Five minutes passed in profound silence.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

“Then there is all the more reason for you to legalize your position, if possible,” said Dolly.
— from Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

“He who sells that of which he is not possessed is proverbially said to sell the skin before he has caught the BEAR .
— from The Slang Dictionary: Etymological, Historical and Andecdotal by John Camden Hotten

The police functionaries and agents are charged with the execution of the present decree. "Given at Paris, in Permanent Session, on the 4th December, 1851.
— from The History of a Crime The Testimony of an Eye-Witness by Victor Hugo

This freedom introduced a dispute, which lasted a good while, to the mortification of all present; and was at last referred to the determination of a grave person, whom they styled Doctor, and who, under a show of great moderation, decided it against me, with so little regard to truth, that I taxed him with partiality in pretty severe terms, to the no small entertainment of the true English politician, who rejoiced at my defence of a cause he had so often espoused without success.
— from The Adventures of Roderick Random by T. (Tobias) Smollett

Business is business, science is science, art is art, politics is politics, social intercourse is social intercourse, morals is morals, recreation is recreation, and so on.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey

No merchant, if we may trust the Roman historian, had ever penetrated its pathless solitudes; and it was deemed a most daring feat when a Roman general, after sending two scouts to explore its intricacies, led his army into the forest and, making his way to a ridge of the wooded mountains, looked down on the rich Etrurian fields spread out below.
— from The Golden Bough: A Study of Magic and Religion by James George Frazer

If the puzzle is properly solved no figures are necessary.
— from Amusements in Mathematics by Henry Ernest Dudeney

Imports: $1.555 billion (2006) country comparison to the world: 159 Imports - commodities: foods, beverages, transport equipment, chemicals, petroleum products Imports - partners: Saudi Arabia 20.5%, India 20.5%, China 10.6%, US 6%, Malaysia 6% (2008) Debt - external: $428 million (2006) country comparison to the world: 167 Exchange rates: Djiboutian francs (DJF) per US dollar - 177.71 (2007), 174.75 (2006), 177.72 (2005), 177.72 (2004), 177.72 (2003)
— from The 2009 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

In some Roman Catholic countries, pictures in part supplied the place of the translations of the Bible: and this dumb art arose in the silence of the written oracles.
— from Hazlitt on English Literature: An Introduction to the Appreciation of Literature by William Hazlitt

“No, sir, he was not present in person,” said Mr. Gubb.
— from Philo Gubb, Correspondence-School Detective by Ellis Parker Butler

poemdiv I proceed; Sydenham lies before me, beyond it in softened distance, Beckenham and Bromley meet the eye, with Dulwich below—and half hidden, and afar off, is smoky London, with the Abbey towers and St. Paul’s dome
— from The Every-day Book and Table Book. v. 2 (of 3) or Everlasting Calendar of Popular Amusements, Sports, Pastimes, Ceremonies, Manners, Customs and Events, Incident to Each of the Three Hundred and Sixty-five Days, in past and Present Times; Forming a Complete History of the Year, Month, and Seasons, and a Perpetual Key to the Almanac by William Hone

Pupils in public schools on declamation days are limited to five minutes each for the delivery of "pieces."
— from Taxidermy without a Teacher Comprising a Complete Manual of Instruction for Preparing and Preserving Birds, Animals and Fishes by Walter Porter Manton

Its peculiarities in pronunciation, syntax, phraseology, and the use of words we are inclined to avoid in our own speech, because they mark a lack of cultivation.
— from The Common People of Ancient Rome Studies of Roman Life and Literature by Frank Frost Abbott

The curious visitors who came to see poetry in practice saw with dismay hard work on every side, plain houses and simple fare, and a routine with little aesthetic aspect.
— from Early Letters of George Wm. Curtis to John S. Dwight; Brook Farm and Concord by George William Curtis

To succour unhappy, but deserving, fellow creatures is well; to seek after those who are struggling against misfortune with energy and honour, and to aid them, sometimes without their knowledge,—to prevent, in right time, misery and temptation, is better; to reinstate such perfectly in their own estimation,—-to lead back to honesty those who have preserved in purity some generous and ennobling sentiments in the midst of the contempt that withers them, the misery that eats into them, the corruption that encircles them, and, for that end, to brave, in person, this misery, this corruption, this contagion, is better still; to pursue, with unalterable hatred, with implacable vengeance, vice, infamy, and crime, whether they be trampling [Pg 126] in the mud, or be clothed in purple and fine linen, that is justice; but to give aid inconsiderately to well-merited degradation, to prostitute and lavish charity and commiseration, by bestowing help on unworthy and undeserving objects, is most infamous; it is impiety,—very sacrilege!
— from The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 1 of 6 by Eugène Sue