"It is not more certain that, from the simple reflex action by which the infant sucks, up to the elaborate reasoning of the adult man, the progress is by daily infinitesimal steps, than it is certain that between the automatic actions of the lowest creatures and the highest conscious actions of the human race, a series of actions displayed by the various tribes of the animal kingdom may be so placed as to render it impossible to say of any one step in the series, Here intelligence begins."
— from Herbert Spencer by J. Arthur (John Arthur) Thomson

“ Pardi !” continued Chouteau, “the thing is accounted for easily enough, since our rulers have been selling us to the enemy right from the beginning.
— from The Downfall by Émile Zola

It was also announced that the fair association would pay $50 in cash for every horse brought to the grounds that was sufficiently unmanageable to throw every rider; each participant to ride any horse and as often as the judges might deem necessary to determine the winner; chaps and spurs to be worn by the riders, and leather pulling would disqualify.
— from The Treasure of Hidden Valley by Willis George Emerson

Thus on one of these mornings in April, they were on the back-road to Cousin Hetty's, the right-hand side solemn and dark with tall pines, where the ground sloped up towards the Eagle Rocks; jungle-like with blackberry brambles and young pines on the left side where it had been lumbered some years ago.
— from The Brimming Cup by Dorothy Canfield Fisher

"I therefore call upon the unbounded justice of His Majesty's Government; I pray, in the name of suffering humanity, to that most exalted and mighty Monarch, whose noble heart is filled with love and deep affection towards his faithful subjects, to consider the case of my brethren, and show mercy to the many hundred thousands of them who daily send up to the Eternal Ruler of myriads of worlds their most devout and fervent prayers to prolong the glorious life of His Majesty, their Emperor and King.
— from Diaries of Sir Moses and Lady Montefiore, Volume 1 (of 2) Comprising Their Life and Work as Recorded in Their Diaries, from 1812 to 1883 by Montefiore, Judith Cohen, Lady

They listened impatiently; then the man whose turn it was to ventilate his eloquence, pushed his sleeves up to the elbows, rubbed his hands as if about to lift some heavy weight, and exclaimed: "Yes, sister!
— from Half a Century by Jane Grey Cannon Swisshelm

In fact, the whole occasion was so unusual that the electrified reporter of the Annual Register was at his wit's end to know what to praise most.
— from Inns and Taverns of Old London by Henry C. (Henry Charles) Shelley