Taking next the law of slavery, we shall inquire whether a man can make over to another his right to himself, without restriction, without reserve, without any kind of conditions; that is to say, can he renounce his person, his life, his reason, his very self, can he renounce all morality in his actions; in a word, can he cease to exist before his death, in spite of nature who places him directly in charge of his own preservation, in spite of reason and conscience which tell him what to do and what to leave undone?
— from Emile by Jean-Jacques Rousseau

It impresses us at one time as ancient, at another time as foreign, bitter, and too modern, it is as arbitrary as it is pompously traditional, it is not infrequently roguish, still oftener rough and coarse—it has fire and courage, and at the same time the loose, dun-coloured skin of fruits which ripen too late.
— from Beyond Good and Evil by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

IMG Figure 117 is a Buddhist symbol, or rather a copy of Maityna Bodhisatwa, from the monastery of Gopach, in the valley of Nepaul.
— from Ancient Pagan and Modern Christian Symbolism With an Essay on Baal Worship, on the Assyrian Sacred "Grove," and Other Allied Symbols by Thomas Inman

He left the duke with the state of Romagna alone consolidated, with the rest in the air, between two most powerful hostile armies, and sick unto death.
— from The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

The names of these successors of Rāma agree closely with those in the list given in the Vishṇu-purāṇa .
— from A History of Sanskrit Literature by Arthur Anthony Macdonell

Again, is not the passionate element wholly set on ruling and conquering and getting fame? True.
— from The Republic by Plato

As the guests one by one pack, pay, and depart, and the seats at the table-d'hôte shrink pitifully at each succeeding meal; as suites of rooms are closed, carpets taken up, and waiters sent away; those boarders who are staying on, en pension , until the next year's full re-opening, cannot help being somewhat affected by all these flittings and farewells, this eager discussion of plans, routes, and fresh quarters, this daily shrinkage in the stream of comradeship.
— from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

He picked himself up rapidly, and set off running across country as hard as he could, scrambling through hedges, jumping ditches, pounding across fields, till he was breathless and weary, and had to settle down into an easy walk.
— from The Wind in the Willows by Kenneth Grahame

The former of these appellations comprehended the body of the Christian people; the latter, according to the signification of the word, was appropriated to the chosen portion that had been set apart for the service of religion; a celebrated order of men, which has furnished the most important, though not always the most edifying, subjects for modern history.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

From that year, with varying intervals of quiet, armies, or rather hordes, of men from the inexhaustible forests of Germany and Scandinavia, from the steppes of Russia and Central Asia, swept over lands for centuries accustomed to peace and weakened by bureaucratic despotism, inequitable and crippling systems of taxation, and, most debilitating of all, the essentially demoralizing influence of slavery.
— from The New Christianity; or, The Religion of the New Age by Salem Goldworth Bland

Now he is the slave of responsibilities and cares which press heavily upon his heretofore unthinking nature.
— from Four Months in a Sneak-Box A Boat Voyage of 2600 Miles Down the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, and Along the Gulf of Mexico by Nathaniel H. (Nathaniel Holmes) Bishop

Nay what are all errors and perversities of his, even those stealings of ribbons, aimless confused miseries and vagabondisms, if we will interpret them kindly, but the blinkard dazzlement and staggerings to and fro of a man sent on an errand he is too weak for, by a path he cannot yet find?
— from On Heroes, Hero-Worship, and the Heroic in History by Thomas Carlyle

The very policy of religious men, they will argue, is to get the world to fix its attention steadily upon the subject of Religion, and Controversy is the most effectual means of doing this.
— from The Idea of a University Defined and Illustrated In Nine Discourses Delivered to the Catholics of Dublin by John Henry Newman

The promptness with which he came upon the line of battle, and the firmness with which he stood his ground, though his flag was several times pierced by the bullets of the enemy, were so conspicuous as to be the subject of remark and commendation.
— from The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier and Citizen by Simon Wolf

"I don't care whether you call it square or round," answered Cricket, briefly, snipping Zaidee's fingers, which were creeping too near the peppermints.
— from Cricket at the Seashore by Elizabeth Weston Timlow

During his imprisonment, he told divers stories of robberies and crimes, most of which turned out to be false.
— from Strange Pages from Family Papers by T. F. (Thomas Firminger) Thiselton-Dyer

For such a series of reactions a comparatively few molecules of water would suffice, and the change produced by their alternate reduction and oxidation would come under the old term of "catalytic action," inasmuch as the few water molecules present at the beginning are found in the same state at the completion of the reaction.
— from Scientific American Supplement, No. 358, November 11, 1882 by Various

It was backed by steep, overhanging rocks and could be approached only from the direction of the cabin.
— from Scott Burton on the Range by Edward G. (Edward Gheen) Cheyney