And who has no belief in necessity, which is set up by some as the mistress of all things, but he refers some things to fortune, some to ourselves, because necessity is an irresponsible power, and because he sees that fortune is unstable, while our own will is free; and this freedom constitutes, in our case, a responsibility which makes us encounter blame and praise.
— from The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius

Now, presuming that there was some understanding between Simpson and these gypsies, might he not have been leading the horse to them when he was overtaken, and may they not have him now?”
— from The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur Conan Doyle

"But the Troll was not to be seen under bare sky, and the hill was fast shut, so that even Grumblegizzard was not man enough to get in.
— from Tales from the Fjeld: A Second Series of Popular Tales by Peter Christen Asbjørnsen

And she uttered, between smiles and tears, as a wish that inexpressibly fascinated her heart, and yet was half-fantastic, a broken prayer that God would return her to the solitudes from which he had drawn her, and suffer her to become a shepherdess once more.
— from Journeys Through Bookland, Vol. 4 by Charles Herbert Sylvester

Going into the forest to dig roots he found honey hived by the bees and nuts stored up by squirrels against the winter.
— from The Investment of Influence: A Study of Social Sympathy and Service by Newell Dwight Hillis

Except for a bright fringe under the iron railings, it was still untouched by spring, and the sallow grass had long been trodden into the dust.
— from Audrey Craven by May Sinclair

Drums, trumpets, falconets, fire-arms, and human voices at once proclaimed the importance of the capture, and the triumph of the victors; and with all the speed of sails and oars, the fortunate cavalier bore his prize towards the nearest landing in possession of the Spaniards, deriding and even defying the claim set up by Sandoval, as the superior officer, to the honour of presenting the prisoner to the Captain-General.
— from The Infidel; or, the Fall of Mexico. Vol. II. by Robert Montgomery Bird

The smothered exclamations of the boys at some unexpected, bold stroke, and the scratching of a little fellow's pencil on a slate, trying to figure out how long it was yet till the big dinner, were the only sounds that broke the quiet of the room.
— from Children of the Tenements by Jacob A. (Jacob August) Riis

Then Beetle shows up blank sheets, and trusts to his 'English' to save him from a fall.
— from Stalky & Co. by Rudyard Kipling

"Not of high repute our mission, perhaps, but still useful, being scavengers; and to this end we are all born with a fair appetite; but useful always, even Bagh knows that.
— from The Sa'-Zada Tales by William Alexander Fraser

If you come along I will get it out and show it to you ..." He spoke unconcernedly, but stiffly, as though to emphasize the slight put upon his dignity.
— from The Yellow Streak by Valentine Williams

Nevertheless, a friendship had sprung up between Seymour and the unsuspecting Talbot which bade fair to ripen into intimacy; and it may be supposed that the stories of battles in which the older man had participated, his attractive personality, the consideration in which the young sailor was held by men of weight and position in the colonies, as a man from whom much was to be expected, had large influence in determining Talbot in the course he proposed taking, and which he had not yet communicated to his mother.
— from For Love of Country: A Story of Land and Sea in the Days of the Revolution by Cyrus Townsend Brady