Both prose and poetry were too frequently satiric, and satire does not tend to produce a high type of literature.
— from English Literature Its History and Its Significance for the Life of the English-Speaking World by William J. (William Joseph) Long

History records the efforts of conquering peoples to impose upon the conquered their own laws and institutions.
— from Introduction to the Science of Sociology by E. W. (Ernest Watson) Burgess

The people here are no more willing to harbour us than those of Lancaster were at our first coming there.
— from American Historical and Literary Curiosities: Second Series, Complete by J. Jay (John Jay) Smith

Previous to our leaving for Tezcuco, however, various deliberations took place as to which would be the most eligible spot for launching our brigantines.
— from The Memoirs of the Conquistador Bernal Diaz del Castillo, Vol 1 (of 2) Written by Himself Containing a True and Full Account of the Discovery and Conquest of Mexico and New Spain. by Bernal Díaz del Castillo

From the nature of the organic remains, which do not appear to have inhabited profound depths, in the several formations of Europe and of the United States; and from the amount of sediment, miles in thickness, of which the formations are composed, we may infer that from first to last large islands or tracts of land, whence the sediment was derived, occurred in the neighbourhood of the existing continents of Europe and North America.
— from On the Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life by Charles Darwin

Hindu scriptures teach that the incarnating ego requires a million years to obtain liberation from maya .
— from Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda

The inhabitants of the one must always enjoy a much greater quantity of subsistence than what their own lands, in the actual state of their cultivation, could afford.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith

But the diet was not dissolved before Julian was fortified by the welcome intelligence, that Anatolia was invaded by the Caramanian, and Thrace by the Greek emperor; that the fleets of Genoa, Venice, and Burgundy, were masters of the Hellespont; and that the allies, informed of the victory, and ignorant of the treaty, of Ladislaus, impatiently waited for the return of his victorious army.
— 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

If we can do this, Cupid is no longer an archer: his glory shall be ours, for we are the only love-gods.
— from Much Ado about Nothing by William Shakespeare

The man who dwells for long periods face to face with the bitter truths of life learns so to distrust a fleeting moment of joy, gives habitually so cold a reception to the tardy messenger of delight, that, when the bright guest outdares his churlishness and perforce tarries with him, there ensues a passionate revulsion unknown to hearts which open readily to every fluttering illusive bliss.
— from The Unclassed by George Gissing

'"Look," said one of the gentlemen to the other; "I have discovered here what I have searched for in vain the last ten years—the Horace of 1580, the Horace of the Forty Commentators—a perfect treasury of learning, and marked only fourteen shillings!"
— from The Book-Hunter in London Historical and Other Studies of Collectors and Collecting by W. (William) Roberts

On both these points, the wishes of France and Spain were opposed to those of America; and the cabinets both of Versailles and Madrid, seemed disposed to intrigue with that of London, to prevent such ample concessions respecting them, as the British minister might be inclined to make.
— from The Life of George Washington, Vol. 4 Commander in Chief of the American Forces During the War which Established the Independence of his Country and First President of the United States by John Marshall

And yet, compared to that road, the most populous thoroughfare of London or Pekin is a desert.
— from Dreamthorp A Book of Essays Written in the Country by Alexander Smith

Not that Derville himself was to be found there of an evening; for he was a young man, who, though clever and shrewd in his profession, yet desired to enjoy the good things of life and sought pleasure whilst he might.
— from Stories from the Operas by Gladys Davidson

The following morning, after spending a restless, troublous night in reflecting over the protestations and threats of Langdon Chester, Virginia went frequently to the rear door of the house and looked out towards Ann Boyd's domicile in the hope of seeing her new friend.
— from Ann Boyd: A Novel by Will N. (Will Nathaniel) Harben

The tears of love are a prayer.
— from The Lion's Whelp: A Story of Cromwell's Time by Amelia E. Barr

[157] CHAPTER VIII THE OTHER CAMP That compact, as Miles stood waiting before the library fire, seemed reward enough, not only for their lesser troubles of last night, but for whatever might come, of greater.
— from Admiral's Light by Henry Milner Rideout

"Thank you," said Mildred so sweetly, that the other looked after her with open mouth.
— from The Forged Note: A Romance of the Darker Races by Oscar Micheaux

"That is the only law we know here, or pay any attention to."
— from If Any Man Sin by H. A. (Hiram Alfred) Cody