The severest torments were inflicted, says Lucian, upon Ctesias the Cnidian, Herodotus and many others, which the writer beholding "was put in great hopes that I should never have anything to do there, for I do not know that ever I spake any untruth in my life."
— from Lucian's True History by of Samosata Lucian

I was however already so moved at the piteous sight, that I from my heart repented the undertaking, and would willing had given over, thinking he had full enough; but, he encouraging and beseeching me earnestly to proceed, I gave him ten more lashes; and then resting, surveyed the increase of bloody appearances.
— from Memoirs of Fanny Hill A New and Genuine Edition from the Original Text (London, 1749) by John Cleland

In as calm, but rapid a manner as possible, I gave her to understand the whole case.
— from Moby Dick; Or, The Whale by Herman Melville

But tell me, those within the fat lagoon, Whom the wind drives, and whom the rain doth beat, And who encounter with such bitter tongues, Wherefore are they inside of the red city Not punished, if God has them in his wrath, And if he has not, wherefore in such fashion?" And unto me he said: "Why wanders so Thine intellect from that which it is wont? Or, sooth, thy mind where is it elsewhere looking?
— from Divine Comedy, Longfellow's Translation, Hell by Dante Alighieri

RODRIGUEZ The duke and duchess had no reason to regret the joke that had been played upon Sancho Panza in giving him the government; especially as their majordomo returned the same day, and gave them a minute account of almost every word and deed that Sancho uttered or did during the time; and to wind up with, eloquently described to them the attack upon the island and Sancho's fright and departure, with which they were not a little amused.
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

But the greatest torments of all are inflicted upon them that told any lies in their lifetime, and wrote untruly, as Ctesias the Cnidian, Herodotus, and many other, which I beholding, was put in great hopes that I should never have anything to do there, for I do not know that ever I spake any untruth in my life.
— from Lucian's True History by of Samosata Lucian

Le Duc received similar orders, and calling Poinsinet I gave him ten Louis, and begged him to look out for some other lodging that very evening.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

He was delighted to see me, and seemed to set great store by my politeness in giving him the benefit of my short stay at Parma.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

In the United States, where we have more land than people, it is not at all difficult for persons in good health to make money.
— from The Art of Money Getting; Or, Golden Rules for Making Money by P. T. (Phineas Taylor) Barnum

Mrs. Johnson at once pulled a note-book out of her pocket, and jotted down the names of two or three papers I gave her, then she looked at me rather shrewdly, and asked what I thought would be the fee.
— from The Letters of Her Mother to Elizabeth by W. R. H. (William Rutherford Hayes) Trowbridge

Twenty-one—All naval and mercantile marine prisoners of war of the allied and associated powers in German hands to be returned without reciprocity.
— from America's War for Humanity by Thomas Herbert Russell

Then the younger among them laughed, and held it a minstrel's myth; but the elders, pondering, cried, "These words of the singer are sooth; for the days that whiten our beards are passing in greater haste than the days that lengthened our limbs!"
— from The Strand Magazine, Vol. 05, Issue 25, January 1893 An Illustrated Monthly by Various

And, o'er each precipice in grandeur hurled, The endless torrents gave mankind a grave.
— from Memories of Canada and Scotland — Speeches and Verses by Argyll, John Douglas Sutherland Campbell, Duke of

And part it giving half to him.
— from The Sorceress (complete) by Mrs. (Margaret) Oliphant

An aged Spanish Jesuit was living in Bologna, who, when his order was suppressed in Spain, had come to reside in Italy upon his little pension, and, being skilled in languages, particularly in Greek, had taken great pains to revive the love of it in Bologna.
— from The Story of My Life, volumes 1-3 by Augustus J. C. (Augustus John Cuthbert) Hare

In London we addressed the prince as royal highness invariably; though the women persisted in giving him the title of king.
— from Henry Esmond; The English Humourists; The Four Georges by William Makepeace Thackeray

He was accustomed to inveigh against civilized society,—its luxuries and its vices,—and to paint in glowing hues the pleasures and virtues of savage life.
— from Curiosities of Human Nature by Samuel G. (Samuel Griswold) Goodrich