By the great commercializing of printing you've found a harmless, polite occupation for every genius who might have carved his own niche.
— from This Side of Paradise by F. Scott (Francis Scott) Fitzgerald

But for the present, altogether restrain desire; for if you desire any of the things not within our own power, you must necessarily be disappointed; and you are not yet secure of those which are within our power, and so are legitimate objects of desire.
— from The Enchiridion by Epictetus

An Americanized English Grocer's Shop Ernest Carter's store at St. Albans, England, operated under the name of Thomas Oakley & Co., has a distinctly American atmosphere, accounted for by the fact that the fittings were supplied by an American manufacturer, the Walker Bin Co., of Penn Yan, N.Y.
— from All About Coffee by William H. (William Harrison) Ukers

7. For one minute, look at any object, scene, action, picture, or person you choose, take two minutes to arrange your thoughts, and then deliver a short description—all without making written notes.
— from The Art of Public Speaking by J. Berg (Joseph Berg) Esenwein

This is the equivalent of putting your seal or signature on the bottom of a message.
— from Little Brother by Cory Doctorow

O Fantine, maid worthy of being called Marguerite or Pearl, you are a woman from the beauteous Orient.
— from Les Misérables by Victor Hugo

What a dear old pensioner you are!'
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

And when old Aunt Christina MacAllister heard of it—she was the one brought me round when I nearly died of pneumonia you know—she was a wonder—no doctor was a patch on her—they don't hatch her breed of cats nowadays, let me tell you—she said she could have saved him with her grandmother's remedy if she'd been there.
— from Rilla of Ingleside by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

“Someone has told you the secret; or, perhaps, you guessed that he was here.”
— from The Count of Monte Cristo, Illustrated by Alexandre Dumas

I've been looking forward to meeting you all ever since I left Greensboro, and been wondering what sort of people you would be."
— from Janice Day by Helen Beecher Long

You may be bound as hard by chains when covered by leather, as when the iron appears'; or when he said in answer to Dr. Johnson's remark that he had downed Dr. Robertson with the King of Prussia, 'Yes, Sir, you threw a bottle at his head.'
— from Boswell the Biographer by George Mallory

On polished oak or parqueterie you would probably have a bad fall.
— from How to Behave and How to Amuse: A Handy Manual of Etiquette and Parlor Games by George H. (George Henry) Sandison

My steeplechase might have led to something,—that is, I might have become a jockey; but then, again, one's light weight, like a “contralto” voice, is sure to vanish after a year or two; and then, from the heyday of popularity, you sink down into a bad groom or a fourth-rate tenor, just as if, after reaching a silk gown at the bar, a man had to begin life again as crier in the Exchequer!
— from Confessions Of Con Cregan, the Irish Gil Blas by Charles James Lever

Oh, perhaps you don't believe me?
— from The Woman of Mystery by Maurice Leblanc

This fiery game your active youth maintain'd; Not yet by years extinguish'd, though restrain'd: You season still with sports your serious hours: 60 For age but tastes of pleasures youth devours.
— from The Poetical Works of John Dryden, Volume 2 With Life, Critical Dissertation, and Explanatory Notes by John Dryden

“We always wait until they begin to come in before we make up our party, you know.”
— from The Boy Trapper by Harry Castlemon

It stands there on the old place yet (1875).
— from The Bark Covered House Or, Back In the Woods Again; Being a Graphic and Thrilling Description of Real Pioneer Life in the Wilderness of Michigan by William Nowlin

And what are those other parcels you've got?"
— from The Oriel Window by Mrs. Molesworth