Else it would look as if what you thought of, as a means to avoid the envy of others of your sex, was a wilful slight in me, which, I hope, I never shall be guilty of; and I will shew the world, that I value you as I ought, and as if I had married the first fortune in the kingdom: And why should it not be so, when I know none of the first quality that matches you in excellence?
— from Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded by Samuel Richardson

I need not tell you that it is with no ordinary regret that I view your determination to leave us, for really I believe that the success of our institution, now almost assured, is jeopardized thereby.
— from Memoirs of General William T. Sherman — Complete by William T. (William Tecumseh) Sherman

But now, though we are assured of our possession of these three things, not on the testimony of others, but by our own consciousness of their presence, and because we see them with our own most truthful interior vision, yet, as we cannot of ourselves know how long they are to continue, and whether they shall never cease to be, and what issue their good or bad use will lead to, we seek for others who can acquaint us of these things, if we have not already found them.
— from The City of God, Volume I by Augustine, Saint, Bishop of Hippo

There is virtue yet in the hoe and the spade, [58] for learned as well as for unlearned hands.
— from Essays by Ralph Waldo Emerson by Ralph Waldo Emerson

This island amongst the rest, our next neighbours the French and Germans, may be a sufficient witness, that in a short time by that prudent policy of the Romans, was brought from barbarism; see but what Caesar reports of us, and Tacitus of those old Germans, they were once as uncivil as they in Virginia, yet by planting of colonies and good laws, they became from barbarous outlaws,
— from The Anatomy of Melancholy by Robert Burton

‘Vell,’ said Sam, rising and setting down his glass, ‘all I can say is, that I vish you may get it.’
— from The Pickwick Papers by Charles Dickens

Yet I know that I vanquished your spirit;
— from Spoon River Anthology by Edgar Lee Masters

" "How?" "You know quite well that I valued your affection, and that it had no little importance in my life.
— from The Emancipated by George Gissing

Swoop like the eagles on their prey, but turn In victory your taste to that of doves; For ever it has been reproach to us That we have stained our deeds with cruelty, And dyed our axes in our captives' blood.
— from Tecumseh : a Drama by Charles Mair

But in doing this, I vowed you should no longer be bound when it should be in my power to release you.
— from Frederick the Great and His Court by L. (Luise) Mühlbach

To conclude my explanations, let me tell you that I value your respect for me above everything in the world, and have found it my greatest comfort during this temporary distress of mine.
— from Poor Folk by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

She must not be too stern or severe in punishing the deviations from truth in very young children, or in expressing the displeasure which they awaken in her mind.
— from Gentle Measures in the Management and Training of the Young Or, the Principles on Which a Firm Parental Authority May Be Established and Maintained, Without Violence or Anger, and the Right Development of the Moral and Mental Capacities Be Promoted by Methods in Harmony with the Structure and the Characteristics of the Juvenile Mind by Jacob Abbott

It follows, also, that the incognito visit you propose to me would afford you far more entertainment than it could possibly give me.
— from Peter Schlemihl by Adelbert von Chamisso

“He has played the part of a spy upon me—he has followed me to your door—he knows that I visit you—and he will doubtless endeavour to cause a breach between us!”
— from The Mysteries of London, v. 4/4 by George W. M. (George William MacArthur) Reynolds

Do you think I value your friendship so little, dear old fellow?"
— from The Northern Light by E. Werner

In vain you search, she is not there; In vain you search the domes of care!
— from The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction Volume 13, No. 370, May 16, 1829 by Various