The first stroke of their revenge consisted in their hiring a poor collegian to write verses against me, the subject of which was my own poverty, and the catastrophe of my unhappy parents; but, besides the badness of the composition (of which they themselves were ashamed), they did not find their account in endeavouring to reproach me with those misfortunes which they and their relations had brought upon me; and which consequently reflected much more dishonour on themselves than on me, who was the innocent victim of their barbarity and avarice.
— from The Adventures of Roderick Random by T. (Tobias) Smollett

But notwithstanding that my natural propensity, and the course of my animal spirits and passions reduce me to this indolent belief in the general maxims of the world, I still feel such remains of my former disposition, that I am ready to throw all my books and papers into the fire, and resolve never more to renounce the pleasures of life for the sake of reasoning and philosophy.
— from A Treatise of Human Nature by David Hume

The man who withholds the giving of himself to the world, does it at his peril, at the cost of mental and moral penury.
— from Pushing to the Front by Orison Swett Marden

At length, Ferdinand, finding all his protestations ineffectual, “Well,” said he, “though you are resolved, I see, to discredit all that I can say in opposition to that scandalous slander, of which I can easily acquit myself in a court of justice, surely you will not refuse to grant me a certificate, signifying that you were present at the ceremony of my marriage with this unhappy woman.”
— from The Adventures of Ferdinand Count Fathom — Complete by T. (Tobias) Smollett

It is actual, and dwells in its greatest purity amongst that class of mankind whom we term rude, uneducated.
— from The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

With respect to what they planned about the case of Mojumdar, I cannot say how very terrible it would have been, had not Nobin Bose fallen into this great danger.
— from Nil Darpan; or, The Indigo Planting Mirror, A Drama. Translated from the Bengali by a Native. by Dinabandhu Mitra

His messengers returned with the tidings of pious and martial ardor which they had kindled in every province; and the camp of Medina was successively filled with the intrepid bands of the Saracens, who panted for action, complained of the heat of the season and the scarcity of provisions, and accused with impatient murmurs the delays of the caliph.
— 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

This humour of his yet aimed at another end, to make me familiar with the people and the condition of men who most need our assistance; considering that I should rather regard them who extend their arms to me, than those who turn their backs upon me; and for this reason it was that he provided to hold me at the font persons of the meanest fortune, to oblige and attach me to them.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

Gluck was a distinguished person at the Court of Marie Antoinette; Sarti pleased the mighty Catherine of Russia; Rossini, the son of a strolling horn player, was at ease with royalty and worshiped by women.
— from Philip Hale's Boston Symphony Programme Notes by Philip Hale

The usual stories about ghostly phenomena attending the childhood of mediums were told about the Davenport Brothers, but it was not until 1855 that they started on their tour
— from Hours with the Ghosts or, Nineteenth Century Witchcraft Illustrated Investigations into the Phenomena of Spiritualism and Theosophy by Henry Ridgely Evans

ANTI-STOIC POLEMIC, AGAINST THE CORPOREITY OF MATTER AND QUANTITY.
— from Plotinos: Complete Works, v. 1 In Chronological Order, Grouped in Four Periods by Plotinus

Dire Allecto once kindled with jealous wrath on seeing widespread peace among the cities of men.
— from Claudian, volume 1 (of 2) With an English translation by Maurice Platnauer by Claudius Claudianus

The famous Mr. Drake, the notorious English plenipotentiary at the court of Munich, was at the head of this conspiracy, while holding the situation of English Ambassador to the Elector of Bavaria.
— from Memoirs of Henry Hunt, Esq. — Volume 2 by Henry Hunt

And so passed out and beyond Singa Phut, and the charge of murder, having been quashed by a higher tribunal than that of the county court, the matter was soon forgotten.
— from The Diamond Cross Mystery Being a Somewhat Different Detective Story by Chester K. Steele

But this reply would introduce a new hypothesis in direct antagonism to Nägeli’s theory, which assumes that the variability of idioplasm takes place as the consequence of mere growth, and necessarily depends upon molecular structure.
— from Essays Upon Heredity and Kindred Biological Problems Authorised Translation by August Weismann

Was located on a piece of farmland across from the A. M. Lothrop place at the corner of McKinley Rd.
— from A Virginia Village by Charles Alexander Stewart

The lapse of one year shows that one or other of these circumstances has already taken place, and the consequence of my detainer until orders are received from France will most probably be, that a second year will be cut out of my life and devoted to the same listless inaction as the last, to the destruction of my health and happiness, and the probable ruin of all my further prospects.
— from The Life of Captain Matthew Flinders by Scott, Ernest, Sir