“A man cannot behead with a bodkin,” said Brown calmly, “and for this murder beheading was absolutely necessary.”
— from The Innocence of Father Brown by G. K. (Gilbert Keith) Chesterton

Thus, while diminishing our feeling of certainty as to what things are, it greatly increases our knowledge as to what they may be; it removes the somewhat arrogant dogmatism of those who have never travelled into the region of liberating doubt, and it keeps alive our sense of wonder by showing familiar things in an unfamiliar aspect.
— from The Problems of Philosophy by Bertrand Russell

For the king himself, and many of the commons and nobles, loving this life, and not seeking after another, or even not believing in any other, began to restore the temples that had been abandoned, and to adore idols, as if they might by those means be protected against the plague.
— from Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England by Bede, the Venerable, Saint

The mountain behind which the sun sets.
— from The Rámáyan of Válmíki, translated into English verse by Valmiki

Another means to curb them, is, to balance them by others as proud as they; but then there must be some middle counsellors, to keep things steady, for without that ballast, the ship will roll too much.
— from Bacon's Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients by Francis Bacon

However that may be, the blaze of gold which decorated his person was wonderful to behold, and on at least one occasion, when we were going in solemn procession to an audience of the Tycoon, caused him to be mistaken for the Envoy by the Japanese officials, who gave him the salutes that rightfully belonged to his less conspicuously adorned diplomatic chief.
— from A Diplomat in Japan The inner history of the critical years in the evolution of Japan when the ports were opened and the monarchy restored, recorded by a diplomatist who took an active part in the events of the time, with an account of his personal experiences during that period by Ernest Mason Satow

She is a widow, and much older than Manoir; but she is very much admired, and a favourite with everybody.
— from Frankenstein; Or, The Modern Prometheus by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Then to my bookseller’s, and then received some books I have new bought, and here late choosing some more to new bind, having resolved to give myself L10 in books, and so home to the office and then home to supper, where Mr. Hill was and supped with us, and good discourse; an excellent person he still appears to me.
— from The Diary of Samuel Pepys — Complete by Samuel Pepys

Perhaps,' he added, addressing himself to Thor, 'thou mayst be taller than thou appearest to be.
— from The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson by Snorri Sturluson

This question was addressed to me by a lady in company concerning a gentleman who had rendered himself during the evening, peculiarly agreeable.
— from Ginger-Snaps by Fanny Fern

In reference to what I have already said with regard to the natives, it was supposed that they were so little to be apprehended, that when I went on the first occasion into the interior, I applied for a limited number of men only, under an impression that with a few men I could carry provisions equal to a consumption of a greater number, and by this means be enabled to keep the field for a greater length of time.
— from Two Expeditions into the Interior of Southern Australia — Complete by Charles Sturt

Then another offers him another article belonging to the ploughman's business, such as the mool-brod , but this also is refused; another, perhaps, gives the sock , another the stilts , another the spattle , another the naigs , another the naig-graith , and so on; until one gives the soam , which was the article he most wanted, and was the thing secretly told to one, and is the thing that throws the giver in a wadd , out of which he is relieved in the following manner:— The ploughman says to the one in the wadd , "Whether will ye hae three questions and twa commands, or three commands and twa questions, to answer or gang on wi', sae that ye may win oot o' the wadd ?"
— from Children's Rhymes, Children's Games, Children's Songs, Children's Stories A Book for Bairns and Big Folk by Robert Ford

Allowing that all three may at times be necessary—as in the case of vicious horses, for instance—ladies will very rarely find it to be the case, their mounts being, generally speaking, of a gentle and docile type.
— from Riding for Ladies: With Hints on the Stable by O'Donoghue, Power, Mrs.

The next day they rested in the wood, made fresh bowstrings from the twisted gut of the deer, cut the skins up into long strips, thereby obtaining a hundred feet of strong cord, which Ned thought might be useful for snares.
— from Under Drake's Flag: A Tale of the Spanish Main by G. A. (George Alfred) Henty

The girl said that Miss Baker was in the dining-room.
— from The Bertrams by Anthony Trollope

And then Mr. Bixby leaned over and whispered in Mr. Wetherell's ear; "He knows—you understand—he knows."
— from Project Gutenberg Complete Works of Winston Churchill by Winston Churchill

There may be no false system presented to us, and we may be perfectly safe with reference to any definite form of evil, such as infidelity or popery, but there may be any one, or indeed all three, of these deadly spirits imperceptibly breathing poison into our souls.
— from Rome, Turkey, and Jerusalem by Edward Hoare