“Yes, and I told him that I had gained it from you without any sacrifice, and that now I was a true Pythoness without having to endure the torments of the tripod; and I am sure that the replies you gave were invented by yourself.”
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova

"Why could you think such a thing necessary?" "I am glad it is not.
— from Far from the Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy

I smiled at the notion; it seemed to me at the time to be humourous; and I made my preparations with the most studious care.
— from The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson

The family in a barbarous age remains sacrosanct and traditional; nothing in its law, manners, or ritual is open to amendment.
— from The Life of Reason: The Phases of Human Progress by George Santayana

For they well know that I do not desire to be their rival in the art by setting my own speeches against theirs, nor in any other way do I wish to quarrel with them.
— from The Works of the Emperor Julian, Vol. 1 by Emperor of Rome Julian

He had been unable to say what might be the day of his arrival, as the voyage from Jamaica to New York was made at irregular intervals, and it would appear that he arrived too late to witness that rite, for we read, "All was silent as the night in the little cathedral town in which Da Costa's son had begun his ministerial work.
— from Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ by Aaron Bernstein

And none had sense enough to be confuted: Scotists and Thomists, now, in peace remain, Amidst their kindred cobwebs in Duck-lane.
— from The Rape of the Lock and Other Poems by Alexander Pope

But nature makes that mean; so over that art Which you say adds to nature, is an art That nature makes.
— from The Complete Works of William Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

Besides, they are commodiously hidden and defended by eminences on every side; for on the upper part the eyebrows turn aside the perspiration which falls from the head and forehead; the cheeks beneath rise a little, so as to protect them on the lower side; and the nose is placed between them as a wall of separation.
— from Cicero's Tusculan Disputations Also, Treatises On The Nature Of The Gods, And On The Commonwealth by Marcus Tullius Cicero

‘There,’ said Howe, ‘these fires have cost a pretty penny:—that is all the corn that Humphreys reaped this season; and that, near it, is the last of Reardon’s property.’
— from The Military Sketch-Book, Vol. 2 of 2 Reminiscences of seventeen years in the service abroad and at home by William Maginn

Andy leaped to one side, and the next instant the man’s gun dropped down on the rocks and fell in the snow.
— from First at the North Pole; Or, Two Boys in the Arctic Circle by Edward Stratemeyer

Springy skins, as the name indicates, are those taken toward the last of the season or in the spring and tho often prime pelted, have begun to shed.
— from Steel Traps Describes the Various Makes and Tells How to Use Them, Also Chapters on Care of Pelts, Etc. by A. R. (Arthur Robert) Harding

But it does not seem so clear why, when these conditions are favorable to blight, one tree should suffer, and the next in the row should not; why one orchard should be depopulated, and another in the same town not touched.
— from Pleasant Talk About Fruits, Flowers and Farming by Henry Ward Beecher

The girl was very obedient; she took up her violin; and presently she was playing that strangely simple air that nevertheless is about as proud and passionate and piteous as the tragic story to which it is wedded.
— from Stand Fast, Craig-Royston! (Volume I) by William Black

In an instant the white man’s rifle leapt to his shoulder, and the next instant he fired.
— from The Adventures of Dick Maitland: A Tale of Unknown Africa by Harry Collingwood

The Committee consider, however, that these figures must be considerably on the low side, for these reasons: ( a ) that a number of medical practitioners have not replied: ( b ) that some diseases attributable to venereal disease may not have been conclusively diagnosed as such, and, therefore, not included in the return.
— from Venereal Diseases in New Zealand (1922) Report of the Special Committee of the Board of Health appointed by the Hon. Minister of Health by New Zealand. Committee of the Board of Health

On the south-east it is 133 flanked by a small attached tower, now in ruins, under which the stream flows.
— from The New Forest: Its History and Its Scenery by John R. (John Richard) Wise