For they that see any strange, and unusuall ability, or defect in a mans mind; unlesse they see withall, from what cause it may probably proceed, can hardly think it naturall; and if not naturall, they must needs thinke it supernaturall; and then what can it be, but that either God, or the Divell is in him?
— from Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes

They listened to the account the emigrants gave of their motives for leaving their native land, with a shrug almost of disdain—"Return," they said, "return to your island, whose sea breezes, and division from the continent gives some promise of health; if Pestilence among you has slain its hundreds, with us it has slain its thousands.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

He has beguiled England into buying Charter waste paper for Bank of England notes, ton for ton, and the ravished still burn incense to him as the Eventual God of Plenty.
— from Following the Equator: A Journey Around the World by Mark Twain

It was not uncommon for Richelieu and Louis XIII to dispute over their evening game of chess upon the merits of their servants.
— from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

Yet in one thing they very much exceed us: all their music, both vocal and instrumental, is adapted to imitate and express the passions, and is so happily suited to every occasion, that, whether the subject of the hymn be cheerful, or formed to soothe or trouble the mind, or to express grief or remorse, the music takes the impression of whatever is represented, affects and kindles the passions, and works the sentiments deep into the hearts of the hearers.
— from Utopia by More, Thomas, Saint

Although her disposition was gay, and in many respects inconsiderate, yet she paid the greatest attention to every gesture of my aunt.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

He received the enthusiastic greeting of his young acquaintance with evident pleasure, as though his chilled affections were rekindled and invigorated by his contact with one so warm and ardent.
— from The Count of Monte Cristo, Illustrated by Alexandre Dumas

Thus we read of reverence shown to the ‘Eight Genii Table’ ( Pa Hsien Cho ), the ‘Eight Genii Bridge’ ( Pa Hsien Ch’iao ), ‘Eight Genii Vermicelli’ ( Pa Hsien Mien ), the ‘Eight Genii of the Wine-cup’ ( Tin Chung Pa Hsien )—wine-bibbers of the T’ang dynasty celebrated by Tu Fu, the poet.
— from Myths and Legends of China by E. T. C. (Edward Theodore Chalmers) Werner

“He is the evil genius of both of us.
— from The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

This became known to a peasant who had three sons, and he said to the eldest, "Go out into the garden and take a basketful of those beautiful apples with the red cheeks and carry them to the court; perhaps the King's daughter will be able to eat herself well with them, and then thou wilt marry her and be King."
— from Household Tales by Brothers Grimm by Wilhelm Grimm

If anything is to be judged from current processes, we must infer, not only that everywhere the succession of sedimentary formations differs more or less from the succession elsewhere; but also that in each place, there exist groups of strata to which many other places have no equivalents.
— from Essays: Scientific, Political, & Speculative; Vol. 1 of 3 Library Edition (1891), Containing Seven Essays not before Republished, and Various other Additions. by Herbert Spencer

No one who saw the exceeding greatness of the power which the Gospel exercised—not only in sustaining its preachers under persecution, but in transforming human nature, and making bad men good—no one who saw this, and looked at a preacher like Paul, could dream that the explanation lay in him .
— from The Expositor's Bible: The Second Epistle to the Corinthians by James Denney

But of all her attractions, and of all the evidences of her cultivated mind, none equalled the extraordinary grace of her conversation.
— from Godolphin, Volume 1. by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

She laid the filmy, truly exquisite gown on her bed and stood gazing out of her window.
— from Sisters by Grace May North

Once they came near to the enclosed Garden of the Clinging Vines, and walking high into the air looked down upon it with much interest.
— from Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz by L. Frank (Lyman Frank) Baum

By the extraordinary gift of discerning in the apostles.
— from A Christian Directory, Part 3: Christian Ecclesiastics by Richard Baxter

But when afterwards analyzed by Dr. Black, these experiments gave origin to one of the most important parts of the whole science of heat.
— from The History of Chemistry, Volume 1 (of 2) by Thomas Thomson

[20] In their desire to excite greater odium for this metal, they are not silent about the leaden balls of muskets, and they find in it the cause of wounds and death.
— from De Re Metallica, Translated from the First Latin Edition of 1556 by Georg Agricola

[Mr. Baber, leaving Ch'eng-tu, 26th July, 1877, writes ( Travels , p. 28): "We took ship outside the East Gate on a rapid narrow stream, apparently the city moat, which soon joins the main river, a little below the An-shun Bridge, an antiquated wooden structure some 90 yards long.
— from The Travels of Marco Polo — Volume 2 by Rustichello of Pisa