la defendre du mal qu'elle craint; la bouche fort ouverte fait voir le saisissement du coeur, par le sang qui se retire vers lui, ce qui l'oblige, voulant respirer, a faire un effort qui est cause que la bouche s'ouvre extremement, et qui, lorsqu'il passe par les organes de la voix, forme un son qui n'est point articule; que si les muscles et les veines paraissent enfles, ce n'est que par les esprits que le cerveau envoie en ces parties-la."
— from The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals by Charles Darwin

And the ship is so easy—even in a gale she rolls very little, compared to other vessels—and in this calm we could dance on deck, if we chose.
— from Mark Twain's Letters — Volume 1 (1853-1866) by Mark Twain

The conditions of marsh and moor on all sides remained very little changed from the prehistoric days when London had not yet come into existence save for beaten paths or roads leading to north-west and east, and a causeway leading south.
— from Early London: Prehistoric, Roman, Saxon and Norman by Walter Besant

So really very little could be done till The Pobble came back from Aunt Jopiska.
— from A Likely Story by William De Morgan

She was tired of washing; it paid wretchedly and gave a great deal of work, and she received very little consideration.
— from Pelle the Conqueror — Volume 04 by Martin Andersen Nexø

A hundred years ago the planters at the south raised very little cotton, for few people could afford to wear it; but after this wonderful machine was made, the planters kept making their fields bigger and bigger.
— from The Beginner's American History by D. H. (David Henry) Montgomery