Be our endeavours ever so great, they will always come short of reaching that exalted dignity, which even our apprehensions cannot reach.
— from Letters of Abelard and Heloise To which is prefix'd a particular account of their lives, amours, and misfortunes by Héloïse

In the one, they act on the supposition that the passions are weakened by indulgence; in the other, it is believed that gratification, far from satiating, only renders them every day more devouring.
— from Protestantism and Catholicity compared in their effects on the civilization of Europe by Jaime Luciano Balmes

He made clear what Cardinal Manning has so often repeated, that England did not give up the Catholic faith of centuries, but was simply robbed of it.
— from Breaking with the Past; Or, Catholic Principles Abandoned at the Reformation by Francis Aidan Gasquet

Their stern sense of responsibility, their earnest desire for self-improvement, their ambitious zeal to acquire and to diffuse knowledge have founded, fostered, and supported the system of public schools and well-organized colleges which exist to-day in almost every portion of the country.
— from Scribner's Magazine, Volume 26, July 1899 by Various

Either on account of their failure to reach it in the morning, or for some other reason, the enemy did not fire at it, and the occupants of the car were able to make their observations in peace, telephoning them to a non-commissioned officer at the winding engine below, who jotted them down in shorthand.
— from The Invasion of 1910, with a full account of the siege of London by William Le Queux

It must be remembered, however, that, although the savage spirit of revenge, that eagerly demands blood for blood without the slightest consideration of the anatomical, physiological or psychological conditions upon which the commission of the specific act depends, has ceased to be the controlling factor in the enactment and execution of penal codes, the new system of jurisprudence, based upon more enlightened conceptions of human responsibility, is still in an inchoate state and very far from having worked out a satisfactory
— from The Criminal Prosecution and Capital Punishment of Animals by E. P. (Edward Payson) Evans

We take the subject of reading twice every day for the first two years, once a day for the next six years.
— from Report of the Committee of Fifteen Read at the Cleveland Meeting of the Department of Superintendence, February 19-21, 1884, with the Debate by William Torrey Harris