Not one of our murdered presidents had an enemy in the world; they were all of such preeminent purity of life that no pretext could be given for the attack of passional crime; they were all men of democratic instincts, who could never have offended the most jealous advocates of equity; they were of kindly and generous nature, to whom wrong or injustice was impossible; of moderate fortune, whose slender means nobody could envy.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by J. Berg (Joseph Berg) Esenwein

Thus far we've gone; the order of my plan Hath brought me now unto the point where I Must make report how, too, the universe Consists of mortal body, born in time, And in what modes that congregated stuff Established itself as earth and sky, Ocean, and stars, and sun, and ball of moon;
— from On the Nature of Things by Titus Lucretius Carus

This moneyed fellow, meeting at the very brink of the bank of the ford with Friar Adam Crankcod, a Franciscan observantin of Mirebeau, promised him a new frock, provided that in the transporting of him over the water he would bear him upon his neck and shoulders, after the manner of carrying dead goats; for he was a lusty, strong-limbed, sturdy rogue.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

I never felt the like before.—Said my master, with an imperious tone, Get out of my presence, hussy!
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson

If she had succeeded in doing so, the intricate knot which I was slowly and patiently operating on might perhaps have been cut by circumstances.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

[Pg 441] Turned out of my paternal hall!
— from The Fables of La Fontaine Translated into English Verse by Walter Thornbury and Illustrated by Gustave Doré by Jean de La Fontaine

I gave him to understand that I forgave his officious concern for once, but cautioned him in pretty severe terms for making me the subject of idle conversation for the future; then turning to the corporal, thanked him for his care, and gave him a crown to drink with his men, assuring him that the rencontre was over long before he came up, and everything compromised, as he might have observed by our behaviour; as a farther proof of which, he would find upon examination that one of my pistols had been discharged: but this civil person, without giving himself or me any farther trouble, received the bounty with a thousand bows and acknowledgments, and, returning the pistols, released me immediately.
— from The Adventures of Roderick Random by T. (Tobias) Smollett

“You dirty liar,” I exclaimed; “one of my people has been down to your village there and says it is full of men.”
— from Allan and the Holy Flower by H. Rider (Henry Rider) Haggard

[154] secondly, one keeps a secret better, if only one more person helps him hold his tongue about it, as is well known from the case of Midas's barber and the reeds; the third reason was, that he had several reasons.
— from Hesperus; or, Forty-Five Dog-Post-Days: A Biography. Vol. I. by Jean Paul

But what we have now to consider are cases of wholes, in which one or more parts have a great negative value—are great positive evils.
— from Principia Ethica by G. E. (George Edward) Moore

Had mortal prowess against prowess been Between those twain the naked issue tried, Saul, with his sanguine dash of onset, might Perchance have won the day—through sheer surprise Of sudden and impetuous movement swift Beyond the other's readiness to oppose An instantaneous rally of quick thought
— from The Epic of Saul by William Cleaver Wilkinson

An inkling of our meaning pierced his dull understanding.
— from An American Girl Abroad by Adeline Trafton

This mysterious influence of our bodily on our mental part has been poetically compared to that which the sun was supposed to exercise on a lyre, that formed part of a celebrated Egyptian statue of Memnon, which was said to become musical when struck with its beams; and though the poet has extended the similitude, beyond our mere elementary sensations, to the complex perception of [296] beauty, it is still a very happy illustration—as far as a mere poetic image can be an illustration—of the power which matter exercises over the harmonies of mind:— “For as old Memnon's image, long renown By fabling Nilus, to the quivering touch Of Titan's ray with each repulsive string Consenting, sounded through the warbling air
— from Lectures on the Philosophy of the Human Mind (Vol. 1 of 3) by Thomas Brown

A want of uniformity in the mode and object of my pursuit has been long my misfortune, and has, I fear, been yours.
— from Memoirs of Aaron Burr, Complete by Aaron Burr

To rulers, in so far as it is one of many proofs how little they can do, and how insignificant is the part which they play in the great drama of the world.
— from History of Civilization in England, Vol. 3 of 3 by Henry Thomas Buckle

At the same time, it is a fact that in order to deal advantageously with the vanity of others, one must put his own entirely on one side and think of nothing but the success of his plans, an essential which will always prove a difficulty in the way of this sort of commerce.
— from The Recollections of Alexis de Tocqueville by Alexis de Tocqueville

The conduct of Washington was even more simple, and according to our opinion, more praiseworthy: he would neither accept the profit of emolument, nor the pride of sacrifice; he was paid for all necessary expenses, and, without increasing his fortune, only lessened it, from the injury it unavoidably received from his absence.
— from Memoirs, Correspondence and Manuscripts of General Lafayette by Lafayette, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert Du Motier, marquis de