Yet reason tells me, that if numerous gradations from a perfect and complex eye to one very imperfect and simple, each grade being useful to its possessor, can be shown to exist; if further, the eye does vary ever so slightly, and the variations be inherited, which is certainly the case; and if any variation or modification in the organ be ever useful to an animal under changing conditions of life, then the difficulty of believing that a perfect and complex eye could be formed by natural selection, though insuperable by our imagination, can hardly be considered real.
— from On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Darwin

Here the object, which is denominated beautiful, pleases only by its tendency to produce a certain effect.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume

Who learns my lesson complete? Boss, journeyman, apprentice, churchman and atheist, The stupid and the wise thinker, parents and offspring, merchant, clerk, porter and customer, Editor, author, artist, and schoolboy—draw nigh and commence; It is no lesson—it lets down the bars to a good lesson, And that to another, and every one to another still.
— from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

Andronicus, afterwards surnamed the Elder, was proclaimed and crowned emperor of the Romans, in the fifteenth year of his age; and, from the first æra of a prolix and inglorious reign, he held that august title nine years as the colleague, and fifty as the successor, of his father.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

Some stand up for the honor of the race, and are clear that the old establishment should be kept up in all its state, whatever may be the cost; others, who are more prudent and considerate, entreat the old gentleman to retrench his expenses and to put his whole system of housekeeping on a more moderate footing.
— from The Sketch-Book of Geoffrey Crayon by Washington Irving

—Aunque los armadores latino-americanos se han dedicado preferentemente a comprar en Europa vapores de segunda mano, es indudable que pueden ser buenos clientes de los astilleros norteamericanos, especialmente en la adquisición de embarcaciones propias para
— from Heath's Modern Language Series: The Spanish American Reader by Ernesto Nelson

And guide him with the rein, and play about With right hand free, oft times before he tried Perils of war in yoked chariot; And yoked pairs abreast came earlier Than yokes of four, or scythed chariots Whereinto clomb the men-at-arms.
— from On the Nature of Things by Titus Lucretius Carus

[26] But to aid the mind in freeing itself from these usual conceptions which, owing to their prestige, might prevent it from seeing things as they really are, it is fitting to examine some of the most current of the definitions in which these prejudices are commonly expressed, before taking up the question on our own account.
— from The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life by Émile Durkheim

And whether here, or in the little span of human life, this terrible activity produces a comic effect.
— from The Essays of Arthur Schopenhauer; Studies in Pessimism by Arthur Schopenhauer

To remove, as far as practicable, the erroneous impression necessarily produced by Mr. Stephenson’s address, which of course could not be affected by his private letter, I requested Mr. Edward Page, the Inspector-General of Mails, as the officer most conversant with the whole subject, to prepare a complete exposition of the facts of the case; and this, drawn up with Mr. Page’s usual care and ability, appeared in the Appendix to the Second Report of the Postmaster-General (p. 45), and, I may add, will still repay perusal.
— from The Life of Sir Rowland Hill and the History of Penny Postage, Vol. 2 (of 2) by Hill, Rowland, Sir

The vigorous and copious invention, the knowledge of life, of men and things, displayed in his theatrical pieces, might have been available in very different pursuits; frequently the charm of his works has little to distinguish it from the charm of intellectual and moral force in general; it is often the capacious thought, the vivid imagery, the impetuous feeling of the orator, rather than the wild pathos and capricious enchantment of the poet.
— from The Life of Friedrich Schiller Comprehending an Examination of His Works by Thomas Carlyle

They go to join the tenth-rate saints in glory; for if such persons think they will stand with Paul, and Harlan Page, and Charlotte Elizabeth, they are much mistaken.
— from Around the Tea-Table by T. De Witt (Thomas De Witt) Talmage

"No you don't," said Napoleon promptly, a cunning expression stealing into his face.
— from Grace Harlowe's Sophomore Year at High School The Record of the Girl Chums in Work and Athletics by Josephine Chase

The presence of lime, as well as of phosphoric acid, can easily be verified by the usual tests.
— from Cooley's Cyclopædia of Practical Receipts and Collateral Information in the Arts, Manufactures, Professions, and Trades..., Sixth Edition, Volume II by Richard Vine Tuson

The two men parted, and curiously enough Dominey was conscious that with those few awkward words of farewell some part of the incipient antagonism between them had been buried.
— from The Great Impersonation by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim

Higher official honors awaited him, however, for in 1894 he was elected Montreal’s mayor and filled that position for two years, proving a capable executive and one who most carefully and systematically safeguarded the public interests.
— from Montreal from 1535 to 1914. Vol. 3. Biographical by William H. (William Henry) Atherton

Again, two days later, "I was sitting at breakfast with the cardinal, when he dropped his cup of chocolate, and, rising, went to the picture, and carefully examined it....
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 11, April, 1870 to September, 1870 by Various

Nature , as Aristotle rightly observes, 519 never produces a chance effect.
— from Ontology, or the Theory of Being by P. (Peter) Coffey