In order to tempt the Florentines to take this latter course, Castruccio withdrew his men from the banks of the river and placed them under the walls of Fucecchio, leaving a wide expanse of land between them and the river.
— from The Prince by Niccolò Machiavelli

He dissuaded the youth of the city from taking service with him by continually vociferating in all public meetings that Scipio not only was himself running away from Hannibal, but also was about to take all the remaining forces of Italy out of the country with him, deluding the young men with vain hopes, and so persuading them to leave their parents and wives, and their city too, while a victorious and invincible enemy was at its very gates.
— from Plutarch's Lives, Volume 1 (of 4) by Plutarch

After apologizing for his ignorance, and reminding the audience that slavery was a poor school for the human intellect and heart, he proceeded to narrate some of the facts in his own history as a slave, and in the course of his speech gave utterance to many noble thoughts and thrilling reflections.
— from Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave by Frederick Douglass

“The Hurons, if they come, may not gain our position so easily as they think,” he slowly muttered; and propping his head back against the rock, he seemed to await the result in patience, though his gaze was unceasingly bent on the open avenue to their place of retreat.
— from The Last of the Mohicans; A narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper

Although her dress, her coiffure, and all the preparations for the ball had cost Kitty great trouble and consideration, at this moment she walked into the ballroom in her elaborate tulle dress over a pink slip as easily and simply as though all the rosettes and lace, all the minute details of her attire, had not cost her or her family a moment’s attention, as though she had been born in that tulle and lace, with her hair done up high on her head, and a rose and two leaves on the top of it.
— from Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

I doubt it: it would take for granted that they had both had an absolutely similar origin, and in that case we should have to assume that right back in infinity two similar things had also existed despite all the changes in the complete states and their creation of new qualities—an impossible assumption.
— from The Twilight of the Idols; or, How to Philosophize with the Hammer. The Antichrist Complete Works, Volume Sixteen by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Although in a hostile country, their camp was pitched in as careless a manner as if the foe were at a great distance; when, suddenly, the legions of the Samnites approached with so much boldness as to advance their rampart close to an out-post of the Romans.
— from The History of Rome, Books 01 to 08 by Livy

The arrests of the Generals were affected at the same time at their respective homes under nearly similar circumstances.
— from The History of a Crime The Testimony of an Eye-Witness by Victor Hugo

I have given a description of the Parsee burial-ground, and I think at the risk of being thought morbid that I must also describe our visit to the Hindu Smashan, or burning-ground, in the Sonapur quarter, where we saw a funeral, or rather a cremation.
— from The Romance of Isabel Lady Burton: The Story of Her Life. Volume II by W. H. (William Henry) Wilkins

You must paddle your own canoe now, and learn to avoid the rapids and steer straight to the port you want to reach.
— from Jo's Boys by Louisa May Alcott

Often for weeks together the bridge is not open, and all traffic across the river has to be conveyed by boats, the owner of the ferries reaping a golden harvest.
— from Behind the Veil in Persia and Turkish Arabia An Account of an Englishwoman's Eight Years' Residence Amongst the Women of the East by A. Hume-Griffith

I just don't want to answer that, really.
— from Warren Commission (11 of 26): Hearings Vol. XI (of 15) by United States. Warren Commission

I reckon the uprising men an’ women’s wickeder than us, as sucked our mothers in quieter times afore the railroads.”
— from Children of the Mist by Eden Phillpotts

Increase the activity, the representative power, until it becomes turned back, as it were, upon itself, until the monad not only is a mirror, but knows itself as one, and you have man.
— from Leibniz's New Essays Concerning the Human Understanding: A Critical Exposition by John Dewey

Gamble it on me, an' I'll attend to all the rest."
— from Destiny by Charles Neville Buck

Sometimes, before things reached this point, they might consent to receive a tribute and to retire.
— from The Seven Great Monarchies Of The Ancient Eastern World, Vol 2: Assyria The History, Geography, And Antiquities Of Chaldaea, Assyria, Babylon, Media, Persia, Parthia, And Sassanian or New Persian Empire; With Maps and Illustrations. by George Rawlinson

It is hard to say whether her surprize at an eclaircissement she had so little expected, her indignation at Mr. Munden's mean attempt to encroach upon her right, or the shock of reflecting, that it was by death alone she could be relieved from the vexations with which she was threatened by a man of his humour, were most predominant in her soul; but certain it is, that all together racked her with most terrible convulsions.
— from The History of Miss Betsy Thoughtless by Eliza Fowler Haywood

But as if all this were not enough, we were not able to accomplish the rest of our journey without further misfortune.
— from The Life and Letters of Ogier Ghiselin de Busbecq, Volumes 1 and 2 by Ogier Ghislain de Busbecq