But I will allow that the critic who has not a practical knowledge of technique is seldom able to say anything on the subject of real value, and my ignorance of painting is extreme.
— from The Moon and Sixpence by W. Somerset (William Somerset) Maugham

All this went on in the corner of the drawing-room where the piano stood, and subtle as it was, the light made it a sort of rainbow visible to many observers besides Mr. Farebrother.
— from Middlemarch by George Eliot

Several days —The strange lapse of time, by which a period really extending over days or even years seems to the stranger under the spell to be only a matter of a few hours, is one of the most common incidents of European fairy recitals, and has been made equally familiar to American readers through Irving’s story of Rip Van Winkle.
— from Myths of the Cherokee Extract from the Nineteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology by James Mooney

When the steps of Ráma viewed That still his onward course pursued, Woe shook the troubled heart of each, And burnt with grief they spoke this speech— “With thee, O Ráma, to the wood All Bráhmans go and Bráhmanhood: Borne on our aged shoulders, see, Our fires of worship go with thee.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

So to the Opera, where I met my wife and Captain Ferrers and Madamoiselle Le Blanc, and there did see the second part of “The Siege of Rhodes” very well done; and so by coach set her home, and the coach driving down the hill through Thames Street, which I think never any coach did before from that place to the bridge-foot, but going up Fish Street Hill his horses were so tired, that they could not be got to go up the hill, though all the street boys and men did beat and whip them.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

When asked why she kept the burning box in her hand in spite of really very terrible pain she simply declared that “she didn’t think of it,” though she added that when she was told to throw the thing away it just occurred to her that that would be the wisest of all things to do.
— from Criminal Psychology: A Manual for Judges, Practitioners, and Students by Hans Gross

They had in the streets of Rome vessels and little tubs for passengers to urine in: “Pusi saepe lacum propter se, ac dolia curta.
— from Essays of Michel de Montaigne — Complete by Michel de Montaigne

They were reposing, then, in the shade, when a voice unaccompanied by the notes of any instrument, but sweet and pleasing in its tone, reached their ears, at which they were not a little astonished, as the place did not seem to them likely quarters for one who sang so well; for though it is often said that shepherds of rare voice are to be found in the woods and fields, this is rather a flight of the poet’s fancy than the truth.
— from The History of Don Quixote, Volume 1, Complete by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

The whole world seems to be the scene of such tales, and collectors of folk-lore in many lands have laid claim to the discovery of [ Pg 89] ‘the original’ on which the story of Rip van Winkle is based.
— from British Goblins: Welsh Folk-lore, Fairy Mythology, Legends and Traditions by Wirt Sikes

priest, the king he can compel to sheathe the sword of righteous vengeance out against a murderer is formed of different metal from Philip of France.
— from Philip Augustus; or, The Brothers in Arms by G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James

[Pg 84] VI THE BOY FOR WHOM NO ONE CARED Within the livery stable in Harrisburg there was the sound of rough voices and the tramp of horses' feet.
— from Under Many Flags by Elsie Singmaster

Between it and the coast there are, however, mountain masses of equal or greater elevation, notably "El Gigante" and the Silico hills, the former some fifteen hundred feet high, but these are simply isolated mountain ganglia, their innumerable radiating spurs speedily giving way to swamps or river valleys.
— from The National Geographic Magazine, Vol. I., No. 4, October, 1889 by Various

By Rachel Norris ( née Williams), late Acting Superintendent of Royal Victoria Military Hospital at Suez, 2 s. 3. Practical Electro-Therapeutics.
— from Newfoundland to Cochin China By the Golden Wave, New Nippon, and the Forbidden City by Ethel Gwendoline Vincent

At first he had five ships, the largest of which were two triremes, given to him by Marcellus, but afterwards, in consequence of his spirited conduct on many occasions, three quinqueremes were added to his number, at last, by exacting from the allied states of Rhegium, Velia, and Paestum, the ships they were bound to furnish according to treaty, he made up a fleet of twenty ships, as was before stated.
— from The History of Rome, Books 09 to 26 by Livy

When these young women reached a marriageable age, the most beautiful among them were chosen to become brides of the ruler, others were given by him as wives to the higher nobles, while others remained in the service of religion, vowing perpetual virginity, and who were held in the very highest respect.
— from The Historical Child Paidology; The Science of the Child by Oscar Chrisman

For a few pages, at least, the reader may be deluded into the belief that Paul Ferroll is a worthy and innocent man, and that his wife has been murdered by some revengeful servant or ruffianly vagabond.
— from Women Novelists of Queen Victoria's Reign: A Book of Appreciations by Katharine S. (Katharine Sarah) Macquoid

At any rate it put life into John Bumpus; for that hardy mariner gradually began to exhibit signs of returning vitality.
— from Gascoyne, The Sandal-Wood Trader: A Tale of the Pacific by R. M. (Robert Michael) Ballantyne