I had much difficulty in convincing an agent of the government, from whom I received a visit soon after my arrival, that my presence in Paris was due to artistic reasons, and not to my doubtful position as a political refugee.
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner

The enemy, however, turning back before he had followed them far, the Athenians returned also, not trusting the seven Chian ships which formed part of their number, and afterwards manned thirty-seven vessels in all and chased him on his passage alongshore into Spiraeum, a desert Corinthian port on the edge of the Epidaurian frontier.
— from The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides

I like to think about them afterwards, if they are real, and not too preachy," said Jo, after a minute's silence.
— from Little Women; Or, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy by Louisa May Alcott

As the Campanians brought to the relief of their allies rather a name than strength, enervated as they were by luxury, they were beaten in the Sidicinian territory by men who were inured to the use of arms, and then brought on themselves the entire burthen of the war.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy

I like to think about them afterward, if they are real and not too preachy," said Jo, after a minute's silence.
— from Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

If in this kind of life thy body be able to hold out, it is a shame that thy soul should faint first, and give over, take heed, lest of a philosopher thou become a mere Caesar in time, and receive a new tincture from the court.
— from Meditations by Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius

Those creatures that are reasonable, are now the only creatures that have forgotten their natural affection and inclination of one towards another.
— from Meditations by Emperor of Rome Marcus Aurelius

For as the island of Sumatra, which some think to be Taprobane, and the adjacent regions are near the equinoctial line, it follows that they are subject to constant thunderstorms, and for the same cause have storms or slight showers every day; so camphor ought to be abundant every year.
— from Malay Magic Being an introduction to the folklore and popular religion of the Malay Peninsula by Walter William Skeat

They had persistently asserted that a constitutional democracy like ours must ultimately fail to secure the rights and liberties of the people,—that internal war would crumble it into ruins like the ancient republics; and now they thought the fulfilment of their prophecy so near at hand it was unnecessary longer to disguise their hatred, and openly gave their "aid and comfort" to the enemy, jeering at our efforts and denouncing our measures to maintain our existence among the nations.
— from The Boys of '61 or, Four Years of Fighting, Personal Observations with the Army and Navy by Charles Carleton Coffin

The prudent moderation of the ancient Romans approaches nearly to this model of primitive innocence.
— from The Rights of War and Peace by Hugo Grotius

Or (f2) the small groups did marry within themselves till, after receiving animal names, they evolved the superstition that such marriage was a sin against the animals, and so became exogamous.
— from The Secret of the Totem by Andrew Lang

She had long followed with sympathy the movement for the liberation of her sex from every sort of bondage; it had been her principal interest even as a child (he might mention that at the age of nine she had christened her favourite doll Eliza P. Moseley, in memory of a great precursor whom they all reverenced), and now the inspiration, if he might call it so, seemed just to flow in that channel.
— from The Bostonians, Vol. I (of II) by Henry James

Among the Swedish Laplanders, there is in every family a drum, for the purpose of consulting the devil; and though they are robust and nimble, they are yet so timid and dastardly, that no inducement can bring them into the field of battle.
— from Buffon's Natural History. Volume 04 (of 10) Containing a Theory of the Earth, a General History of Man, of the Brute Creation, and of Vegetables, Minerals, &c. &c by Buffon, Georges Louis Leclerc, comte de

When the ambassador reached Arles, Nann, the king, was giving a great feast to his warriors, from among whom his daughter Gyptis was that day to choose a husband.
— from Essays in the Study of Folk-Songs (1886) by Martinengo-Cesaresco, Evelyn Lilian Hazeldine Carrington, contessa