It came to my knowledge, through what passed between Mrs. Pocket and Drummle while I was attentive to my knife and fork, spoon, glasses, and other instruments of self-destruction, that Drummle, whose Christian name was Bentley, was actually the next heir but one to a baronetcy.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Plutarch presently became my greatest favorite.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

That many of the breeds produced by man have to a large extent the character of natural species, is shown by the inextricable doubts whether very many of them are varieties or aboriginal species.
— 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

He should also teach the daughter of the girl's nurse all the sixty-four means of pleasure practised by men, and under this pretext should also inform her of his great skill in the art of sexual enjoyment.
— from The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana Translated From the Sanscrit in Seven Parts With Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks by Vatsyayana

And, indeed, it is a pity, because Mary is a charming girl!”...
— from A Hero of Our Time by Mikhail Iurevich Lermontov

In the morning the porter brings me tea and the local paper.
— from The Bet, and other stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Thou art an epicure, I am a good Christian; thou art many parasangs before me in means, favour, wealth, honour, Claudius's Narcissus, Nero's Massa, Domitian's Parthenius, a favourite, a golden slave; thou coverest thy floors with marble, thy roofs with gold, thy walls with statues, fine pictures, curious hangings, &c., what of all this?
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

The poor black man who loved her would have been proud to acknowledge his helpless offspring.
— from Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Written by Herself by Harriet A. (Harriet Ann) Jacobs

“Sure, it’s possible that prehensile tails could be produced by mutation, but so far as we know it hasn’t happened in human history.
— from The Lani People by Jesse F. (Jesse Franklin) Bone

Now it seems clear that this expression אנשי מעשה in some places cannot refer to miraculous powers, but must mean ‘men of practical goodness,’ as for instance in Succah 51 a , 53 a ; and being a general term expressive of moral excellence, it is naturally connected with chasidim , which is likewise a general term expressive of piety and goodness.
— from St. Paul's Epistles to the Colossians and Philemon A revised text with introductions, notes and dissertations by J. B. (Joseph Barber) Lightfoot

Hence, if there was one only body in being it could not possibly be moved.
— from A Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge by George Berkeley

This, however, which to Mrs. Stormont was but one of the gratifying details of her plan, bulked much more largely in the eyes of Philip.
— from It was a Lover and His Lass by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

The study of anatomy, and the scientific drawing of the naked body, which Luca practised, were carried to perfection by Michel Angelo.
— from Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, Complete Series I, II, and III by John Addington Symonds

Perhaps the lowest and most repulsive form of this theory is that which was propounded by Mandeville, in his “Enquiry into the Origin of Moral Virtue.”
— from History of European Morals From Augustus to Charlemagne (Vol. 1 of 2) by William Edward Hartpole Lecky

[226] Mr. Haverfield notes ('Antiquary,' 1898, p. 235) that British basilicas are larger than those on the Continent, probably because more protection from weather was here necessary.
— from Early Britain—Roman Britain by John William Edward Conybeare

[220] But I may say that not only my sexual power, but my nerve-power and general health, were greatly improved by marriage; and though I have fallen back, the last year or two, into a poor state of health, the cause of this is probably overwork rather than anything to do with sex.
— from Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Volume 4 Sexual Selection In Man by Havelock Ellis

But if instead of using their victory to eliminate force, they in their turn pin their faith to it, continue to use it the one against the other, exploiting by its means the populations they rule, and become not the organisers of social co-operation among the Balkan populations, but merely, like the Turks, their conquerors and "owners," then they in their turn will share the fate of the Turk.
— from Peace Theories and the Balkan War by Norman Angell

t, draw off a few quarts, else the fermentation produced by moving it will burst the cask.
— from The Young Housekeeper's Friend Revised and Enlarged by Mrs. (Mary Hooker) Cornelius

He referred the whole conduct of Irish affairs [88] to the English Parliament, thus increasing the discontent to the last pitch by making it plain to the whole Irish people that he abandoned the duty of protecting them, and had handed them over to the mercy of their worst enemies—the English Parliament.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 22, October, 1875, to March, 1876 A Monthly Magazine of General Literature and Science by Various