Hush, sir; utter not such blasphemy; trust me I am advising you now to act as a sensible man should; only read them, and you will see the pleasure you will derive from them.
— from Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra

" I compare her to one of those raging rivers, which when in flood overflows the plains, sweeping away trees and buildings, bearing away the soil from place to place; everything flies before it, all yield to its violence, without being able in any way to withstand it; and yet, though its nature be such, it does not follow therefore that men, when the weather becomes fair, shall not make provision, both with defences and barriers, in such a manner that, rising again, the waters may pass away by canal, and their force be neither so unrestrained nor so dangerous.
— from The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

Jactor, crucior, agitor, stimulor, Versor in amoris rota miser, Exanimor, feror, distrahor, deripior, Ubi sum, ibi non sum; ubi non sum, ibi est animus.
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

"Ay," snarled Mr. Tulliver, "there's folks as things 'ull allays go awk'ard with; empty sacks 'ull never stand upright."
— from The Mill on the Floss by George Eliot

When two authorities are set up, Neither supreme, how soon confusion May enter twixt the gap of both, and take The one by the other.
— from Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare by William Shakespeare

Thereon Circe came up to me and said, 'Ulysses, noble son of Laertes, tell your men to leave off crying; I know how much you have all of you suffered at sea, and how ill you have fared among cruel savages on the mainland, but that is over now, so stay here, and eat and drink till you are once more as strong and hearty as you were when you left Ithaca; for at present you are weakened both in body and mind; you keep all the time thinking of the hardships you have suffered during your travels, so that you have no more cheerfulness left in you.'
— from The Odyssey Rendered into English prose for the use of those who cannot read the original by Homer

It was some utter nonsense; some adventure out there in the water, and they both tried to relate it at once.
— from The Awakening, and Selected Short Stories by Kate Chopin

then and there was hurrying to and fro, And gathering tears, and tremblings of distress, And cheeks all pale, which but an hour ago Blushed at the praise of their own loveliness; And there were sudden partings, such as press The life from out young hearts, and choking sighs Which ne'er might be repeated: who would guess If ever more should meet those mutual eyes, Since upon night so sweet such awful morn could rise!
— from Childe Harold's Pilgrimage by Byron, George Gordon Byron, Baron

They had that interest, as well as other interests, in ensuring their impunity from exposure, and they would leave no stone unturned, no sacrifice unattempted, no treachery untried, to discover the place in which their victim was concealed, and to part her from the only friends she had in the world—Marian Halcombe and myself.
— from The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

Rigid the proof-shelled warriors passed and stiff Whither their squires fresher spears upheld; Nor stayed to breathe; but scarcely firmly selled Launched deadly forward.
— from Accolon of Gaul, with Other Poems by Madison Julius Cawein

A well-known sailmaker, who has made sails for some of the crack racing yachts of America, gives the following admirable instructions for setting the sails of a 40-foot single-sticker: Cast off the tyers from the mainsail; hook on the peak halyards; see that the gaff goes up between the topping-lifts as you hoist up on the throat and peak halyards; hoist up on the throat until the luff-rope is straight; if the sail has a slide on the boom, haul out on it till the canvas is just straight and smooth on the foot; too hard a pull will throw a heavy strain on the diagonal, from the end of the boom to the jaws of the gaff, giving a bad after leech when the peak is swayed up; next sway up the luff pretty taut; it is not necessary to top the boom up to too great an angle out of the crotch; man the peak halyards and hoist on them until the after leech is so lifted that it spreads and stretches 110 every square inch of the after angle of the sail; as soon as the peak begins to lift the outer end of the boom, the mainsheet should be made fast (unless the boom extends so far over the taffrail that it would bring an undue leverage on the boom and spring it to breaking); now sweat up the peak halyards until the stretch is entirely taken out of the halyard canvas; if the peak is hoisted beyond its proper angle, it puts an undue strain on the diagonal, from the end of the gaff to the center of effort of the sail, the consequence being a nasty gutter just inside the leech, which gives rise to the groundless complaint that there is a tight cloth inside the after leech.
— from Boat Sailing in Fair Weather and Foul, 6th ed. by A. J. (Ahmed John) Kenealy

“A big canoe breathing out smoke and fire is swimming up Ne Shoda.”
— from The Lonesome Trail by John G. Neihardt

Tanta autem inerat comitas in Scipione, ut non Syphacem modo, sed etiam hostem infestissimum Hasdrubalem sibi conciliaret.
— from Selections from Viri Romae by C. F. L'Homond

"Mil huit cent onze!—ô temps où des peuples sans nombre Attendaient, prosternés sous un nuage sombre.
— from My Memoirs, Vol. VI, 1832 to 1833 by Alexandre Dumas

He said uncle Nate said, “The feller that delivered it ort to be President of the United States:” he said, “That mind ort to be in the chair.”
— from Sweet Cicely — or Josiah Allen as a Politician by Marietta Holley

She cannot be seen until next Sunday night; this is Tuesday.
— from Oliver Twist, Vol. 3 (of 3) by Charles Dickens

“Unless it has been made by a band of Indians or some ugly negroes,” said Jerry in a low tone.
— from The Motor Boys in Strange Waters; or, Lost in a Floating Forest by Clarence Young