"The deuce take Old Maid Pyncheon!" muttered the irascible housewife.
— from The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

That the transaction, supposing it true, must have taken place more than forty years ago.
— from The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 2 Elia and The Last Essays of Elia by Charles Lamb

All defence shows a face of war All I aim at is, to pass my time at my ease All I say is by way of discourse, and nothing by way of advice All judgments in gross are weak and imperfect All over-nice solicitude about riches smells of avarice
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

In the beginning of the 18th century, the most profligate man in France was an ecclesiastic, the Cardinal Dubois, prime minister to the most profligate prince in Europe, the Regent Orleans.
— from Fox's Book of Martyrs Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs by John Foxe

“Thinking the matter over, I’ve come to the conclusion that the projected murder is not merely a waste of precious time which might be employed in a more suitable and befitting manner, but presents, moreover, that deplorable deviation from the normal method which has always been most prejudicial to the cause and has delayed its triumph for scores of years, under the guidance of shallow thinkers and pre-eminently of men of political instead of purely socialistic leanings.
— from The Possessed (The Devils) by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

The same evening the Duke d’ Aumont sent to desire me to be at the palace the next day at eleven o’clock, when he would present me to the king.
— from The Confessions of Jean Jacques Rousseau — Complete by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

After we had dined he persuaded me to go to the theatre, as in consequence of the suspense of the subscription arrangements the boxes would be filled with all the quality in Marseilles.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

The inhabitants of the United States are perpetually migrating to Texas, where they purchase land; and although they conform to the laws of the country, they are gradually founding the empire of their own language and their own manners.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville

What else can I be, when to tell me why you came here, is to put me to shame!'
— from Our Mutual Friend by Charles Dickens

what lamentations should I make, if Heaven, by a cruel pity, should preserve me till that moment?
— from Letters of Abelard and Heloise To which is prefix'd a particular account of their lives, amours, and misfortunes by Héloïse

So I take the opportunity to pay my tribute to him who long ago put these figures on the frontier of my imagination, and who has prevented my ever speaking in dispassion or without favorable prejudice of them.
— from The French in the Heart of America by John H. (John Huston) Finley

That sad memory of the promise made to their gentle mother, and so thoughtlessly broken, brought tears to the eyes of the elder brother; but the younger stood apparently unmoved.
— from The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 11, No. 65, March, 1863 A Magazine of Literature, Art, and Politics by Various

That horse’s face would have won a fortune for him as a type of injured innocence when I let him see one day in a practical manner that I was up to his tricks; but we continued excellent chums, nevertheless, and as it was to a male friend I subsequently sold him (who would, of course, clap a leg each side of him, and so distribute the weight), I said nothing about his little dodges, but laughed to myself when, a few days later, I saw the dear old man (his owner) riding his wily purchase in the Row, with girths so slack that he could have put both feet into them, stirrups and all, without much inconvenience, and my cunning friend trotting demurely along under him, with the most lamb-like countenance in the world.
— from Riding for Ladies: With Hints on the Stable by O'Donoghue, Power, Mrs.

But she was pensive more than melancholy, And serious more than pensive, and serene, It may be, more than either—not unholy Her thoughts, at least till now, appear to have been.
— from Don Juan by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron

These Quaker immigrants, however, soon began to take care of themselves, and the weather during the winter proving mild, they explored farther up the river in a small boat.
— from The Quaker Colonies: A Chronicle of the Proprietors of the Delaware by Sydney George Fisher

One more embassy he tried, and to this he received the following answer: “I spring from the race of the De Vargas, but my house has never made it a practice to boast of the glory of their long descent: they professed merely to imitate the heroism of their ancestors.
— from Sea-Wolves of the Mediterranean: The grand period of the Moslem corsairs by E. Hamilton (Edward Hamilton) Currey

Ruling Coalition: RDR 15, UNDC 5, MWANGAZA 2; Opposition: UDZIMA 8, other smaller parties 10; 2 seats remained unfilled note: opposition is boycotting the National Assembly until the government promises to investigate fraud in the last election Judicial branch: Supreme Court (Cour Supreme) Political parties and leaders: over 20 political parties are currently active, the most important of which are; Comoran Union for Progress (UDZIMA), Omar TAMOU; Islands' Fraternity and Unity Party (CHUMA), Said Ali KEMAL; Comoran Party for Democracy and Progress (PCDP), Ali MROUDJAE; Realizing Freedom's Capability (UWEZO), Mouazair ABDALLAH; Democratic Front of the Comoros (FDR), Moustapha CHELKH; Dialogue Proposition Action (DPA/MWANGAZA), Said MCHAWGAMA; Rally for Change and Democracy (RACHADE), Hassan HACHIM; Union for Democracy and Decentralization (UNDC), Mohamed Taki Halidi IBRAHAM; Rally for Democracy and Renewal (RDR); Comoran Popular Front (FPC), Mohamed HASSANALI, Mohamed El Arif OUKACHA, Abdou MOUSTAKIM (Secretary General) Member of: ACCT, ACP, AfDB, ECA, FAO, FZ, G-77, IBRD, ICAO, IDA, IDB, IFAD, IFC, ILO, IMF, INTELSAT (nonsignatory user), ITU, NAM, OAU, OIC, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNIDO, UPU, WHO, WMO Diplomatic representation in US: chief of mission: Ambassador Amini Ali MOUMIN chancery: (temporary) at the Comoran Permanent Mission to the UN, 336 East 45th Street, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10017 telephone: (212) 972-8010 FAX: (212) 983-4712 US diplomatic representation: none; post closed in September 1993
— from The 1994 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

As we learned in the previous prophetic message that such deceiving prophets were in abundance among Israel.
— from The Prophet Ezekiel: An Analytical Exposition by Arno Clemens Gaebelein

In one place it is known as "Cam a teerie arrie ma torry;" in another, "Come a theory, oary mathorie;" in yet another, "Come a theerie, Come a thorie;" or it may be, as in Perthshire, "My theerie and my thorie."
— from Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories A Book for Bairns and Big Folk by Robert Ford