For reasons such as these, Full many writers great and good Have written in this frolic mood, And made their wisdom please. But tinsel'd style they all have shunn'd with care; With them one never sees a word to spare. Of Phaedrus some have blamed the brevity, While Aesop uses fewer words than he.
— from Fables of La Fontaine — a New Edition, with Notes by Jean de La Fontaine

no instinct has been produced for the exclusive good of other animals, but that each animal takes advantage of the instincts of others;—that the canon in natural history, of "natura non facit saltum" is applicable to instincts as well as to corporeal structure, and is plainly explicable on the foregoing views, but is otherwise inexplicable,—all tend to corroborate the theory of natural selection.
— 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

These then, though unbeheld in deep of night, Shine not in vain; nor think, though men were none, That Heaven would want spectators, God want praise: Millions of spiritual creatures walk the earth Unseen, both when we wake, and when we sleep: All these with ceaseless praise his works behold Both day and night: How often from the steep Of echoing hill or thicket have we heard Celestial voices to the midnight air, Sole, or responsive each to others note, Singing their great Creator?
— from Paradise Lost by John Milton

For when a new insect first arrived on the island, the tendency of natural selection to enlarge or to reduce the wings, would depend on whether a greater number of individuals were saved by successfully battling with the winds, or by giving up the attempt and rarely or never flying.
— from The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection Or, the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle for Life, 6th Edition by Charles Darwin

The example of the Panathenæa was imitated at Delphi; but the Olympic games were ignorant of a musical crown, till it was extorted by the vain tyranny of Nero, (Sueton.
— 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

"They offered no sacrifices, believing that a serious and devout soul was most acceptable."
— from The World's Sixteen Crucified Saviors; Or, Christianity Before Christ by Kersey Graves

Our splendid physique as a people is entirely due to our national stupidity.
— from Intentions by Oscar Wilde

to try on new stays.
— from The Letters of Jane Austen Selected from the compilation of her great nephew, Edward, Lord Bradbourne by Jane Austen

Thus wisheth the type of noble souls: they desire to have nothing GRATUITOUSLY, least of all, life.
— from Thus Spake Zarathustra: A Book for All and None by Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

Albury (al′ber-i), a rising town of New South Wales on the borders of Victoria, on the right bank of the Murray, 190 miles north-east of Page 88 [88] Melbourne, in a good agricultural and wine-producing district.
— from The New Gresham Encyclopedia. A to Amide Vol. 1 Part 1 by Various

"I can think of no secret that I could not share with you, Helena."
— from The White Prophet, Volume 1 (of 2) by Caine, Hall, Sir

He knew that every instant would increase the difficulty of saving his friend: he threw off neither shoes nor jacket; there was no time for that.
— from Ernest Bracebridge: School Days by William Henry Giles Kingston

Perhaps, after all, he is now at the offices——” “No,” said Sophia.
— from The Old Wives' Tale by Arnold Bennett

Jan Mayen territory of Norway; since August 1994, administered from Oslo through the county governor (fylkesmann) of Nordland; however, authority has been delegated to a station commander of the Norwegian Defense Communication Service Jarvis Island unincorporated territory of the US; administered from Washington, DC, by the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system Jersey British crown dependency Johnston Atoll unincorporated territory of the US; administered from Honolulu, HI, by Pacific Air Forces, Hickam Air Force Base, and the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system Juan de Nova Island possession of France; administered by the Administrateur Superieur of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands Kingman Reef unincorporated territory of the US; administered from Washington, DC, by the US Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior note: on 1 September 2000, the Department of the Interior accepted restoration of its administrative jurisdiction over Kingman Reef from the Department of the Navy; Executive Order 3223 signed 18 January 2001 established Kingman Reef National Wildlife Refuge to be administered by the Director, US Fish and Wildlife Service; this refuge is managed to protect the terrestrial and aquatic wildlife of Kingman Reef out to the 12-nautical-mile territorial sea limit Macau special administrative region of China Mayotte departmental collectivity of France Midway Islands unincorporated territory of the US; formerly administered from Washington, DC, by the US Navy; on 31 October 1996, through a presidential executive order, the jurisdiction and control of the atoll was transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service of the US Department of the Interior as part of the National Wildlife Refuge system Montserrat overseas territory of the UK Navassa Island unincorporated territory of the US; administered by the Fish and Wildlife Service, US Department of the Interior, from the Caribbean Islands National Wildlife Refuge in Boqueron, Puerto Rico; in September 1996, the Coast Guard ceased operations and maintenance of Navassa Island Light, a 46-meter-tall lighthouse on the southern side of the island; there has also been a private claim advanced against the island Netherlands
— from The 2007 CIA World Factbook by United States. Central Intelligence Agency

Nearly all the tongues of the American savages are polysynthetic; that is, whole clauses and even whole sentences are compressed together so violently, that often no single syllable would be capable of separate use.
— from Words; Their Use and Abuse by William Mathews

As nothing however is made in vain, there can be little doubt that these ensnared insects are subservient to some important purpose in the economy of the plants which are endowed with the faculty of taking them, though we may be ignorant what that purpose is; and an experiment of Mr. Knight's, nurseryman in King's Road, London, seems to prove that in the case of Dionæa, at least, the very end in view, contrary to Dr. Barton's supposition, is the supplying the leaves with animal manure; for he found that a plant upon whose leaves he laid fine filaments of raw beef, was much more luxuriant in [Pg 295] its growth than others not so treated [531] .
— from An Introduction to Entomology: Vol. 1 or Elements of the Natural History of the Insects by William Kirby

At the breaking out of the Mexican revolution, almost the only negro slaves in the country were in the department of Vera Cruz.
— from Mexico and Its Religion With Incidents of Travel in That Country During Parts of the Years 1851-52-53-54, and Historical Notices of Events Connected With Places Visited by Robert Anderson Wilson

My father is his true old noble self again.
— from The Sword of Honor; or, The Foundation of the French Republic A Tale of The French Revolution by Eugène Sue