They wrought in the morning, and I did keep my bed, and my pain continued on me mightily that I kept within all day in great pain, and could break no wind nor have any stool after my physic had done working.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

Left thus alone, absolutely destitute and friendless I began then to feel most bitterly the severity of this separation, the scene of which had passed in a little room in the inn; and no sooner was her back turned, but the affliction I felt at my helpless strange circumstances, burst out into a flood of tears, which infinitely relieved the oppression of my heart; though I still remained stupified, and most perfectly perplexed how to dispose of myself.
— from Memoirs of Fanny Hill A New and Genuine Edition from the Original Text (London, 1749) by John Cleland

'Tis a great safeguard, and might perhaps save you from being choked to death some day.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

When his wild form, that struck with awe, Fearful as ravening flame, they saw, Vaśishṭha and the saints whose care Was sacrifice and muttered prayer, Drew close together, each to each, And questioned thus with bated speech: “Indignant at his father's fate Will he on warriors vent his hate, The slayers of his father slay, And sweep the loathed race away?
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

On hearing her announce the address there suddenly took possession of him the strange thought that Lucetta and Miss Templeman were one and the same person, for he could recall that in her season of intimacy with him the name of the rich relative whom he had deemed somewhat a mythical personage had been given as Templeman.
— from The Mayor of Casterbridge by Thomas Hardy

However they were easily cut through with steel; and when the thorns are cut the stalk gives forth much juice, still more abundantly than fig-trees do in the springtime, and more pungent.
— from The Anabasis of Alexander or, The History of the Wars and Conquests of Alexander the Great by Arrian

This impression had even one stronger and more profound point about it, that it was indeed the tower of Strasbourg, but the tower of Strasbourg two leagues in height; something unheard of, gigantic, immeasurable; an edifice such as no human eye has ever seen; a tower of Babel.
— from Notre-Dame de Paris by Victor Hugo

But however necessary it may be to give the primitive mountain waters that were the start of all the streams a more prominent place in the new flow onwards, it is unlikely that much can come of any attempt to leave the turbulent waters, go backwards, and start again; they can only flow onwards.
— from The Practice and Science of Drawing by Harold Speed

Now, I was upon this point, that there needs no more but to see a man promoted to dignity; though we knew him but three days before a man of little regard, yet an image of grandeur of sufficiency insensibly steals into our opinion, and we persuade ourselves that, being augmented in reputation and train, he is also increased in merit; we judge of him, not according to his worth, but as we do by counters, according to the prerogative of his place.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

At Braga in Portugal; Burgos in Castile; Messina in Sicily, all over Spain and Italy, their streets are most part narrow, to avoid the sunbeams.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

For my own part I did not lose; I even won a little; I played for small stakes, and Mr. Pelham, winning so largely from others, did not grudge paying me, without commenting on my caution or timidity.
— from Great Porter Square: A Mystery. v. 2 by B. L. (Benjamin Leopold) Farjeon

[misse] tum literas, tum Monochroma Novi Opificij, Portus, usque ad Oceanum Ductus [ductos] nuper elaborati et in capacem Navigationis formam redacti, grato animo accepimus; Lætique benignitate pristinâ, Regiam aliquam prærogativam quæ non [non non] ingrate spondeat, in predictam civitatem Brugensem conferre meditamur, plenâ potestate & authoritate Nostrâ Regiâ plenè, liberè sponte, ac motu proprio dantes & concedentes sicuti [sicut] per præsentes pro Nobis, Hæredibus et Successoribus Nostris damus et concedimus, ut prædicta civitas Brugensis quocunque demum impedimento obstante
— from The Sovereignty of the Sea An Historical Account of the Claims of England to the Dominion of the British Seas, and of the Evolution of the Territorial Waters by Thomas Wemyss Fulton

“So great a lawyer, Mr. Case, as you are,” replied Sir Arthur, “must know, that a man cannot give up that to which he has no legal title; and in this case it is impossible that, with the best intentions to oblige me in the world, you can give up this bit of land to me, because it is mine already, as I can convince you effectually by a map of the adjoining land, which I have fortunately safe amongst my papers.
— from The Parent's Assistant; Or, Stories for Children by Maria Edgeworth

When she recognized him presently she said: “Ah, my poor child, what a sad meeting is this!
— from The Downfall by Émile Zola

I had begun to feel the need of some hard and engrossing work to take off my thoughts alike from my great sorrow and my pressing anxieties about my English home, so that I wished to return to my Latin studies again, and the Abbe helped me to read Cicero de Officiis again, and likewise some of the writings of St. Gregory the Great.
— from Stray Pearls: Memoirs of Margaret De Ribaumont, Viscountess of Bellaise by Charlotte M. (Charlotte Mary) Yonge

I searched about my pockets, with a puckered brow.
— from The Cords of Vanity: A Comedy of Shirking by James Branch Cabell

The noiseless Morgan had listened to the conversation between Strong and Major Pendennis at the latter's own lodgings, and had carried away from it matter for much private speculation; and a desire of knowledge had led him to follow his master when the Major came to the Wheel of Fortune, and to take his place quietly in the Confidential room, whilst Pendennis and Clavering had their discourse in the parlour.
— from The History of Pendennis by William Makepeace Thackeray

He says of his sheep, 'I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand.'
— from Elsie's Widowhood A Sequel to Elsie's Children by Martha Finley