1. Number the simplest and most universal Idea.
— from An Essay Concerning Humane Understanding, Volume 1 MDCXC, Based on the 2nd Edition, Books 1 and 2 by John Locke

You shouldn't eat sweets,' and my uncle is always asking me things like, 'When did Edward the Third ascend the throne?'
— from A Little Princess Being the whole story of Sara Crewe now told for the first time by Frances Hodgson Burnett

My aunt, with every sort of expression but wonder discharged from her countenance, sat on the gravel, staring at me, until I began to cry; when she got up in a great hurry, collared me, and took me into the parlour.
— from David Copperfield by Charles Dickens

We are even likely to take the influence of superior force for control, forgetting that while we may lead a horse to water we cannot make him drink; and that while we can shut a man up in a penitentiary we cannot make him penitent.
— from Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education by John Dewey

The conflict she had suffered, between love and the duty she at present owed to her father's sister; her repugnance to a clandestine marriage, her fear of emerging on the world with embarrassments, such as might ultimately involve the object of her affection in misery and repentance;—all this various interest was too powerful for a mind, already enervated by sorrow, and her reason had suffered a transient suspension.
— from The Mysteries of Udolpho by Ann Ward Radcliffe

The first chapter of the third or supplementary part consists of fifteen sections, which are often quite short, are mostly unconnected in matter, and appear to be of very different age.
— from A History of Sanskrit Literature by Arthur Anthony Macdonell

She's never easy but when she's helping somebody, and marriage 'ud interfere with her ways—that's true.
— from Adam Bede by George Eliot

Ye will do well to send a man up it.”
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain

You get, in short, a materialistic universe, in which only the tough-minded find themselves congenially at home.
— from Pragmatism: A New Name for Some Old Ways of Thinking by William James

These generally tropical shells are more uniform in shape than many just mentioned, but they are most beautifully varied in colour and minor details.
— from The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 4 by Frederick Whymper

“Surely,” answered Mr Underhill in his manner, which was blunt and fearless, “God shall never con you thanks (owe you thanks) for this, but rather take the sword from such as will not use it upon his enemies.”
— from Robin Tremayne A Story of the Marian Persecution by Emily Sarah Holt

The first one who looked at my wound expressed great surprise at my "unusually interesting mouth wound," as he termed it, and called for the doctors in the adjoining rooms to come and see one of the most interesting of the [234] many wounds that had come before the board.
— from Personal Recollections and Civil War Diary, 1864 by Lemuel Abijah Abbott

He instructs while he sports, persuades men to virtue by means of beasts, and exalts trifling subjects to the sublime; a man unique in his species of composition, always original, whether he invents or translates,--who has gone beyond his models, himself a model hard to imitate."
— from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine

The “sweeties” are made up in little ornamented sixpenny bags, and to these a young man treats his partner after a dance; so you may tell how any girl is appreciated by the number of bags of sweeties in her possession.
— from Cats: Their Points and Characteristics With Curiosities of Cat Life, and a Chapter on Feline Ailments by Gordon Stables

And then the last sentence of that paragraph: “In spite of all his duties, he never lost touch with his men; and he showed a masterly understanding in adjusting himself to the changing fortunes of war.”
— from Trial of the Major War Criminals Before the International Military Tribunal, Nuremburg, 14 November 1945-1 October 1946, Volume 5 by Various

But if contemporary evidence be so much sought after, there may in this case be produced the strongest and most undeniable in the world.
— from The History of England in Three Volumes, Vol.I., Part C. From Henry VII. to Mary by David Hume