This truth to prove Around the world I need not move; I do it by the nearest pumpkin.
— from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine

Often religion is the pretext to obtain political power, and the war is not really one of dogmas.
— from The Art of War by Jomini, Antoine Henri, baron de

I would say, in strictness, that all right Poems are; that whatsoever is not sung is properly no Poem, but a piece of Prose cramped into jingling
— from On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle

A second person answered terror, which is not far wrong; some of the others, however, added to the words surprise or astonishment, the epithets horrified, woful, painful, or disgusted.
— from The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin

Our Christian tactics are all out as necessary as the Roman acies, or Grecian phalanx, to be a soldier is a most noble and honourable profession (as the world is), not to be spared, they are our best walls and bulwarks, and I do therefore acknowledge that of [315] Tully to be most true, All our civil affairs, all our studies, all our pleading, industry, and commendation lies under the protection of warlike virtues, and whensoever there is any suspicion of tumult, all our arts cease; wars are most behoveful, et bellatores agricolis civitati sunt utiliores , as [316] Tyrius defends: and valour is much to be commended in a wise man; but they mistake most part, auferre, trucidare, rapere,
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

But the difference between the power over the object which is sufficient for possession, and that which is not, is clearly one of degree only, and the line may be drawn at different places at different times on grounds just referred to.
— from The Common Law by Oliver Wendell Holmes

I have an excellent photograph of a royal dinner party, a thing which I never possessed before.
— from A Labrador Doctor The Autobiography of Wilfred Thomason Grenfell by Grenfell, Wilfred Thomason, Sir

One brave dame wrote to her friends, "I hope there are none of us but would wrap up in the skins of sheep and goats to keep us warm, if we must else pay a tax which is not just on the goods of Eng-land."
— from History of the United States in Words of One Syllable by Helen Wall Pierson

I am prepared to defend the profession of poetry against the world, if need be; but I don't like to be stared at while I am doing it."
— from Old Valentines A Love Story by Munson Aldrich Havens

And though the road I travelled was a new one, without compass, chart, or even star to steer by, not even a book to assist me in thinking, or cheer me in my gloomy passage—seeking from those springs of nature, and inherent endowments for consolatory aid—pressing on a frequently exhausted mind, for resources and funds, to accomplish the objects of my pursuits—not denying but that I met many of my fellow-beings, who cheerfully aided me with all the information in their power, and to whom I now present my thanks—I must acknowledge, I think my labors and exertions will prove useful to those of less experience than mine, in which event I shall feel a more ample remuneration for my exertions, than the price asked for one of those volumes.
— from The Practical Distiller An Introduction To Making Whiskey, Gin, Brandy, Spirits, &c. &c. of Better Quality, and in Larger Quantities, than Produced by the Present Mode of Distilling, from the Produce of the United States by Samuel McHarry

The difference between that which is past and that which is not yet come, according to their natures, depends on the difference of phase of their properties.
— from The Yoga Sutras of Patanjali: The Book of the Spiritual Man by Patañjali

If a vacancy should happen I would not wish to purchase, as it is very probable, if I have good luck, that I shall get on without, particularly as the war is not yet at an end."
— from The Life of a Regimental Officer During the Great War, 1793-1815 by A. F. (Augustus Ferryman) Mockler-Ferryman

A scaffold erected between the central gate of the palace, and that which is now the principal gate of the city guards, was hung with black to denote that the criminals were of noble blood.
— from Life in Mexico by Madame (Frances Erskine Inglis) Calderón de la Barca

A rough voyage across the Bay of Biscay, a view of the Tagus, a brief run on shore to look at the picturesque capital of Portugal, a gaze at the spot, which marks the memory of the scene of the fearful earthquake of 1755, which destroyed most of the town, and 50,000 of its inhabitants; a short stay at the lovely island of Madeira, sufficient to glance at its beautiful scenery, to breathe its balmy air, to taste its delicious fruits, and to land at its pretty town of Funchal, to see some of its charming surroundings; a passing peep at Teneriffe, which is now receiving so much attention in Europe as an attractive health resort; a few days' run of exhausting heat through the tropics; a visit to Saint Helena, enough to allow of a drive to Longwood, and a look at the room, where the first Napoleon Pg 4 breathed his last—leaving there the legacy of the shadow of a mighty name to all time—on this "lonely rock in the Atlantic"; a few days more of solitary sailing over a stormy sea, a daily look-out for whales, porpoises, dolphins, flying fish, sharks, and albatrosses; a glance upward, night after night, into the starry sky, to gaze on the Southern Cross, so much belauded, and yet so disappointing in its appearance, after the extravagant encomiums lavished on it; and at length, on the early morning of May 24, I safely reached Cape Town.
— from A Winter Tour in South Africa by Frederick Young

But there is another one: the hand that picks up the pen as we are about to write is truly our hand, the instrument of which we avail ourselves in order to ply another tool which is needed for our work.
— from The Reform of Education by Giovanni Gentile