Now let us conceive a particular volition, namely, the mode of thinking whereby the mind affirms, that the three interior angles of a triangle are equal to two right angles.
— from Ethics by Benedictus de Spinoza

"Only I rather you had such a sort of husband as James is, with a place very near, that I could drive to.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot

At non hæc de te sperabimus; omnia carpit Prædator vermis: nec talis contigit illi Præda diu; forsan metrico pede serpet ab inde: [pg 392] 80 Vescere, & exhausto satia te sanguine.
— from The Poems of John Donne, Volume 1 (of 2) Edited from the Old Editions and Numerous Manuscripts by John Donne

Up and by coach to Westminster Hall and the Parliament House, and there spoke with Mr. Coventry and others about business and so back to the ‘Change, where no news more than that the Dutch have, by consent of all the Provinces, voted no trade to be suffered for eighteen months, but that they apply themselves wholly to the warr.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

The Rays which pass very near to the edges of any Body, are bent a little by the action of the Body, as we shew'd above; but this bending is not towards but from the Shadow, and is perform'd only in the passage of the Ray by the Body, and at a very small distance from it.
— from Opticks Or, A Treatise of the Reflections, Refractions, Inflections, and Colours of Light by Isaac Newton

Soon as the unwelcome news From Earth arrived at Heaven-gate, displeased All were who heard; dim sadness did not spare That time celestial visages, yet, mixed With pity, violated not their bliss.
— from Paradise Lost by John Milton

Although this version may be pronounced very nearly to fulfil the promise set forth in its title page, of being “as literal as possible,” still, from the singular inelegance of its style, and the fact of its being couched in the conversational language of the early part of the last century, and being unaccompanied by any attempt at explanation, it may safely be pronounced to be ill adapted to the requirements of the present age.
— from The Metamorphoses of Ovid, Books I-VII by Ovid

Pharæ, village near Tanagra, ii. 99 . ——, c. of Thessaly. See Pheræ.
— from The Geography of Strabo, Volume 3 (of 3) Literally Translated, with Notes by Strabo

The silly moon and inconstant planets vary nightly their erratic dance; the sun itself, sovereign of the sky, ever and anon deserts his throne, and leaves his dominion to night and winter.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

After they are filled, pinch and tie them at the top of the charge, almost close; only leaving a small vent to communicate the fire to the upper part of the case, which must be filled with grain powder very near the top.
— from A System of Pyrotechny Comprehending the theory and practice, with the application of chemistry; designed for exhibition and for war. by James Cutbush

The journey was made without incident until they reached Valenciennes, a place very near the frontier line between France and Belgium.
— from France in the Nineteenth Century by Elizabeth Wormeley Latimer

Of this drawing of "A Lemon Tree," now in the Oxford Museum, lent by Mr. Ruskin, Sir Henry Acland has given a singularly fine photograph, very nearly the size of the original.
— from The Life, Letters and Work of Frederic Leighton. Volume II by Barrington, Russell, Mrs.

Upon its publication it was at once recognised as a production of real genius, inimitable in its kind, and neither the popular verdict nor the verdict of the children as to its merits has ever changed.
— from The Life and Letters of Elizabeth Prentiss by George Lewis Prentiss

They were prints very near the size of his own big ones, and they had been made only a short time before.
— from The Adventures of Lightfoot the Deer by Thornton W. (Thornton Waldo) Burgess

The face of this man was in plain view not thirty feet away.
— from Uncle Sam, Detective by William Atherton DuPuy

"Days with me mean money, Lizzie, and money is a thing which is at present very necessary to me."
— from The Eustace Diamonds by Anthony Trollope

Soon as th' unwelcome News From Earth arriv'd at Heaven-Gate, displeased All were who heard: dim Sadness did not spare That time Celestial Visages; yet mixt With Pity, violated not their Bliss.
— from The Spectator, Volumes 1, 2 and 3 With Translations and Index for the Series by Steele, Richard, Sir