Tast of Poëtique rage, or flattery, And need not, where all hearts one truth professe; Oft from new proofes, and new phrase, new doubts grow, 66 As strange attire aliens the men wee know.
— from The Poems of John Donne, Volume 1 (of 2) Edited from the Old Editions and Numerous Manuscripts by John Donne

Swans, which were much appreciated, were very common on all the principal rivers of France, especially in the north; a small island below Paris had taken its name from these birds, and has maintained it ever since.
— from Manners, Customs, and Dress During the Middle Ages and During the Renaissance Period by P. L. Jacob

The proportion which the usual market rate of interest ought to bear to the ordinary rate of clear profit, necessarily varies as profit rises or falls.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

Once started, my pen runs on for a word or two as if by its own momentum.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James

We publish today the last act, in which it will be seen that the authority of the Bible, as a perfect rule of faith and practice for human beings, was voted down, and what are called the laws of nature set up instead of the Christian code.
— from The Life and Work of Susan B. Anthony (Volume 1 of 2) Including Public Addresses, Her Own Letters and Many From Her Contemporaries During Fifty Years by Ida Husted Harper

From this material, which ought to cover the widest possible range of facts, the inference is obtained by simple induction.
— from Argonauts of the Western Pacific An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea by Bronislaw Malinowski

After this Alexander offered sacrifice to the gods to whom it was his custom to sacrifice, and gave a public banquet, over which he himself presided, with the Macedonians sitting around him; and next to them the Persians; after whom came the men of the other nations, honoured for their personal rank or for some meritorious action.
— from The Anabasis of Alexander or, The History of the Wars and Conquests of Alexander the Great by Arrian

Now and then a small red glow would move abruptly, and expanding light up the fingers of a languid hand, part of a face in profound repose, or flash a crimson gleam into a pair of pensive eyes overshadowed by a fragment of an unruffled forehead; and with the very first word uttered Marlow’s body, extended at rest in the seat, would become very still, as though his spirit had winged its way back into the lapse of time and were speaking through his lips from the past.
— from Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad

“ Even the assuredly graver case, when the witnessing of an action, the listening to certain reasoning, would mislead the virtue or the thought of others, even this case would not permit restraint of freedom. ”
— from The Freedom of Science by Josef Donat

A week passes; we land at Madras, bearing with us pleasant recollections of friendly hospitality received during our now bygone “Trip to Burmah.”
— from Recollections of Thirty-nine Years in the Army Gwalior and the Battle of Maharajpore, 1843; the Gold Coast of Africa, 1847-48; the Indian Mutiny, 1857-58; the expedition to China, 1860-61; the Siege of Paris, 1870-71; etc. by Gordon, Charles Alexander, Sir

And now having fair weather and a pleasant voyage, and my flannels taken off my legs, I must hint a little what cargo I had with me; for as my circumstances were very good in that country, so I did not go such a voyage as this, and with a particular reserve of fortunes whatever might afterwards happen, without a sufficient cargo for our support, and whatever exigence might happen.
— from The History and Remarkable Life of the Truly Honourable Colonel Jacque, Commonly Called Colonel Jack by Daniel Defoe

The plainest relation of facts would interest the sympathy and compassion of all Europe in our favor.
— from Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams by Abigail Adams

A kick from the heavy-shod boot broke the dog’s hold on the coat-skirt, even as a second yell from the man brought four or five other people running out from the station waitingroom.
— from Buff: A Collie, and Other Dog-Stories by Albert Payson Terhune

Three ugly blotched and snorting pigs ran out from under some bushes and followed him.
— from Ringfield: A Novel by S. Frances (Susie Frances) Harrison

Half an hour afterwards, we were discussing the possible return of fine weather, when a sudden commotion took place around us.
— from The Catholic World, Vol. 19, April 1874‐September 1874 by Various