Everywhere there was one big thing that served six purposes; everywhere now there are six small things; or, rather (and there is the trouble), there are just five and a half.
— from What's Wrong with the World by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

Think how they sport with these beloved forms; And how the clarion-blowing wind unties Above their heads the tresses of the storms: Perchance even now the child, the husband, dies.
— from Poems by Victor Hugo

"Do this," said the ghost of Mr. Surveyor Pue, emphatically nodding the head that looked so imposing within its memorable wig; "do this, and the profit shall be all your own.
— from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

“Do this,” said the ghost of Mr. Surveyor Pue, emphatically nodding the head that looked so imposing within its memorable wig,—“do this, and the profit shall be all your own!
— from The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne

It is reasonable to suppose that the poor man, during the period of his veritable history, has always, when not suffering severe privation, eaten nearly the same amount of food in any given number of hours.
— from The Golden Censer Or, the duties of to-day, the hopes of the future by John McGovern

" By this time the innocent Egyptians began to open their eyes: they saw plainly enough now the admirable Presidential scheme unfolded to their view.
— from The Papers and Writings of Abraham Lincoln, Complete by Abraham Lincoln

A large portion of it is desert, but some parts, especially near the coast, are fertile, and yield abundant crops and excellent pasture, the chief being wheat, barley, dates, figs, and olives.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. Atrebates to Bedlis Vol. 1 Part 3 by Various

"It will seem scarcely courteous, sir," said the guest, as Sir Philip ended, "not to give you my own name, though you in your hospitality will not ask it; but yet, for the present, I will beg you to call me simply Hal of Hadnock; and ere I go, Sir Philip, to your own ear I will tell more.
— from Agincourt: A Romance The Works of G. P. R. James, Volume XX by G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford) James

* It was probably the ruined cistern with twenty-four columns arranged in four rows of seven pillars each, near the mosque Kassim Aga, a short distance above Kefelé Mesjedi.
— from Byzantine Churches in Constantinople: Their History and Architecture by Alexander Van Millingen

In ascending these rapids it is often necessary to alight from the canoe and walk in the river, whose waters are rather low in such places, especially near the banks.
— from Portage Paths: The Keys of the Continent by Archer Butler Hulbert

but for this miraculous supply both men and beasts had perished; but the greater part of the country was simply uninhabited pasture land, sufficiently productive even now to support several Arab tribes; and much better wooded and watered then.
— from Fables of Infidelity and Facts of Faith Being an Examination of the Evidences of Infidelity by Robert Patterson

According to the 'Calendars of State Papers,' Edward Norgate the elder was in 1611 appointed, in conjunction with Andrea Bassano, to the office of tuner of the King's virginals, organs, and other instruments; and six-and-twenty years later we find him superintending the repair of the organ in the chapel at Hampton Court.
— from Old Picture Books, With Other Essays on Bookish Subjects by Alfred W. (Alfred William) Pollard