He was delighted with every thing; admired Hartfield sufficiently for Mr. Woodhouse's ear; and when their going farther was resolved on, confessed his wish to be made acquainted with the whole village, and found matter of commendation and interest much oftener than Emma could have supposed.
— from Emma by Jane Austen

If the enemy commander has shown his troops photographs of prisoners whom your side has taken and "murdered" (according to his well staged photos), it is not a good idea to ask people to surrender without sending along equally convincing pictures of well cared for prisoners.
— from Psychological Warfare by Paul Myron Anthony Linebarger

Her heart was hardened by the prince of darkness; and to her may be applied these afflicting and soul-harrowing words, "can [283] the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?
— from Fox's Book of Martyrs Or A History of the Lives, Sufferings, and Triumphant Deaths of the Primitive Protestant Martyrs by John Foxe

Once I was strongly bent upon resistance, for, while I had liberty the whole strength of that empire could hardly subdue me, and I might easily with stones pelt the metropolis to pieces; but I soon rejected that project with horror, by remembering the oath I had made to the emperor, the favours I received from him, and the high title of nardac he conferred upon me.
— from Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World by Jonathan Swift

Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?
— from Dictionary of Quotations from Ancient and Modern, English and Foreign Sources Including Phrases, Mottoes, Maxims, Proverbs, Definitions, Aphorisms, and Sayings of Wise Men, in Their Bearing on Life, Literature, Speculation, Science, Art, Religion, and Morals, Especially in the Modern Aspects of Them by Wood, James, Rev.

Later, when the journeys to Europe ceased, he still had shown his children all sorts of indulgence, and if he had been troubled about money-matters nothing ever disturbed their irreflective consciousness of many possessions.
— from The Portrait of a Lady — Volume 1 by Henry James

Jeremiah says: 'Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?
— from Some Jewish Witnesses For Christ by Aaron Bernstein

Oh, now and then you will hear grown-ups say, ‘Can the Ethiopian change his skin or the Leopard his spots?’
— from Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling

By what chance Edmund Moreton (Stanley's mother's grandfather), in the middle of the eighteenth century, had suddenly diverged from family feeling and ideals, and taken that 'not quite nice' resolution to make ploughs and money, would never now be known.
— from The Works of John Galsworthy An Index of the Project Gutenberg Works of Galsworthy by John Galsworthy

Evidently the estimable comedian has seized the opportunity to enter into conversation with me.
— from The Adventures of a Special Correspondent Among the Various Races and Countries of Central Asia Being the Exploits and Experiences of Claudius Bombarnac of "The Twentieth Century" by Jules Verne

The enfeebled Charlie half started from his rocking-chair laughing angrily.
— from Kincaid's Battery by George Washington Cable

Yet he would speak to his father with more openness than he would to any one else, for it was known that the elder Carson had sown, in his youth, a pretty big crop of wild oats himself.
— from Wide Awake Magazine, Volume 4, Number 3, January 10, 1916 by Various

The environment of the city had commenced, but the enemy could hardly succeed in his purpose; for the English auxiliaries, who were to defend the new fortifications of Valkenburg, the village of Alfen, and the Gouda sluice might be trusted.
— from The Burgomaster's Wife — Volume 04 by Georg Ebers

When Sultan Mahmoud stripped off the turban, and turned the noble dress of his people into the caricature of the European costume, he struck a heavier blow at his sovereignty than ever was inflicted by the Russian sabre or the Greek dagger.
— from Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 57, No. 352, February 1845 by Various

On another occasion a brother minister quoted, as proof that men in their unregenerate state cannot do anything towards their own salvation, the words of Jeremiah, already once referred to, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?"
— from Modern Skepticism: A Journey Through the Land of Doubt and Back Again A Life Story by Joseph Barker

He threw himself on his knees before the Empress, caught her small hand and covered it with kisses.
— from A Struggle for Rome, v. 1 by Felix Dahn

To keep the eighteenth century habit, so carefully taught the girl, of courtesying as she stepped aside to allow the rider or the ox cart to pass, in these days of the swift automobile, which would be out of sight before the knee could bend, is no more ridiculous than to expect the average young mother to follow the methods of her grandmother.
— from Euthenics, the science of controllable environment A plea for better living conditions as a first step toward higher human efficiency by Ellen H. (Ellen Henrietta) Richards