Nor was he tempted, in the pride of success, to term that an expedition or a victory; which was only bridling the vanquished; nor even to announce his success in laureate despatches.
— from The Germany and the Agricola of Tacitus by Cornelius Tacitus

Banded together as they are—working a system which, like all systems, necessarily proceeds in a great measure by fixed rules—the official body are under the constant temptation of sinking into indolent routine, or, if they now and then desert that mill-horse round, of rushing into some half-examined crudity which has struck the fancy of some leading member of the corps: and the sole check to these closely allied, though seemingly opposite, tendencies, the only stimulus which can keep the ability of the body itself up to a high standard, is liability to the watchful criticism of equal ability outside the body.
— from On Liberty by John Stuart Mill

bowing low over her wrinkled hand and assuring her that it was she who had first kindled his ambition, and that all his success in life was due to the lessons she had instilled so long ago in Avonlea school.
— from Anne of Avonlea by L. M. (Lucy Maud) Montgomery

What had come to pass within his walls lingered there as an obsession importunate to all his senses; it lived again, as a cluster of pleasant memories, at every hour and in every object; it made everything but itself irrelevant and tasteless.
— from The Wings of the Dove, Volume II by Henry James

“The learned are slow to take a hint, so I locked my arm in his after a friendly fashion and led him genially to the door, where he tried (unsuccessfully) to detain me for further
— from The Mercy of Allah by Hilaire Belloc

When the audience have seen it long enough, seize up the apron, wipe the face of the youth quite clean, throw away the conjuror’s knife, and exhibit your young friend to the audience all right, and dismiss him with some facetious remark on his courage in undergoing the alarming operation.
— from The Practical Magician and Ventriloquist's Guide A practical manual of fireside magic and conjuring illusions, containing also complete instructions for acquiring and practising the art of ventriloquism. by Anonymous