The appellation of grammarian was borrowed from the Greeks; but at first, the Latins called such persons literati.
— from The Lives of the Twelve Caesars, Complete by Suetonius

Thus the bluff is discovered; the laboring classes may be no longer willing to forego so largely, and the capitalist classes, no longer confident of the future, may seek to enjoy more fully their liberties of consumption so long as they last, and thus precipitate the hour of their confiscation.
— from The Economic Consequences of the Peace by John Maynard Keynes

Though the council is framed on the model of the Athenian Boule, the law courts of Plato do not equally conform to the pattern of the Athenian dicasteries.
— from Laws by Plato

.” began the lieutenant, clinking his spurs.
— from The Duel and Other Stories by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

What was better, nearly every one was of the same rank as himself, so that he need not feel in the least constrained.
— from Project Gutenberg Compilation of 233 Short Stories of Chekhov by Anton Pavlovich Chekhov

Let it suffice, that among spendthrifts I out-Heroded Herod, and that, giving name to a multitude of novel follies, I added no brief appendix to the long catalogue of vices then usual in the most dissolute university of Europe.
— from The Works of Edgar Allan Poe — Volume 2 by Edgar Allan Poe

I often think that the celebrated talkers of the last century would have found it difficult to talk cleverly now.
— from Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Leo, graf

The “early Christian”—and also, I fear, the “last Christian,” whom I may perhaps live to see —is a rebel against all privilege by profound instinct—he lives and makes war for ever for “equal rights.”...
— from The Antichrist by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

But, in spite of Rawdon's undoubted skill and constant successes, it became evident to Rebecca, considering these things, that their position was but a precarious one, and that, even although they paid scarcely anybody, their little capital would end one day by dwindling into zero.
— from Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray

He was taken to the guard-room, which had been appointed in one of the lower chambers of the chapter-house, and Demdike was immediately apprised of his arrival.
— from The Lancashire Witches: A Romance of Pendle Forest by William Harrison Ainsworth

Know then, whate'er of the world's ancient store, 180 Whate'er of mimic Art's reflected scenes, With love and admiration thus inspire Attentive Fancy, her delighted sons In two illustrious orders comprehend, Self-taught: from him whose rustic toil the lark Cheers warbling, to the bard whose daring thoughts Range the full orb of being, still the form, Which Fancy worships, or sublime or fair, Her votaries proclaim.
— from The Poetical Works of Mark Akenside by Mark Akenside

Then he took her hands, and, in an outburst of tenderness, after the long coldness he had imposed on himself exclaimed: "And if I asked you to marry me, Denise, would you still leave?"
— from The Ladies' Paradise by Émile Zola

Ther' ain't a thing in this life calls for a tear from a living soul, not even a stomachful of moist mud, 'cos, you see, ther's Someone who fixes everything the way it should go, an' it's the right way.
— from The Forfeit by Ridgwell Cullum

In the late seventies of the last century, Schliemann visited the ruins of Mycenae, ruins which were so old that Roman guide-books marvelled at their antiquity.
— from The Story of Mankind by Hendrik Willem Van Loon

"That's where the lark comes in," Scarlett assured her.
— from Scarlett of the Mounted by Marguerite Merington

There is always something in your ideas which is quite of the last century, and seems to suggest a flock of sheep with ribbons and a crook, like those in the Saxes statuettes.
— from Othmar by Ouida

This learned Carmelitan friar does not pretend to have been an original observer, but he had studied sufficiently to enable him to confirm the opinions of Moro by arguments from other writers; and his selection of the doctrines then best established is so judicious, that a brief abstract of them cannot fail to be acceptable, as illustrating the state of geology in Europe, and in Italy in particular, before the middle of the last century.
— from Principles of Geology or, The Modern Changes of the Earth and its Inhabitants Considered as Illustrative of Geology by Lyell, Charles, Sir

Camarin A Baron of Paphos, guest in the Lusignan Castle.
— from Plays and Lyrics by Cale Young Rice

Woodhouse smiled sagely as he passed his cup to Lady Crandall to be refilled.
— from Inside the Lines by Robert Welles Ritchie