In the first house where we stopped, when the woman who served us saw the scar on my forehead, she crossed herself and put out two fingers towards me, to keep off the evil eye.
— from Dracula by Bram Stoker

I know Mr. Parker, and I believe it; but if anybody else had said it, I should consider him a person who had better go down in the tank and take another wash.
— from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain

does the equality of social conditions habitually and permanently lead men to revolution?
— from Democracy in America — Volume 2 by Alexis de Tocqueville

The thunder-clouds close o'er it, which when rent The earth is covered thick with other clay, Which her own clay shall cover, heaped and pent, Rider and horse,—friend, foe,—in one red burial blent!
— from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron

There were pickles in question, a large stock of pickles and ketchup which Mrs. Tulliver possessed, and which Mr. Hyndmarsh, the grocer, would certainly purchase if she could transact the business in a personal interview, so she would walk with Tom to St. Ogg's that morning; and when Tom urged that she might let the pickles be at present,–he didn't like her to go about just yet,–she appeared so hurt at this conduct in her son, contradicting her about pickles which she had made after the family receipts inherited from his own grandmother, who had died when his mother was a little girl, that he gave way, and they walked together until she turned toward Danish Street, where Mr. Hyndmarsh retailed his grocery, not far from the offices of Mr. Wakem.
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

A slaveholding community has a peculiar taste for ferreting out offenses against the slave system, justice there being more sensitive in its regard for the peculiar rights of this system, than for any other interest or institution.
— from My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass

When a proposition can be taken in two senses—’tis a law in disputation, That the respondent may reply to which of the two he pleases, or finds most convenient for him.——This threw the advantage of the argument quite on my uncle Toby ’s side.—“ Good God! ” cried my uncle Toby, “ are children brought into the world with a squirt? ” C H A P.
— from The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman by Laurence Sterne

The house which we had reached at Somonauk Creek had a place of this sort.
— from Gleanings by the Way by John A. (John Alonzo) Clark

Here, Miss, your mother will not let you remain: she cannot have any peace of mind while such a rebel of a child is so near her.
— from Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 2 by Samuel Richardson

He was not speaking so much for the State he represented as for Georgia; because the State of South Carolina had a prohibitory law, which could be renewed when its limitation expired.
— from Abridgment of the Debates of Congress, from 1789 to 1856, Vol. 1 (of 16) by United States. Congress

Let's see——" "She could have a pale blue taffeta," Mrs. Prescott suggested, who was in her element when the subject turned to the matter of clothes, "made perfectly plain—with a broad girdle—or you could have a girdle and shoulder-knots of silver ribbon—and wear silver slippers with it.
— from Nancy of Paradise Cottage by Shirley Watkins

Considerable caution had, we believe, to be observed, as some captains have a prejudice against the bringing off of sporting events aboard their vessels.
— from The Dealings of Captain Sharkey, and Other Tales of Pirates by Arthur Conan Doyle

Some few minutes after our appearance in camp, and while we were eating supper, there came a ruddy glimmer of torches from behind us, lighting up the leaves overhead; and Generals Sullivan, Clinton, Hand, and Poor rode up and drew bridle beside Major Parr, listening intently to the ominous sounds in front of us.
— from The Hidden Children by Robert W. (Robert William) Chambers

Besides, if she wished to do a thing over five times in order to make it suit her, she certainly had a perfect right to do so.
— from Dooryard Stories by Clara Dillingham Pierson

She saw that the effort to speak caused him a pang, and, without replying to the question, motioned him to silence; when, being no longer able to master her emotions, she sat down by his side, and, covering her face with both hands, began to grieve and sob like a child.
— from Gaut Gurley; Or, the Trappers of Umbagog: A Tale of Border Life by Daniel P. (Daniel Pierce) Thompson