As the object of the royal taboos is to isolate the king from all sources of danger, their general effect is to compel him to live in a state of seclusion, more or less complete, according to the number and stringency of the rules he observes.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer

There was room enough indeed in our hapless country for twice the number of invaders; but their lawless spirit instigated them to violence; they took a delight in thrusting the possessors from their houses; in seizing on some mansion of luxury, where the noble dwellers secluded themselves in fear of the plague; in forcing these of either sex to become their servants and purveyors; till, the ruin complete in one place, they removed their locust visitation to another.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Financial troubles are particularly exaggerated at night; and even many optimists suffer more or less from pessimism then.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden

Innocent brother mortal, why wert thou not an obscure substantial maker of locks; but doomed in that other far-seen craft, to be a maker only of world-follies, unrealities; things self destructive, which no mortal hammering could rivet into coherence!
— from The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle

The king may, also, before he is checked or moved from his own square, move once, like a knight, either to left or right, and he may also, if he has not [ 486 ] moved or been checked, move once over two vacant squares instead of one.”
— from Malay Magic Being an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay Peninsula by Walter William Skeat

It is true that no mood or frame of mind, whether it be joyful or sad, meditative or lively, careless or reflective, mocking or distressed can be aroused by one single isolated timbre; it depends more upon the general melodic line, the harmony, rhythm, and dynamic shades of expression, upon the whole formation of a given piece of music.
— from Principles of Orchestration, with Musical Examples Drawn from His Own Works by Nikolay Rimsky-Korsakov

Brown’s idea was to make for Madagascar, where he expected, on grounds not altogether illusory, to sell the schooner in Tamatave, and no questions asked, or perhaps obtain some more or less forged papers for her.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

A counter-current here means a body of opinion, belief, or sentiment more or less directly opposed to the dominant opinion of a particular era.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. (Ernest Watson) Burgess

The true critic will, indeed, always be sincere in his devotion to the principle of beauty, but he will seek for beauty in every age and in each school, and will never suffer himself to be limited to any settled custom of thought or stereotyped mode of looking at things.
— from Intentions by Oscar Wilde

The bodies of all insects consist of a succession of rings, or segments, more or less hardened by the deposition of a chemical substance called chitine; these rings are arranged in three groups: the head, the thorax, or middle body, and the abdomen or hind body.
— from Our Common Insects A Popular Account of the Insects of Our Fields, Forests, Gardens and Houses by A. S. (Alpheus Spring) Packard

Pandours spread themselves all over this Sazawa-Elbe country; endanger our subsistences, make our lives miserable.
— from History of Friedrich II of Prussia — Volume 15 by Thomas Carlyle

Then, too, the possession of camels leads to hasty and hurried examination of country, and the mere fact of being in command of such means of locomotion entices a man to push on regardless of caution.
— from The History of Australian Exploration from 1788 to 1888 by Ernest Favenc

A rejoinder is strictly an answer to a reply , tho often used in the general sense of answer , but always with the implication of something more or less controversial or opposed, tho lacking the conclusiveness implied in answer ; an answer , in the full sense, to a charge, an argument, or an objection is adequate, and finally refutes and disposes of it; a reply or rejoinder may be quite inadequate, so that one may say, "This reply is not an answer ;" "I am ready with an answer " means far more than "I am ready with a reply ."
— from English Synonyms and Antonyms With Notes on the Correct Use of Prepositions by James Champlin Fernald

'Only that I fell into the brook,' answered I, 'and was under the disagreeable necessity of saving my own life, when I expected that you would have condescended to take the trouble off my hands.' 'Expected!' cried he.
— from The Heroine by Eaton Stannard Barrett

The forests, for hundreds of miles in every direction, were one solid mass of living fire, roaring louder than thunder; in its fury shaking the bowels of the earth and leaping up to the heavens which seemed, also, to be enveloped in flames.
— from Lady Rosamond's Secret: A Romance of Fredericton by Rebecca Agatha Armour

—Deciduous; of six more or less concave segments; the three outer lanceolate, greenish, more or less sepal-like; the inner (petals) mostly broadly cuneate-obovate, usually with a conspicuous glandular pit toward the base, which is apt to be hidden by long hairs.
— from The Wild Flowers of California: Their Names, Haunts, and Habits by Mary Elizabeth Parsons

This individual merits a little commiseration, notwithstanding the disgraceful part he took in the Manchester murders, and other similar missions of Lord Sidmouth; because, though the tool of despotic ministers, he made some amends to the public by betraying his base employers.
— from Secret History of the Court of England, from the Accession of George the Third to the Death of George the Fourth, Volume 2 (of 2) Including, Among Other Important Matters, Full Particulars of the Mysterious Death of the Princess Charlotte by Hamilton, Anne, Lady

All graining is an imitation of some more or less well known wood, and the learner may doubtless draw from nature the copies he desires to imitate; but it is only trained skill that can accomplish the task perfectly, and it is presumably true that those who, in acquiring a long experience, have made the obstacles to success a special study, are best prepared to afford instruction to a beginner.
— from The Art of Graining: How Acquired and How Produced. With the description of colors and their applications. by Charles Pickert