the civil law of England or of this country, but I, in my authority
— from House of Torment A Tale of the Remarkable Adventures of Mr. John Commendone, Gentleman to King Phillip II of Spain at the English Court by Guy Thorne

It was because they were warm-hearted, warm-blooded men, and not mere calculating machines.
— from The Corporation of London, Its Rights and Privileges by William Ferneley Allen

Variability and heredity, as well as correlation, admit of being conceived as purely mechanical, and must be thus regarded so long as no more cogent reasons can be adduced for believing that some force other than physico-chemical lies concealed therein.
— from Studies in the Theory of Descent, Volume II by August Weismann

Jesus Christ, when on the earth, said, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father but by me' (John xiv. 6).
— from The Sheepfold and the Common; Or, Within and Without. Vol. 1 (of 2) by Timothy East