Now, the spontaneous upsettings of brains this way and that at particular moments into particular ideas and combinations are matched by their equally spontaneous permanent tiltings or saggings towards determinate directions.
— from The Will to Believe, and Other Essays in Popular Philosophy by William James

I do not regret now that I did not see Nikolay; God knows, perhaps if I had seen him I should have lost the picture my imagination paints for me now.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Having done our usual business with the Duke of York, I away; and meeting Mr. D. Gawden in the presence-chamber, he and I to talk; and among other things he tells me, and I do find every where else, also, that our masters do begin not to like of their councils in fitting out no fleete, but only squadrons, and are finding out excuses for it; and, among others, he tells me a Privy-Councillor did tell him that it was said in Council that a fleete could not be set out this year, for want of victuals, which gives him and me a great alarme, but me especially for had it been so, I ought to have represented it; and therefore it puts me in policy presently to prepare myself to answer this objection, if ever it should come about, by drawing up a state of the Victualler’s stores, which I will presently do.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

Served in the Pa. M. in Paris, in 1815, the niece of the French Bishop of Canada.
— from The Waterloo Roll Call With Biographical Notes and Anecdotes by Charles Dalton

Officious fate, resolved our lover From such an illness should recover, Presented always to his eyes The mute advisers which the ladies prize;-- Mirrors in parlours, inns, and shops,-- Mirrors the pocket furniture of fops,-- Mirrors on every lady's zone,[ 13 ] From which his face reflected shone.
— from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine

And being come home, he said to Pantagruel, Master, I pray you come and see all the dogs of the country, how they are assembled about a lady, the fairest in the city, and would duffle and line her.
— from Gargantua and Pantagruel by François Rabelais

Nothing could exceed the pleasure; my internal pressures, he declared, were the most exquisite he had ever experienced.
— from The Romance of Lust: A classic Victorian erotic novel by Anonymous

,” said the Jester, extricating himself from master's caress, “if you pay my service with the water of your eye, the Jester must weep for company, and then what becomes of his vocation?—But, uncle, if you would indeed pleasure me, I pray you to pardon my playfellow Gurth, who stole a week from your service to bestow it on your son.”
— from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott

Their lands are in general better cultivated, and having more labour and expense bestowed upon them, produce more in proportion to the extent and natural fertility of the ground.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

[pg 140] These were the last words he spoke, but just as the sword began to descend he turned his head to the left as if to address some further observation to the officials, so that the cut partly missed its purpose, and the executioner had to hack the head off—a most horrible sight.
— from A Diplomat in Japan The inner history of the critical years in the evolution of Japan when the ports were opened and the monarchy restored, recorded by a diplomatist who took an active part in the events of the time, with an account of his personal experiences during that period by Ernest Mason Satow

But, if it is decreed in the Counsels of History that it must perish, may it perish in a manner that shall not bring shame on its ancestors!
— from The Revolutionary Movement of 1848-9 in Italy, Austria-Hungary, and Germany With Some Examination of the Previous Thirty-three Years by C. Edmund (Charles Edmund) Maurice

Please make it part of your bargain next time that your employer must come over here and take me out motoring quite frequently, if not oftener.”
— from The Fate of Felix Brand by Florence Finch Kelly

It was quite evident that the daughter's feelings were not shared by Old Smith; and I made little doubt he would have been delighted to give him seven years of the hulks, if he could have found out any act of Parliament making it penal for a good-looking young fellow to encourage a silly young woman to make a fool of herself.
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine — Volume 56, No. 346, August, 1844 by Various

"I believe Maw Hoover would be willing to put me in prison if she could for setting that barn on fire.
— from The Camp Fire Girls on the Farm; Or, Bessie King's New Chum by Jane L. Stewart

The fact of the priests calling the public meetings is proved by Duran (Cap.
— from Houses and House-Life of the American Aborigines by Lewis Henry Morgan

Leader pipes may, if preferred, be fastened to lances with patent short whites: they may be procured at the haberdasher's; the price of them is 2 d. per oz.
— from The Pyrotechnist's Treasury; Or, Complete Art of Making Fireworks by Thomas Kentish

The best rule for practical manuring is probably to strengthen the soil in its weaker points, and prevent the stronger ones from becoming weaker .
— from The Elements of Agriculture A Book for Young Farmers, with Questions Prepared for the Use of Schools by George E. (George Edwin) Waring

That the Levites practised medicine, is probable from the analogy of other sacerdotal castes, and from their being appointed to decide in cases of leprosy: in their forty-eight cities they would be sufficiently dispersed throughout the country to serve as physicians to the people.
— from Helon's Pilgrimage to Jerusalem, Volume 2 (of 2) A picture of Judaism, in the century which preceded the advent of our Savior. by Friedrich Strauss