The whole tendency of our latest centuries, in its scientific and materialistic aspect, is most probably accursed.”
— from The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoyevsky

2 [c] transfer temporary ownership of land from one mortgage-holder to another.
— from A Dictionary of Cebuano Visayan by John U. Wolff

The student left his books, the artist his study: the occupations of life were gone, but the amusements remained; enjoyment might be protracted to the verge of the grave.
— from The Last Man by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

It is not easy to determine whether, on this occasion, he acted as the common father of the Roman world, or as the oppressor of liberty; whether he wished to relieve the provinces, or to impoverish the senate and the equestrian order.
— 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

Wilson says, "By the Vesya or courtesan, however, we are not to understand a female who has disregarded the obligation of law or the precepts of virtue, but a character reared by a state of manners unfriendly to the admission of wedded females into society, and opening it only at the expense of reputation to women who were trained for association with men by personal and mental acquirements to which the matron was a stranger."
— from The Kama Sutra of Vatsyayana Translated From the Sanscrit in Seven Parts With Preface, Introduction and Concluding Remarks by Vatsyayana

n. An ornamented badge, serving to distinguish a military officer from the enemy—that is to say, from the officer of lower rank to whom his death would give promotion.
— from The Devil's Dictionary by Ambrose Bierce

(1) “Cole takes one only, Lang takes both or neither”; (2) “Cole takes both or neither, Lang takes one only”; (3) “Cole takes one only, Lang takes one only”.
— from Symbolic Logic by Lewis Carroll

“Would it but please your valours,” added Isaac, in a tone of deep humiliation, “to permit the poor Jews to travel under your safeguard, I swear by the tables of our law, that never has favour been conferred upon a child of Israel since the days of our captivity, which shall be more gratefully acknowledged.”
— from Ivanhoe: A Romance by Walter Scott

The gods and lords of men Put all things on one level: let who will Say what they like.
— from The Fables of La Fontaine Translated into English Verse by Walter Thornbury and Illustrated by Gustave Doré by Jean de La Fontaine

With respect to the lending of books, his own directions are that, if any one apply for a particular volume, the librarian was to carefully consider whether the library contained another copy of it; if so, he was at liberty to lend the book, taking care, however, that he obtained a security which was to exceed the value of the loan; they were at the same time to make a memorandum in writing of the name of the book, and the nature of the security deposited for it, with the name of the party to whom it was lent, with that of the officer or librarian who delivered it.
— from Bibliomania in the Middle Ages by F. Somner (Frederick Somner) Merryweather

This observation of Lord Royston is not altogether correct.
— from Magic and Witchcraft by George Moir

If I'm where it is—even if I catch the odour of liquor—the appetite seems to come back.
— from The Web of Time by Robert E. (Robert Edward) Knowles

This was followed by a still more mystical poem called 'The Persian Slave Girl's Progress to Paradise,' showing the Omnipotence of Love.
— from Aylwin by Theodore Watts-Dunton

[488] In the opinion of Lagarde and others this chapter—which is not noticed by Josephus, and which Meinhold thinks cannot have been written by the author of chap.
— from The Expositor's Bible: The Book of Daniel by F. W. (Frederic William) Farrar

Your gun’s the only one left in action.”
— from What Outfit, Buddy? by T. Howard (Thomas Howard) Kelly

The owners of Lisle Court had for several generations possessed the dominant interest in the county town.
— from Alice, or the Mysteries — Book 06 by Lytton, Edward Bulwer Lytton, Baron

These proclamations for the observance of Lent continued under James and Charles, as late, I presume, as the commencement of the civil war.
— from Constitutional History of England, Henry VII to George II. Volume 1 of 3 by Henry Hallam

This brought the mate out of his berth, but he got no further than the after-lockers, where he sat down with the object of lighting his pipe.
— from The Shellback's Progress In the Nineteenth Century by Runciman, Walter Runciman, Baron