It is remarkable, that in this biographical disquisition there appears a very strong symptom of Johnson's prejudice against players; a prejudice which may be attributed to the following causes: first, the imperfection of his organs, which were so defective that he was not susceptible of the fine impressions which theatrical excellence produces upon the generality of mankind; secondly, the cold rejection of his tragedy; and, lastly, the brilliant success of Garrick, who had been his pupil, who had come to London at the same time with him, not in a much more prosperous state than himself, and whose talents he undoubtedly rated low, compared with his own.
— from Boswell's Life of Johnson Abridged and edited, with an introduction by Charles Grosvenor Osgood by James Boswell

For that reason we find in many cases the arms of the wife borne in preference to the paternal arms of descent, or meet with them quartered with the arms of the husband, and frequently being given precedence over his own; and on the analogy of the coats of arms of wives at present borne with the wife's surname by the husband under Royal Licence, there can be little doubt that at a period when Royal Licences had not come into regular vogue the same idea was dominant, and the appearance of a wife's coat of arms meant the assumption of those arms by the husband as his own, with or without the surname of the wife.
— from A Complete Guide to Heraldry by Arthur Charles Fox-Davies

How much more dignified leisure hath a mussel glued to his unpassable rocky limit, two inch square!
— from The Works of Charles and Mary Lamb — Volume 5 The Letters of Charles and Mary Lamb, 1796-1820 by Charles Lamb

It was this that led to his ultimate ruin; like too many clever people he overreached himself.
— from The Hansa Towns by Helen Zimmern

The result was that the next autumn I found those that were in clay or heavy Soil came out rusty, while those in sandy soil were very little acted upon, but the best conditioned were those hidden under rotten leaves or vegetable matter, so ever afterwards I kept my traps either in the water or hidden under the last conditions.
— from Steel Traps Describes the Various Makes and Tells How to Use Them, Also Chapters on Care of Pelts, Etc. by A. R. (Arthur Robert) Harding

Then, for the third time, Garibaldi dreamt of renewing the feats of the old-world legends, and threw himself upon Rome like a soldier of fortune illumined by patriotism and free from every tie.
— from The Three Cities Trilogy: Rome, Complete by Émile Zola

And he would not be condemned to this continual warfare—to this hollow, unsatisfying restless life.
— from Monsieur Lecoq, v. 2 by Emile Gaboriau

"All of that; and we may pass the place without much of any noise, and no one on the road would be likely to hear us," replied Levi.
— from Brother Against Brother; Or, The War on the Border by Oliver Optic

One day a young swamper, a gangling lad of twenty, raging and weeping, threw himself upon Reivers like a cat upon a bear.
— from The Snow-Burner by Henry Oyen