The moment we begin to give a nation the unity and simplicity of an animal, we begin to think wildly.
— from What's Wrong with the World by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

He could not tell us anything of these monuments; but there was an old man, he said, a ranger of this forest, at present sojourning in the house of the priest, about two miles away, who could point out every monument of the old Karnstein family; and, for a trifle, he undertook to bring him back with him, if we would lend him one of our horses, in little more than half an hour.
— from Carmilla by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu

[The Vicar of Tours.] SALOMON (Joseph), of Tours, or near Tours, uncle and guardian to Pauline Salomon de Villenoix, a very rich Jewess.
— from Repertory of The Comedie Humaine, Complete, A — Z by Anatole Cerfberr

Which I have been the more curious to express and report; not to upbraid any miserable man, or by way of derision, (I rather pity them,) but the better to discern, to apply remedies unto them; and to show that the best and soundest of us all is in great danger; how much we ought to fear our own fickle estates, remember our miseries and vanities, examine and humiliate ourselves, seek to God, and call to Him for mercy, that needs not look for any rods to scourge ourselves, since we carry them in our bowels, and that our souls are in a miserable captivity, if the light of grace and heavenly truth doth not shine continually upon us: and by our discretion to moderate ourselves, to be more circumspect and wary in the midst of these dangers.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

What the origin is of the semblance of wit which accompanies such representations is a particular question which we need not touch upon at this time.
— from A General Introduction to Psychoanalysis by Sigmund Freud

Why did he not take up a position before reaching Filí?
— from War and Peace by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

Finally, they despatched the Salaminian trireme after him, ingeniously ordering its officers not to use any personal violence, but to speak him fair and bid him return to stand his trial and set himself right with the people.
— from Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch

But if the knowledge which we acquired before birth was lost by us at birth, and if afterwards by the use of the senses we recovered what we previously knew, will not the process which we call learning be a recovering of the knowledge which is natural to us, and may not this be rightly termed recollection? Very true.
— from Phaedo by Plato

'There was a Mohammedan regiment lay next to us at the Pirzai Kotal, and a priest of theirs—he was, as I remember, a naik—when the fit was on him, spake prophecies.
— from Kim by Rudyard Kipling

at those several places therefore it would be necessary to unload and transport the baggage for a considerable distance over steep and almost inacassable rocks where there was no possibility of employing horses for the releif of the men; the canoes would next have to be let down by cords and even with this precaution Capt. C. conceived there would be much wriske of both canoes and men.
— from The Journals of Lewis and Clark, 1804-1806 by William Clark

I am strong enough now to use a sword, and the Queen-Mother has not too many friends around her." Marie sighed.
— from My Sword's My Fortune: A Story of Old France by Herbert Hayens

144 I said nothing to Uncle Antonio of my suspicion.
— from The Book of Clever Beasts: Studies in Unnatural History by Myrtle Reed

Coming to a point where there was an intimation of trouble between the two countries, he said: "The decrees of the National Assembly respecting our tobacco and oil do not appear to be very pleasing to the people of this country; but I do not presume that any hasty measures will be adopted in consequence thereof; for we have never entertained a doubt of the friendly disposition of the French nation toward us, and are therefore persuaded that, if they have done anything which seems to bear hard upon us at a time when the Assembly must have been occupied in very important matters, and which, perhaps, would not allow time for a due consideration of the subject, they will in the moment of calm deliberation alter it and do what is right."
— from George Washington, Volume II by Henry Cabot Lodge

He spoke sharp to his men, and they never touched us afterwards.
— from A Chapter of Adventures by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

Lord Herriefield had been too long in the world not to understand all the ordinary arts of match-makers and match-hunters.
— from Precaution: A Novel by James Fenimore Cooper

To prevent the action of magnesium salts on the platinum electrodes it is necessary to use a higher grade of salt or to provide means of purification.
— from Chlorination of Water by Joseph Race

I was one of those who volunteered to go with him to drown the magazine of the brigantine next to us, and I tell you I never felt so scared in my life.
— from A Roving Commission; Or, Through the Black Insurrection at Hayti by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

However, as he always did what any one teased him about, if it were not too unpleasant, and as he was passionately fond of his mother, and as amused by playing on the vanity of la grande Mademoiselle, he acted his part capitally.
— from Stray Pearls: Memoirs of Margaret De Ribaumont, Viscountess of Bellaise by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge