If the phrase in the text were used by a moral person, with a sincere and predominant desire to do his duty, it must, I conceive, be used in one of two senses: either (1) half-ironically, in recognition of a customary standard of virtuous conduct which the speaker is not prepared expressly to dispute, but which he does not really adopt as valid—as when we say that it would be virtuous to read a new book, hear a sermon, pay a visit, etc.; or (2) it might be used loosely to mean that such and such conduct would be best if the speaker were differently constituted.
— from The Methods of Ethics by Henry Sidgwick

I found his Pencil was so very light, that it worked imperceptibly, and after a thousand Touches, scarce produced any visible Effect in the Picture on which he was employed.
— from The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Steele, Richard, Sir

They do say—I do not vouch for it—but they do say that men sometimes print a vast edition of a paper, with a ferociously seditious article in it, distribute it quickly among the newsboys, and clear out till the Government’s indignation cools.
— from The Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain

La seule solution pour qu'une langue accroisse sa présence sur le web est que ses promoteurs aient vraiment envie de se bouger!
— from Entretiens / Interviews / Entrevistas by Marie Lebert

[93] la planta de un solo piso, a veces en dos alas o cuerpos de edificio con un patio en el centro.
— from Heath's Modern Language Series: The Spanish American Reader by Ernesto Nelson

The Scalaria pretiosa , a very elegant univalve shell, much valued by collectors.
— from The Sailor's Word-Book An Alphabetical Digest of Nautical Terms, including Some More Especially Military and Scientific, but Useful to Seamen; as well as Archaisms of Early Voyagers, etc. by W. H. (William Henry) Smyth

Cats, rats, dogs, and horses were eaten; the starving people attempted various expedients to satisfy their craving hunger.
— from Freaks of Fanaticism, and Other Strange Events by S. (Sabine) Baring-Gould

Their staves, their dangling bundles of coarse canvas or of tied-up handkerchiefs of various colors, their quaint and often grotesque attire, their silent posture and vigilant eyes, their sheep-like dependence on their guides, combined with a watch-dog solicitude for their miserable traps, their household groupings and varied ages, from the baby born on shipboard to the old grandfather come to lay his rheumatic bones in the soil of a strange land,—I have stood and watched it all many and many a time, ere I hurried on to my day's business or to my happy home; and the work has seemed more significant, and the home more sweet, for that sight.
— from Lippincott's Magazine, November 1885 by Various

I found his pencil was so very light that it worked imperceptibly, and after a thousand touches scarce produced any visible effect in the picture on which he was employed.
— from Essays and Tales by Joseph Addison

“If the other volumes of the series are equal to the present in interest and value, we think we may safely predict a very extensive popularity for the enterprise....
— from Magic and Witchcraft by George Moir

He put his hand hastily to his neck, and felt the ribbon that his stooping posture and violent exercise had forced into a prominence that defied further concealment; then turned away laughing, and, with his face now vying with the Sunset, said, "You have caught an ostrich hiding with its head in the sand."
— from From Jest to Earnest by Edward Payson Roe

The sympathetic pleasures are very extensive, very intense, and may be of very long duration; they are superior to all the foregoing, if there is a hearty affection, and are at their height along with the feeling of universal good will.
— from Moral Science; a Compendium of Ethics by Alexander Bain

Our road, as we approached the mountains, lay over a fertile country; the view on every side presenting a vast extent of arable and tillage land.
— from The Adventures of Captain John Patterson With Notices of the Officers, &c. of the 50th, or Queen's Own Regiment from 1807 to 1821 by John Patterson

Also the closed-in store lorries, fitted with interior shelves and pigeon-holes, in which were carried engineers' tools, stores of all kinds, spare parts, and various equipment.
— from The Motor-Bus in War Being the Impressions of an A.S.C. Officer during Two and a Half Years at the Front by A. M. Beatson