Contrary division is the dissection of genus into species on the principle of the contrary; so as to be by a sort of negation; as, for instance, “Of existent things, some are good and some not good;” and, “Of things which are not good, some are bad and some indifferent.”
— from The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius

He is always the same, always good, always smiling, always kind, always perfect.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant

It was an uncomfortable consideration on a twenty-first birthday, that coming of age at all seemed hardly worth while in such a guarded and suspicious world as he made of it.
— from Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Although sheep and goats appear such placid animals, the males often join in furious contests.
— from The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin

[ Returns to bureau , takes out book and examines it page by page , smiles and gives a sigh of relief .
— from Lady Windermere's Fan by Oscar Wilde

Gurney and Beaunis established this fact, which has since been verified on a large scale; and Gurney also showed that the patient became suggestible again during the brief time of the performance.
— from The Principles of Psychology, Volume 1 (of 2) by William James

Then the youth put forth all his strength and gave a sudden trip with his heel and a cast over his right hip, and down stout William went, with a sickening thud, and lay as though he would never move hand nor foot again.
— from The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle

It cannot Be call'd our mother, but our grave: where nothing, But who knows nothing, is once seen to smile; Where sighs, and groans, and shrieks, that rent the air, Are made, not mark'd; where violent sorrow seems A modern ecstasy; the dead man's knell Is there scarce ask'd for who; and good men's lives Expire before the flowers in their caps, Dying or ere they sicken.
— from Macbeth by William Shakespeare

But the child snapped, and scratched, and growled, and struggled, and fought, as though it were no human child but a very wolf born and bred.
— from Boris the Bear-Hunter by Frederick Whishaw

Hy sighed, glanced out at the weather (it was April), picked up hat, stick and gloves and sauntered forth to dine comfortably at his club as a ritualistic preliminary to a pleasant evening.
— from The Trufflers: A Story by Samuel Merwin

It was as smooth as glass and shaped like a huge cigar.
— from Houlihan's Equation by Walter J. Sheldon

When I think of all that was said against grooms and stable-helpers during the Rarey fever, I get very angry, I confess it.
— from Ravenshoe by Henry Kingsley

“Put it down as an Oasis!” wrote Twichell on his return, “I'm afraid I shall not see as green a spot again soon.
— from Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 3 (1876-1885) by Mark Twain

The seekers after God are superior to the law of decay.
— from The Expositor's Bible: The Psalms, Vol. 2 Psalms XXXIX.-LXXXIX. by Alexander Maclaren

[The COLONEL stops, and gives a sort of grunt.
— from The Works of John Galsworthy An Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Galsworthy by John Galsworthy

In his fancy pictures, when he had fixed on his object of imitation, whether it was the mean and vulgar form of a wood-cutter, or a child of an interesting character, as he did not attempt to raise the one, so neither did he lose any of the natural grace and elegance of the other; such a grace, and such an elegance, as are more frequently found in cottages than in courts.
— from Sir Joshua Reynolds' Discourses Edited, with an Introduction, by Helen Zimmern by Reynolds, Joshua, Sir

And she dried her eyes and said no more, only got ready and went off the next day with the little child, as smiling and gay as she could appear, waving her hand to Art that saw her off at the Broadstone station, and did all he could to put her in heart.
— from Candle and Crib by Katherine Frances Purdon

Rhodium and its various oxides are dissolved when fused with potassium hydrogen sulphate, and give a soluble double sulphate (whilst iridium remains unacted on); this fact is very characteristic for this metal, which offers in its properties many points of resemblance with the iron metals.
— from The Principles of Chemistry, Volume II by Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleyev