In spite of this assurance my restlessness grew, and I had not the courage to introduce myself to my friends in advance as the author of the 'New Overture.'
— from My Life — Volume 1 by Richard Wagner

This measure put an end directly to the "Great Mogul's Company," as Fielding had called his troop, and indirectly to its manager's career as a playwright.
— from Joseph Andrews, Vol. 1 by Henry Fielding

He then grew serious, and desired to ask me freely whether I were not troubled in mind by the consciousness of some enormous crime, for which I was punished by the command of some prince, by exposing me in that chest, as great criminals in other countries have been forced to sea in a leaky vessel without provisions; for although he should be sorry to have taken so ill a man into his ship, yet he would engage his word to set me safe ashore in the first port where we arrived.
— from Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Regions of the World by Jonathan Swift

They were scandalized by the title, the pomp, the Latin cross of the legate, the friend of those impious men who shaved their beards, and performed the divine office with gloves on their hands and rings on their fingers: Isidore was condemned by a synod; his person was imprisoned in a monastery; and it was with extreme difficulty that the cardinal could escape from the hands of a fierce and fanatic people.
— from The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire Table of Contents with links in the HTML file to the two Project Gutenberg editions (12 volumes) by Edward Gibbon

Hither the heroes and the nymphs resort, To taste awhile the pleasures of a Court; In various talk th' instructive hours they past, Who gave the ball, or paid the visit last; One speaks the glory of the British Queen, And one describes a charming Indian screen; A third interprets motions, looks, and eyes;
— from The Rape of the Lock and Other Poems by Alexander Pope

When a nation has arrived at this state it must either change its customs and its laws or perish: the source of public virtue is dry, and, though it may contain subjects, the race of citizens is extinct.
— from Democracy in America — Volume 1 by Alexis de Tocqueville

I was stirred by the sight, and for the first time in my life I consciously received the seed of God's word in my heart.
— from The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

"Because I am fond of you, Mr.—no, I think I must call you Bertie.
— from Right Ho, Jeeves by P. G. (Pelham Grenville) Wodehouse

—That a religion may be true, it must show knowledge of our nature.
— from The Thoughts of Blaise Pascal by Blaise Pascal

Full novel The Invisible Man , plus 17 short stories: “The Crystal Egg,” “Aepyornis Island,” “The Strange Orchid,” etc. 303pp.
— from Life Histories of North American Wood Warblers, Part One and Part Two by Arthur Cleveland Bent

On this I shall touch in my next chapter, in conjunction with stable appliances and drinking-troughs.
— from Riding for Ladies: With Hints on the Stable by O'Donoghue, Power, Mrs.

He has the "thinking in millions" trick of the statistician transposed to literary ends.
— from G. K. Chesterton, A Critical Study by Julius West

Till then, I must be under a necessity of banishing you from my presence, with the same consolatory speech she used to that unfortunate prince:—"Go, therefore, Glanville, go, and endeavour your own justification: I desire you should effect it no less than you do yourself; and, if my prayers can obtain from Heaven this favour for you, I shall not scruple to offer some in your behalf ."
— from The Female Quixote; or, The Adventures of Arabella, v. 1-2 by Charlotte Lennox

If by the term heretic we are to imply moral guilt, I am not justified in applying it to any Christian, unless his doctrines are positively sinful, or there is something wicked, either in the way of dishonesty or bitterness, in his manner of maintaining them.
— from The Christian Life: Its Course, Its Hindrances, and Its Helps by Thomas Arnold

He maintained that the Privy Council of Ireland had urged him on to this: its members denied it.
— from A History of England Principally in the Seventeenth Century, Volume I (of 6) by Leopold von Ranke

The injured man became livid, ground his teeth and writhed a little, but did not exclaim.
— from Complete Original Short Stories of Guy De Maupassant by Guy de Maupassant